CW: blood, gore, violence, graphic violence, torture, character death
Gang Orca kicked the front door in, startling the villains inside. There was a clattering of something, like metal hitting the floor, and people scattered. Katsuki and the other's filtered into the building, ready to fight and assessing the scene.
The ground floor was very open plan. A large room clearly separated into individual areas by furniture, not by walls. There was a kitchen area, with a fridge and over that looked at least 20 years old, several different counters that had to have been salvaged from a dumpsite and a water cooler in lieu of a sink. There was, oddly enough, a top of the range dishwasher nestled next to the oven, obviously stolen.
The living room-esque area was a similar amalgamation of the old and new. A sofa so worn and stained that Katsuki was sure someone had been murdered on it, given their present company, he wouldn't have been surprised. The coffee table was uneven, one leg shorter than the others, propped up with cardboard. Yet the television was a large smart TV than couldn't haven't been purchased legally.
Multiple villains made the decision to run when presented with the heroes, not wanting to risk their freedom. They ran through the back door. But the majority of them stayed, ready to fight. One man squared up to Gang Orca, opening his mouth wide and letting out a jet of water. Steam came from the water as it hit Orca directly in the face. The hero yelled out in pain at the blistering heat.
Dabi immediately set his arm alite, directing his blue flames towards the stream of water, his own heat causing the water to evaporate almost instantly. The villain leapt back as flames licked against his face, yelping in pain.
"Geyser." Another villain shouted, throwing his arm out towards Dabi. Vines came bursting from his fingertips, lunging towards the former villain. Shigaraki snarled, grabbing the vines before they could reach his lover. Despite the fact that he was still wearing his gloves, his Quirk activated. Decay began to spread up the vines, turning them to dust in a second. Shigaraki hissed as liquid from the vines attacked his skin. He wiped his palm down his pants as his blistering palm began to heal.
Before Decay could reach the vine villain, Poison Ivan's, fingers Eraserhead broke away from the group of heroes, jumping forward and slicing his blade through the disintegrating plant. Eraserhead then pivoted, kicking up into the villain's face, sending him flying backwards into the wall.
Chaos filled the room as the heroes and villains clashed. Eraserhead activated Erasure, taking out everyone's Quirks in his eyesight. Katsuki felt the constant heat of Explosion beneath his skin dissipate as Eraserhead's gaze fell on him. But Katsuki could fight without it.
Ground Zero was face to face with a tall and muscular man, distinctly taller than he was. But Ground Zero wasn't scared. He propelled himself forwards, slamming his body into the villain, who clearly wasn't expecting Zero to be so unperturbed by his size. The villain stumbled backwards with a groan and FrostFire was suddenly by Zero's side. Together they punched and kicked, forcing the villain further and further back. To the left Flashback was fighting tooth and nail with some woman with a mutation Quirk. Spiked ridges covered her body, her teeth pointed and sharp, her nails more like claws. She scratched and bit at Flashback, blood oozing from multiple lacerations on his arms and face, but still he fought hard. He kicked her in the stomach, and she went down hard.
Sleuth was standing, surrounded by three villains, all with their Quirks blocked by Eraserhead, who was multitasking like the Pro hero he was. Sleuth twizzled her quarterstaff around in a slow circle, a move that exuded confidence as she stared her attackers down.
She waited for them to lunge forwards before she attacked. They underestimated her, with her slight build and nonchalant attitude, but she'd been working with Best Jeanist for years and she was more than capable of holding her own. Oh, and she was fucking pissed.
She spun around, lashing out at the villains with the grace of a ballet dancer, which Katsuki knew she was. Her staff smacked against the skull of one of the villains with a satisfying thud. One villain went down, and Sleuth leapt over their body. She span again, kicking out at the second villain and punching the third.
Hawks was in a similar situation a little way off, he used two primary covets as swords and spun them in his hands as an idle threat. His connection to his feathers was affected by Eraserhead's Quirk, but he had prepared these two before going in. He wouldn't be able to move any of the others, but these two were all he needed.
He lashed out at villain after villain, clashing particularly against one with large bat like wings. Hawks didn't hesitate, using his feather sword to slice through the papery membrane of the other's wing. The bat-like villain howled in pain and Hawks was sympathetic, his own wings twitching is discomfort. But this bat chose to fight, not surrender. And that's what happens to villains.
Eraserhead was taking on villain after villain, using his 15 years of experience to give him the upper hand. He was able to use a mixture of his capture weapon and hand to hand combat to fight against several villains, whilst keeping Erasure active, helping everyone else. Besides him, Conscience had his back, mimicking his mentor as he attempted to use his capture weapon. His movements were clumsy, but they were more than enough to go against these small-time villains.
Spectre sunk his talons into the chest of one villain, pinning him on to the ground whilst he snapped at another, with his sharp beak. Transcript was by his side
Dabi and Shigaraki fought back to back, Dabi fighting against a woman with cat mutation Quirk, with yellowish and black fur. Shigaraki was going up against a muscular man, sweat beaded on his forehead, dampening his blueish-white hair.
The cat villain, Nyoko, hissed at Dabi, lashing out at his with painted red claws. Dabi put his arm up to protect his face, Nyoko's claws sinking through his already damaged and scared skin like it was nothing more than wet paper. Blood welled up through the cuts but Dabi didn't react, used to pain. Instead he grabbed one of her pointed ears and pulled, yanking her head down before twisting her body and slamming her to the floor.
Then Eraserhead blinked.
Nyoko spun around, sharp fangs sinking into the flesh of Dabi's upper arm, piercing through the leather of his jacket. Dabi yelled out, but instead of trying to dislodge her, he simply reached out and grabbed her lashing tail. He activated his flames as soon as he had a hold of the appendage. Nyoko let out a screech as her tail was cremated. She pulled hard, yanking whatever was left of her it from Dabi's grip before bolting up the stairs.
Dabi went to follow, however Shigaraki grunted in pain when the man in front of him suddenly morphed into a giant snake. Fangs dripped venom down onto him, burning through his black hoodie. Dabi yanked Shigaraki back as the snake lunged towards him, jaws closing around empty air.
Gang Orca spun around, punching the giant snake straight in the snout, knocking the creature back. It hissed, spitting venom, but it didn't reach anyone. Orca punched the villain again, knocking him out cold.
Eraserhead was tackled to the floor by one villain, wrestling on the ground. The villain was a lot bigger than Eraserhead and as such the smaller hero struggled against his grip. Conscience was pinned against the wall by his throat, but he simply kicked out at the villain's chest and was promptly dropped to the floor.
Geyser let out another jet of hot water, but Hawks surged up above it and attacked the villain, slamming down into him. Geyser squawked as Hawks landed on top of him, but he was quickly flipped onto his stomach and the Wing Hero placed him in Quirk Suppressant cuffs.
The muscles on the villain Ground Zero and FrostFire were fighting doubled in size, as did the villain in question. Poison Ivan sent vines shooting towards the two heroes, laughing in glee. But FrostFire was indifferent. He lifted his left hand, lighting the vines on fire, as he lifted his right and froze the muscular villain.
Ivan cursed as his vines were once again destroyed. The other villain broke through the ice, as Ground Zero expected. But it slowed him down enough to charge his next move. Those who had all worked with the sidekick before knew the tell-tale whine of Ground Zero's charging explosion and reacted appropriately.
Everywhere the villains stood confused at why all of the heroes suddenly shielded their eyes. They didn't have chance to wonder long, however, when Ground Zero released the stun grenade. Bright light filled the room, temporarily blinding all of the villain's present.
When Katsuki opened his eyes, he was glad to see everyone of the raid team was still up, Eraserhead having sent out his capture scarf to cover Dabi and Shigaraki's eyes. Quirk Suppressant Cuffs were handed out and soon every villain on the ground floor was cuffed and either unconscious or dazed.
"One cat lady went upstairs." Dabi said when they regrouped in the centre of the room.
"I'm not fighting a cat." Eraserhead said, Ground Zero snorted.
"Ten' are there many villains up there?" Dabi asked.
"Two, maybe three." Shigaraki replied. "I'm not sure. One of the villains, Inkling, he makes shapes, people out of ink. He's controlling them."
"Ink?"
"Like Bendy." Shigaraki muttered, Dabi nodded.
"You and your fucking video games."
"Pulse isn't with Giran and Hakamata, he's in a back room. He hasn't moved since this whole thing started."
"Is it too much to hope he just keeled over?" Sleuth muttered.
"Okay then." Eraserhead said. "Some of us need to go down there, but most of use should stay up here and deal with those two and get the kids out."
"I'd like to lead the rescue, Eraserhead." Hawks said. "With my feathers I can get the kids out really quick if we need to. Obviously, I'd prefer not to scare them too much. But if push comes to shove."
"Alright." Eraserhead nodded, not really knowing when he apparently took control of this raid.
"I'm going down there." Ground Zero said.
"Bakugou—"
"He'll just run the second he sees you. He wants me. Our best chance is if I go down there." Katsuki said. "He's not got the mirror kid and I'm not going to go with him. If we want to catch him, I'm going down there." Eraserhead sighed deeply.
"Fine, but I'm coming with you."
"I'm going too." Flashback said. "Tsunagu might panic or something, we don't know what's happened to him. I've been with him for years, he'll trust me no matter what."
"We're coming for Giran." Shigaraki said, taking a hold of Dabi's sleeve.
"I'd rather help Hawks with the rescue." Gang Orca said. "I'm good with kids."
"Take FrostFire and Conscience with you. I'm not having three students down there." Eraserhead said, the two provisional heroes nodded, as disappointed as they were, not fighting Pulse, they remembered their earlier promise not to question Eraserhead's orders.
"Sleuth should come down too, her Quirk could be useful." Flashback said. "Spectre and Transcript will help with the children."
"Alright." Eraserhead nodded. "Everyone clear on what we're doing?"
"Yes." The heroes chorused.
"Then let's go."
Hawks took the stairs two at a time. Before disappearing downstairs Shigaraki had mentioned that Inkling had made about 15 of his little ink monsters and was making more by the second. He couldn't seem establish if Inkling had a limit on the number of monsters he could produce, but Hawks assumed the quicker they took him out, the less he'd be able to produce.
Gang Orca's lumbering footsteps thudded behind him made the stairs creak and Hawk's wings twitched as he felt the other hero's breath on them. The other sidekicks followed silently, and it was strange. Hawks was used to fighting alone, he didn't really need all of these people. But still he appreciated them, he supposed.
He stopped at the top of the stairs, turning slightly to face the others, putting a finger to his lips. He then sent out a tiny down feather, allowing it to meander down the twisted corridor to find out what was going on. He listened to the information the feather relayed to him, translating the little movements in the air and whispered words into conversation he could hear.
"I didn't sign up for this. Look at my fucking tail." Nyoko hissed.
"You signed up to work for Pulse. You go down with him when it all falls apart. It's not my fault if you were stupid enough to let a fire user grab your tail." Inkling replied.
"Not just any fire user. Dabi!" Nyoko replied. "And Shigaraki is here. I knew Pulse was pissed at the League, but I didn't think it was serious enough to drive them to team up with heroes."
"I warned him when he took Giran. You mess with the League, they'll come for you. But he didn't listen and now we're either all going to die, or go to prison."
"I have no plans to do either."
"You have to do one, you've left it too late to run."
Hawks turned to face his half of the raid team.
"There's only the two of them. I'm assuming if we get the cuffs on Inkling then that should stop his control over his ink puppets." Hawks whispered. "The cat is injured, her tail, but she's going to be a vicious one."
"We'll follow your lead." Gang Orca said.
"Alright. Let's go."
And with that Hawks sprang into action. He propelled himself down the corridor, using his feathers to push himself forwards as there was not enough space to open his wings fully. The floor was covered in ink and as he hovered above it, hands reached up to grab his ankles. Hawks squawked, pushing himself up higher, but Orca was suddenly pulled into the pool.
More figures rose up from the ink, Hawks sent more feathers ahead of him, intending to destroy the things. Except his feathers just got stuck in the substance, coating the crimson feather in black, reminiscent of a seagull's after an oil spill.
Transcript and Spectre managed to help Orca out of the ink, hauling him back. Frostfire stepped forwards and all of a sudden, the ink was frozen in place. Hawks sent out a second wave of feathers, shattering the icy ink sculptures. He heard an exclamation of "shit." Before he rounded the corner.
Inkling and Nyoko were stood there. The cat's ears were flat against her head, her fangs bared and what was left of her tail was lashing side to side. Inkling on the other hand had his empty hands held up.
"I surrender." He said. Hawks heard footsteps behind him, see turned his head to see Conscience coming up behind him.
"Do you mean that?" he asked the villain, who nodded.
"Yeah you caught—" He froze his eyes glazing over.
"Go and wait downstairs with the others. Don't move until I get back." Conscience said and Inkling nodded before walking past the heroes. Spectre, who was behind Conscience stepped out of the way, as the others watched on confused.
Nyoko screeched, suddenly lunging for Conscience, who slipped on the ice and was suddenly pinned to the ground by sharp claws, pointed fangs going for his throat. Despite being known as the fastest hero in the top ten, Hawks was beaten to attack by Spectre.
The peacock leapt forwards, letting out a call of his own. He slammed his talons into Nyoko, forcing the cat to roll off of Conscience. Spectre flapped his wings hard, getting himself of the air and dropping Nyoko onto the ground.
All breath left the cat villain as she was winded but still, she tried to attack. As Hawks helped Conscience up, Spectre dove back towards Nyoko, his talons sinking into the soft white fur of her underbelly. Blood quickly bubble up around his toes.
"Bad kitty." He snarled, snapping his beak shut. Nyoko hissed, scratching out at him with her own claws, but Spectre moved quicker, snapping at her hand, crushing the bones in his beak. The woman screamed in pain, but still she didn't stop struggling. However, she wasn't strong enough to free herself. Transcript rushed over to his partner, cuffs in hand as he slapped them onto her wrist, not at all being careful of her injured hand.
"You bastards. You fucking bastards." She seethed, thrashing against the grip, however all she succeeded in doing was driving Spectre's talons deeper.
"Take her downstairs, you two, wait for the police to come and collect the other villains." Hawks said. Spectre and Transcript nodded, the peacock removing his talons from the cat's abdomen. Nyoko hissed at the movement but she said nothing as she was hoisted to her paws.
"Are you okay, Fledgeling?" Hawks asked Conscience, who nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Shinsou ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not hurt."
Hawks nodded. He took several steps towards the door that Nyoko and Inkling had been stood in front of, it was held shut with a simple sliding which he promptly opened. Hawks broke into a smile when he saw what was inside.
26 children were huddled together at the back of the room. They were filthy and skinny, the room smelt awful but there they were. The children that they'd been looking for. Hawks distantly thought that they probably should have called Edgeshot in, after all, it technically was his case.
But then he fell to his knees, as pain filled his entire body. He cried out as every nerve seemed to scream in agony. He whined as his wings curled around him.
"Hawks are you—" Frostfire cut himself off as he felt his arm break with an audible snap. He yelped, pulling his arm back as a blueish forcefield sprung up around the children.
"Stop it!" One of the children shouted, he was the worst looking of the children, covered in blood and tears. "Stop it, they're heroes."
"Sir said heroes are bad, Seiichi." Kaori said, glaring at the heroes outside of the room. Hawks cried out again and Hitoshi frowned, he'd seen Hawks take multiple blows on the TV from other villains, he's never made a sound but now, the screams were hoarse and clearly filled with agony.
"Kids, we're not here to hurt you. We're here to take you home." Shouto said, clutching his now broken arm close to his chest.
"Prove it." Roku said, but she released her Quirk. Hawks gasped as the pain dissipated.
"You're Roku, right?" Hawks asked. The girl clearly responded to her name. "I was one of the heroes who found Yuki after you were taken." He said, stretching up so he was kneeling on the floor. "He was so worried about you. He kept saying I need to find Roku. But you were gone."
"It all happened so fast." Roku said.
"I know Sweetheart." Hawks said, getting to his feet, panting slightly, gripping the door frame for support. "But your parents are looking for you, they call us all the time. All of your parents miss you and want you to come home. So please, little ones, let us in. Don't hurt us anymore."
"Chiharu, take the forcefield down." Roku said. "Seiichi is right, they're heroes." Chiharu sighed, but the blue forcefield dropped.
"Let's get you guys home."
Katsuki followed directly behind Aizawa as they went down the stairs, Shigaraki was close behind him. He could feel the pent-up energy following him, both he and Shigaraki wanting to push past Aizawa and run into the basement to find their friends. But they were stuck behind the pro, and Katsuki knew it was for the best if they followed his orders.
When they got to the foot of the stairs, there was a metal door. Eraserhead looked back at Shigaraki, his hand hesitantly on the door handle.
"Where's Pulse?"
"Over that way." Shigaraki pointed directly towards the wall. "I don't think he's in the same room as Hakamata and Giran. But he'll probably hear us if we move in."
"That's a risk we'll have to take." Eraserhead said quietly. "Is everyone ready?"
"Yes." Everyone chorused.
Without another word Eraserhead pushed the door open. The room smelled heavily of blood, so reminiscent of the Genius Office earlier that morning, Katsuki gagged, coving his mouth with his hand.
The basement looked industrial of sorts, oil drums everywhere, covered in a variety of knives and other devices. Yellowish lights hung from the ceiling, illuminating everything in the basement. Along the back wall were two figures, chained to the plumbing by Quirk Supressing Cuffs, one on each hand.
Both figures were black and blue with bruises, splattered in red, unconscious and barely breathing. Katsuki only recognised Tsunagu thanks to the black stained denim. As soon as Eraserhead gave a nod, Katsuki rushed forwards to Jeanist. Shigaraki, Dabi and Flashback close behind.
Katsuki touched Tsunagu's hip, his finger coming away bloody as he tried to shake the pro awake. Shigaraki came up next to him, pulling the glove off of one of his hands as Dabi gave him a leg up. Shigaraki reached out to touch the Quirk Supressing Cuffs one at a time, concentrating heavily so that the Decay wouldn't spread to Tsunagu himself.
The pro fell from the cuffs, right into Katsuki and Flashback's waiting arms. The hero blinked awake, groaning in pain as he came around.
"Katsuki? Junichi?" he asked.
"Shh, save your strength, we've got you." Junichi said softly. "There's an ambulance outside waiting,"
"The children…"
"The others are getting them out." Katsuki said. "Just focus on you."
Giran awoke as soon as Dabi touched him, seemingly more alert than Tsunagu was. He smiled at his rescuers as Shigaraki decayed the cuffs holding him. He landed on his feet, leaning back against the wall to steady himself.
"I knew you'd come." Giran smiled again with blood coated teeth.
"It took us a while to find you." Dabi said. "Are you okay?"
"Just a bit bruised, missing a finger." Giran shrugged, "As soon as Hakamata got here Pulse stopped paying attention to me. Sick bastard likes to slice."
Tsunagu whined as Flashback and Katsuki tried to make him step forwards. His legs were shaky underneath him and he wobbled uncertainly with each step.
"Do you need me to carry you?" Flashback asked. "I don't mind, you weigh nothing."
"No… I can walk…" Tsunagu said. Sweat built up on his forehead as the effort to move exhausted him.
Both Eraserhead and Sleuth stood together, scanning the room. Katsuki knew Pulse had entered the room based on their reactions, but fear didn't settle in until he heard the man speak.
"Well isn't this touching? Heroes and Villains working together." Pulse laughed, he wore a pair of night vision goggles on his head, adjusting them slightly on his forehead as he stepped closer. "It's almost cute."
"Kaneko Fudo, you're under arrest for kidnapping, and murder." Eraserhead said.
"Bold of you to assume you're in the position to arrest me, Eraserhead. You should know by now you're never on top. By the way, how is Present Mic?" Aizawa growled, pulling out his capture scarf, preparing to attack.
"You." Tsunagu pushed against Katsuki and Flashback, turning back to face Pulse. "You killed my best friends."
"Are you still going on about that?" Pulse asked. "Seriously, let it go. That was like, last night. Get over yourself."
"They were innocent civilians and you butchered them." Tsunagu snarled. His face was ashen with blood loss, but still he stood tall. It was then, Katsuki realised, Tsunagu thought Thimble was dead too.
"I simply executed them like the cattle they were. They were against my dream, they never would have fit in. My new world promises great things to the strong, the weak like them are always destined to die."
No one noticed the threads of denim, steadily coiling at Tsunagu's feet like a snake ready to strike. No one noticed it, that was, until it was wrapped tightly around Pulse's neck.
The villain choked as Tsunagu used his Quirk to push him back against the wall. Pulse clawed and scratched at his throat, trying to release the strand but they just got tighter. Tsunagu bared his teeth.
"You deserve death for what you did to them. You're not strong, you're a coward. You're weak and you don't deserve to live. Teruo and Raiden were my friends. It might be too late to save them, but I'm not letting you out of here unless you're in a body bag."
"Let go." Pulse laughed despite the grip, choking as he did.
"Tsunagu stop this." Katsuki turned to face his mentor. "I know you're angry, we're all angry, but murder won't solve anything." He placed his hand on Tsunagu's arm, trying to distract him. "You're a hero, don't let him turn you into something you're not."
Pulse's choking got louder as the strings of denim began to cut through his skin, blood welled up around the thread as Pulse still tried desperately to free himself.
"Tsunagu let go. If you kill him he wins." Flashback said, shaking his shoulder.
"Tsuangu, let him go." Sleuth said, coming up behind him, placing her hand on his back, her eyes turning black with the activation of her Quirk. "You don't want to do this." Katsuki clutched at Jeanist's arm, trying to pull him back, but Tsunagu remained still, pulling his thread tighter and tighter.
"Oh, but I do. He killed Teruo and Raiden."
"Raiden's still alive. He's in surgery." Sleuth said.
"He murdered Teruo." Tsunagu snapped. His eyes were distant, blood dribbled from his mouth and he looked deranged. It hurt Katsuki to see his mentor subject Pulse to something he himself was so terrified of. He had trusted Tsunagu many times to put his hands around his neck. He'd never considered how easy it was for Tsunagu to strangle someone using his Quirk.
"Dad, you're scaring me." Katsuki said, in a small voice. Tsunagu froze, realising his Quirk almost immediately. He looked down at Katsuki, tears shinning in his eyes.
"Katsuki?" Tsunagu asked, turning towards his protégé. Pulse fell to the floor, gasping, clutching his bleeding throat. "I'm sorry."
"Let's just go." Katsuki said, before turning to face Aizawa. "Why didn't you stop him?"
"Erasure… since the USJ the cooling off period got longer, it wouldn't activate." Aizawa said, taking a step closer. "Sleuth said she had it under control."
"You could have cut the strings." Katsuki snapped as the teacher came up to his side.
"I…" Aizawa frowned. "I thought—"
"Whatever." Katsuki said. "Have you got any cuffs?" Aizawa turned to face Katsuki. He opened his mouth to say something but he didn't get chance.
"Aizawa look out."
As cliché as it was, everything happened so quickly. One minute, Katsuki was stood, squaring up to his teacher. The next Pulse was lunging towards said teacher with a knife outstretched. The words "You'll never take him away from me" fell from his lips and he was ready to kill again.
Shigaraki had been the first to notice, calling out in warning and rushing towards the pro hero. He pushed Aizawa hard, with the palms of his hands, making the man fall onto the ground. Pulse didn't have time to adjust his aim and instead he drove the blade of his knife into Tenko's throat.
Choking sounds filled the room once again but this time they were wet, desperate sounds. Tenko fell backwards, the knife being pulled from his neck by Pulse. He hit the ground, clutching at his throat, his fingers becoming coated in his blood.
"Tenko!" Dabi shouted, rushing to his lover's side, pressing his fingers against Tenko's neck. The white-haired man gasped, reaching up with blood coated fingers, cupping Dabi's jaw. "Don't leave me. I only just found you. Don't… Just don't."
Tenko let out a gurgle as he tried to talk. Dabi whined as everyone else watched for a second in shock. Dabi took a deep stuttering breath, leaning down to kiss Tenko on the forehead.
"I love you too." He whimpered, taking Shigaraki's hands in his own, the fact that Decay didn't activate said it all.
Tsunagu threw out more threats of denim, wrapping them around Pulse' wrist but the villain just twisted the knife in his grasp slicing through the thread, making Tsungau cry out as his mental connection to the thread was severed abruptly.
Aizawa attempted to use his capture weapon, but from his position on the floor he misjudged the distance. Pulse laughed maniacally as he stepped towards the nearest door, pulling the goggles down over his eyes.
"Come catch me Katsuki, prove to me you're the best." Pulse said, breaking into a run and making his escape to the warren of tunnel in the basement.
"Katsuki no." Tsunagu shouted, his voice hoarse but it barely made it over the sounds of Touya's hysterical sobs.
"Bakugou don't." Aizawa called.
But Katsuki didn't listen. Instead he too broke off into a run, stepping into the corridor just as the entire building went dark.
