Danjuro considered himself a good man despite proclamating his life as a criminal. Sure he had done questionable things and made more mistakes then he could remember but that was just him acting a role most days.
He never wanted to hurt people or destroy their lives, all wished for is to be known and for his life to mean something. That's why he did only the most minor of crimes to attract fame to his name.
It was working fine, he even gained his first follower with Aiba but never had he really pondered on what the more depraved sorts of villains were like, never gave a thought to how groups of ruffians warred in the streets and killed without remorse or worse because it all seemed so far removed from his life and reality in general. Now that notion was no longer applicable to him.
He'd been thrusted into a situation where someone who was directly affected by these groups and one of the worst out there no less had ended up in his employ and frankly he was terrified.
Here was a boy barely coming into manhood who had committed such horrible acts that it seemed almost inhuman and who also was lost and broken with nowhere else to go. Never before in his life had he wanted to find the answer in someone else who knew better, to leave this to those more qualified but that wasn't an option to him.
Izuku was a good kid at heart, he could see that well enough but it was trapped under so much pain that sometimes it was hard to tell. He had grown to like the kid for all his issues and it seemed like the feeling was mutual between both them and Aiba.
In a strange way Danjuro enjoyed that fact, like it was the three of them against the world and nothing could touch them. Yet he still wanted to help his ward get over his past but that was well beyond his ability. Oddly though, Aiba seemed far better equipped to assist Izuku in his moments of weakness and part of him suspected her quirk played a role in that.
After the incident where they heard of Izuku's treatment she became far more attentive to any of his actions and her body exhaled a strange heat which calmed them both down into relaxed states of mind when she handled his episodes.
They were lessening to the point of rarity now but he still habitually played with the scar by his neck. In a way he was proud of Izuku for his progress but lately he'd felt a creeping sensation whenever the boy would try to leave the house and it got to the point that Danjuro outright refused him leaving unless he accompanied him.
That earned him some bickering but that was it and after the first day of the sensation, Izuku agreed to it. In fact he looked on edge whenever they were in public, more so than usual.
It was like a shadow had descended on their heads that followed them everywhere, he even ceased his criminal activities for a time as the dark feeling set in on the three of them from just stepping out of the front door.
So they passed the next month with simply planning and waiting with more mundane activities to bind their time. A choice he became profoundly grateful for when the sensation reached to such a point that none of them could sleep and the only evidence as to why was a noise coming from their window that lasted a second.
It only happened once so far yet it seemed to grant a physicality to their collective paranoia which lurked in the shadow of every corner and alley, growing closer with each passing day until it finally showed itself to them. He ignored the feeling when it became overwhelming, prefering to remind himself that he was the Gentle Criminal, a man who had outwitted and outfought even the best of heroes. That was why he decided to return to his old antics and dragged his family with him.
It was why he came face to face with how horrible the world can be and what sort of demons linger in the unseen and hidden places of society.
They arrived late at night, the moon was absent from the sky and their goal was to steal an entire shipment of ice cream cakes that had been rumored and then later confirmed to contain less sugar than advertised. It was supposed to be easy. Get in, grab the goods, wait for the heroes to show up and then flee. Yet when their feet landed on the ground a stench of such appalling magnitude assaulted their nostrils that both he and La Brava nearly vomited. The boy had no such issues however he began shaking as he pulled something from his long coat.
Shining in the lights of the entrance to the warehouse was a revolver nested into Izuku's hands that his fingers held in a death grip.
Danjuro gazed open mouthed at the weapon, as did his sidekick but the look of sheer terror on the teen's face silenced him. Then in that silence, a noise came from within the structure.
It was barely heard above the wind, yet as if it wanted to be noticed they all could not stop hearing the sound. The sound was a chop, chop, chop that echoed out into the night almost rhythmically. The beat was hypnotic as much as it was a warning that sent the familiar fear into their souls. Danjuro wanted to run, to never look back at this place and leave whatever hellish thing which was making that noise to his imagination, but he knew that if he didn't confront the terror in this building then his wards would be forever knowing of his flaws, that he was just a man, a coward who gave up on his dreams.
No, that was one thing not even death had power to yield from him. With a final grasp of his courage the Gentle Criminal pushed past the heavy dock doors of the warehouse. His eyes watered the second the door swung open as the smell grew stronger. The buzzing of flies and the flickering of the yellow bulbs overhead gave view into a scene from one the deepest pits of hell.
Blood coated the steel walls of the complex and the packaging for the cakes they came to steal down the long alleys of stock as the bodies of countless people lay on the floor with puncture wounds on the heads, legs or chest which compounded with slash marks across the vital areas of the individual. They continued to march on, the terror of the place sinking deep into their bones with every step as the chop, chop, chop grew louder as the labyrinthian maze of walls led them to follow the sound. No one talked, no one wanted to. Only the ragged breathing of the trio contested the chopping sound as they continued. Eventually a door was spotted at the end of the building where the noise had brought them to.
It stank of death and decay with the beat still going on the other side. Danjuro felt every nerve in his body scream at him to run when he approached that door but his pride wouldn't have it, the little bit of joy in his sad life depended on keeping up his image so he pushed the fear down as he opened the door.
The hinges swung without a sound, exposing the inside of that large room. More bodies were hanging off of meat hooks lining the side of a network of pipes that lingered by the walls before expanding up into the unusually high ceiling. Their torsos were sliced open and emptied into buckets of gore which laid at the feet of the dead who's abdomens were hollowed enough that the spine and ribs could be seen in the lighting. The chopping continued not four meters from the pretenders, the source of the sound now obvious.
Standing by a metal table in the center of the horror was a tall man clad head to toe in black leather and in his hand was a bloody meat cleaver that descended onto the body of a man strapped to the table, severing bone and leaking blood as the limbs were cut off with only a single expertly placed swing of the blade.
Gentle froze, all sense lost in the face of such a sight. It became worse when the chopping stopped. The man slowly turned to them, his face covered by a mask which had hooks peeling back the skin of his lips by sinking into his gums and exposing his crooked yellow teeth, but the one thing that told him all there was to know about this monster were its eyes. They were coal black, like a doll's eyes, holding no kindness or humanity, only an alien sort of indifference that cared nothing for the pain and misery of others.
Danjuro felt his mouth dry and his bowels loosen under that inhuman gaze, silently praying that it wouldn't focus on him. Which to his horror, was the case as the man swiveled his head towards Izuku and eyed the boy singularly. So many emotions warred within him, what should he do? He dared a look back at the teen, fully expecting a show of even more uncontrolled fear. Yet to his shock Izuku was smiling beneath his balaclava.
"Moonfish! What the hell are you doing here!?"
He asked with all the joy of one greeting an old friend.
The monster remained unmoving, simply watching the boy with his unreadable expression until he spoke with the still fresh blood on his suit dripping downwards.
"I've come to bring you back home, my boy. You've been away for far too long and I seek to make amends for the past, we all do."
Izuku flinched at the answer, the gun still clutched in his right hand.
"Wait what? I thought...no, no way in hell am I going back! You fuckers lied to me!"
The gimp visibly clenched a fist at that.
"Most of us had no idea what that fool was having done to you. I didn't, otherwise I would have ripped his throat out, you know I would."
He took a step towards the boy with his arms outstretched slightly.
"I'm sorry I failed to protect you as you protected me Izuku and I can't apologize enough for allowing you to suffer as you had. I know it hurts, the betrayal by those you once trusted, but I swear to you that I'll make sure nothing like that ever happens again. We all miss you and you've been wasting your time with these amateurs. Even Himiko mourns your leaving, she has honest regret about her actions, so please see the reason here and come back home."
Izuku stepped back in turn, his expression hidden by his mask as he retreated to the still shell-shocked duo.
"I don't buy that for a second, yeah most of you might forgive me but there's no way Tomura would after what I did to the old man."
Moonfish sighed exasbantly, redoubling his efforts as he began to pick up speed to where Izuku was standing.
"All For One is alive and well, your actions did little more than amuse him and he doesn't hold it against you so let us discuss this back home."
His tone took on a far more aggressive note when he was now in the middle of the room. Izuku began to shake once more, a free hand lifting to the familiar spot where his first scar was.
"I don't want to go back, I just don't want to go back. So grab your shit and go, tell everybody I'm trying my hand at a different venture or something, I don't care just please leave. I'm fine."
Izuku said in a way more befitting one his age in the current situation as the cannibal slowly turned his neutral expression into a snarl, however the boy's pleas did not go unheeded as the murderer stopped his approach. His eyes were alight with may have been anger but it held a more dangerous pitch.
"I don't believe that you are, in fact I know you aren't. You miss her don't you? You long to be by her again and it drives you into nothing but sorrow when she isn't there. Yet you know how badly she treated you so you adore and scorn her within the same breath."
He pointed a finger to the nape of Izuku's neck.
"It becomes so chaotic inside your mind and soul that you try to revert to old ways to feel anything remensiet of what you thought was grand love even if it hurts, even if it kills you. I know all too well that hell Izuku and I shall not let you suffer through it in the hands of these clowns."
The teen covered that part of his attire with a hand as he looked back at the monster, then to the still forms of his current crew. His body was still as he did so, yet Moonfish's patience had run thin as he took another step with an expectant hand reaching out.
"Come on, you know the right choice."
A sensation overcame Danjuro when he saw the teen reluctantly move towards the thing which had the audacity to claim that it wanted to help him when all evidence right down to the clothes on its back screamed otherwise. Fear had vanished from his mind the longer he stared at this abomination who was manipulating his ward, instead the sense of fear gave way to an utter loathing of the creature that sent a strength into his limbs as he felt the air around him grow thick with a sort of heat coming from his body. He put a hand on the boy's shoulder and yanked him back behind La Brava with his footfalls echoing off the desecrated walls.
"You won't be taking him anywhere, monster."
The villain blinked as if noticing him for the first time.
"And who are you to say anything on his behalf?"
The air crackled with a warping tinge as Danjuro narrowed his eyes when the disgust harbored in his soul and finally transformed into a righteous fury. He flexed his fingers and allowed the emotion to drive his conviction directly to his fists.
"I am the Gentle Criminal."
He flung forward through the air, landing a punch square into the demon's face as his quirk propelled him with each motion made. Blood dripped from the nose of the villain that opened his jaw wide and before Danjuro could react, before the sound even reached his ears, twenty shafts of white bone shot towards him with the boom of a cannon that grazed the very tip of his nose as the air around the projectiles flexed and extended out into the rubberized space he created mere moments before out of habit, then breaking apart like brittle sticks a second after as the image registered to his eye as he bounced away at an incredible speed.
The killer screamed out in pain, grabbing at the bleeding stumps of its teeth and pulled a combat knife from it's boot while glaring hatefully at him. Danjuro jumped with his power catapulting him directly towards his enemy in a zigzag pattern as he rocketed to meet the bastard. Never in all his life did anything feel as satisfying or as right as when his fist connected to the chin of that animal.
The force of the blow sent the monster crashing back into the wall, only to bounce off it with the kinetic force behind his landing sending him up into the air where another section of air recosayed him to the ground and back up again. Not taking the chance, Danjuro leaped high to meet the now human pinball and deliver a punch again and again as they both reverberated off the walls like so much rubber. Eventually they landed with Gentle on top of the thing, hitting it even as his gloves started to come apart with blood coming from both his knuckles and the drooping face of the monster.
He hit again and again with nothing else in his mind until he saw the body slump down completely, the limbs mangled and disfigured in almost comical ways and the breathing shallow and weezing. His mercy was gone at the moment, he held nothing but disgust for this parody of mankind and delivered one last stomp to the chest that let out a sharp crack. With that done he turned to his sidekicks, completely unsure of how they reacted to the event.
La Brava was awestruck in spite of the horror around her while she held to Izuku's arm in a way of reassuring the boy. Izuku was staring at the fallen body of the beast and to Gentle's silent anger, he was crying for this deviant.
"You...You killed him!"
He screamed out as he pulled away from his teammate and dropped the revolver at her feet in the process. Izuku closed the distance with his quirk empowering his entire body but Gentle grabbed his wrist and pulled him close.
"That's enough, this thing can't hurt you anymore."
A fist was sent towards his chest that while it was unenhanced, caused him to loosen his grip.
"His name was Moonfish and he was my friend!"
Izuku screamed at his elder while breaking free from his hold.
The boy kneeled down next to his former comrade, shaking him violently to get even the slightest hint of a response as wet tears fell to the leather suit. Danjuro wanted to snatch him away from the hell contained in this place, to take him and reassure him about the reality of both this man and the trauma tying him to his tormentors, but instead he waited for a few eternal heartbeats before grabbing Izuku by the shoulders to look into his tear stained eyes. No act of defiance came from the teen who sobbed uncontrollably as he clung to the jacket of the criminal for support when his legs gave way.
Danjuro shook his head with his voice becoming deep and penetrating as he ran a hand over Izuku's hair as the boy cried into his chest.
"It's alright, it's done now and everything will be fine. I promise that nothing like that will ever do anything to you again."
They hobbled back to La Brava, who placed an arm on Izuku's other side as he barely had the will to stand, much less walk. However when the trio made for the exit of the room a sound came from behind them which sounded like the cracking of bones. Then with a boom, Gentle fell to the ground with a spike breaking off in the rubberised air directly behind his head, the force of the impact failing to penetrate his skull but enough to send the man into an unconscious state as blood pooled from his mouth.
Moonfish stood up from where he lay, his mangled body shifting painfully with each agonizing step as his bones mended themselves and regrew into proper form with a few daring seconds. His black eyes had become inflamed with rage when he approached the remaining two criminals.
"You fools shall not deny me my chance for repayment!"
He shouted at the top of his lungs while Izuku stood frozen in fear until he looked to La Brava. Suddenly he stood between the woman and the fiend with his eyes wide in desperation.
"Alright, I'll go back, I'll do anything, just please don't hurt them!"
The former hero pleaded like a dying animal as he clasped his hand together.
A frown formed on the villain's lips but he said nothing when he reached out to grab the boy, but as he did so, a movement came from the redheaded sidekick. Her eyes held nothing but tears that twisted down into a snarl as she lifted something in her hands. It was Izuku's revolver.
The room was lit for a fraction of a second as she pulled the trigger. It spit out a flash of hot, bright heat that struck the madman in the chest over and over and over again after she pushed the boy aside. It echoed for six times until only the sound of the hammer clicking against an empty cylinder remained.
Moonfish fell to the ground with a thud, his body twitched spasmodically before falling into stillness. La Brava continued pulling the trigger of the gun for a time that became riddled with her whole body shaking from the shock. Izuku couldn't move with his mind, unable to do more than absorb the events unfolding around him left him imoblie. A sound came from the floor that brought a chill to the pair with the voice of one they forgot about in the chaos.
Slowly with a hand clutching his head Danjuro got to his feet with his eyes unfocused and hazy. La Brava stayed where she was, the adrenaline still making her shake. Then at once she dropped the weapon and ran to her savior.
"Gentle!"
She screamed as her arms wrapped around his torso in an ironclad hug. He blinked at the girl, then at the area around him. He quickly seemed to regain his senses and returned the hug, all the while eyeing the body of the villain with disgust. After a time, he moved to his other ward and stared at the still smoking gun on the floor. With a hesitant hand he scooped the weapon up and placed it in his pocket.
"Come now, let us leave this place before another surprise ruins our day."
He said as they motioned to the door.
"What about Moonfish?"
Izuku asked with his eyes resting on the cannibal.
Danjuro glared at the body, his heart still inflamed with that feeling of righteousness.
"Leave him here, the police will tend to him."
Izuku flinched at the statement yet despite the pain clear on his expression he nodded after staring at the carnage around and the man himself. He looked back at the villain one last time as they left the room and silently, without a word, mouthed an apology to the monster he cared for with tears dripping off his cheeks.
That night when the trio returned home, the three found nothing left inside themselves after tonight's events. It was a long, ungodly ordeal that was finally over which had drained them of all reserves of energy to do anything other than slump into the odd bits of furniture decorating the apartment. Each one knew a conversation was to happen eventually but now in the safety of their home, the only thought in mind was to sleep away the horrors of the night and they did just that without a word said between them.
Danjuro awoke late that day, his head still hurt like a rung bell and his limbs felt sorer than ever. He decided that a check up was a necessity after sorting out the hazards of what happened. Shakily he got to his feet and was about to move into the living room to meet his wards when he noticed something hanging above his bed. It was a blank piece of notebook paper attached to the wall via a thumbtack. He pulled it free and flipped it over to discover a set of writings that sobered him from the drunkenness of sleep.
"To the one known as Gentle Criminal,
It has been decided after reviewing your performance as of last night that you are worthy of watching over our lost lamb. You confronted your fear and fought without thought for your own safety in the name of protecting your charges and as such, we have deemed you a suitable candidate for shepherding our comrade into the future. Do not take this lightly for if any harm were to befall that which we have graciously lent to you then we shall visit a fate far worse unto you. Discarding the pretense, we are grateful for your kindness and wish you well in your endeavors going forward.
Best of luck,
The League of Villains
P.S Please thank Izuku for the bulletproof vest, it was a real lifesaver."
Vomit rose in his throat as he read the few lines of text, but the sensation grew worse when he heard La Brava scream for him with fear evident in her voice. He rushed through the hallway without a care for the pain in his skull as he arrived at Izuku and La Brava huddled around her computer. She turned to him with her face ghostly pale as she pointed to the screen.
It was a file of the cameras she had set up previously and in that high definition playback there stood a figure dressed in black smiling up at the camera, not a meter from where they slept. The man had opened the door and strolled inside easily with a meat cleaver attached to his suit's many hooks, he stole a glance down at Izuku and ran a hand through his hair before walking out of frame to where Danjuro's room was. It ended with the intruder bowing to the camera right as he silently shut the door behind him.
