Shigaraki was scratching his neck in impatience. From being on the top of the underworld, feared by society and respected by those rejected by it, to resourcing to barely survive. Their supplier, Geten, hadn't contacted them, All-for-one was in Tartarus, completely isolated from them, and the Doctor was nowhere to be found.
The only ones remaining besides himself were Himiko Toga, Twice, Dabi, Compress, Kurogiri (who was away on a mission) and Spinner. They had no money, no base of operations, no Nomus available, so they had to scrap whatever they could. Right now they were cleaning an abandoned warehouse they could use to have a roof to sleep under.
"Please, handle those scraps with care… / HURRY UP YOU BOZOS!" Yelled Twice to his clones, which were removing debris and boxes, while Dabi was using his blue fire blasts to get rid of insects, and Compress was checking the plumbing was working properly. At that moment, Spinner and Toga arrived on a truck, having disguised themselves in order to buy some supplies.
"And well? What did you get?" Shigaraki asked. Disgruntled, Spinner threw a bag filled with instant noodle soup boxes. "...what's the meaning of this?"
"That's our food… for the next 4 months." Spinner replied. He wasn't in a good mood usually, but that particular day he was pissed off. Not only he had to accept the fact he was straying away from Stain's precepts each day, but he had to stand Toga begging him to steal some "real meat".
Shigaraki looked at the bag with disdain, but didn't complain. They had water, they had Dabi's fire, and Twice could make them a casserole to cook. "This would do, then." He grabbed the bag and took it to their improvised kitchen in a corner of the warehouse.
"See? I told you that we should've brought chicken, or at least some porkchop!" Toga commented snidely.
The lizard man had to loudly facepalm in annoyance. "And, for the fiftieth time, I need to remind you: I am not a thief! That's not what Stain would have wanted!" Spinner grunted. He headed to where his meager stash of things were, but noticed his sword and mask were missing. "Hey, who took my things!?"
"Sorry man / I DID!" Yelled one of the clones. "There was a locked door that wouldn't give, so I had to use something as a plank!" he yelled, showing that the sword was slightly dented now.
"Oh, right… I needed a rag to clean some oil stains…" Mr. Compress said, showing the cloth strap that Spinner used as a mask to him. "Don't worry, those will eventually come out…"
"Dammit… I told you not to take my stuff!" Spinner angrily reclaimed. Immediately he turned towards their boss to complain. "Shigaraki, this is not what we…"
He was stopped midway by Dabi, who was covered in charred bug remains. " I don't see why you're complaining, you barely use that thing." He said, pointing to the sword. "Besides, your mask is just a rag, you can get another one somewhere else."
Spinner remained pissed off, but he preferred not to challenge the black haired villain. After all, facing directly against Dabi's blue flame was a terrible idea. "Whatever… I'll go and stay on guard with… whatever I find." he replied.
Before he could leave the building, however, they heard someone calling to them "Hey, boss! We found something!" One of the Twice clones yelled. Everyone present turned towards the clone, which was headed towards Shigaraki holding something in his hands. Money? Gold bars? Weapons? Everyone gathered to see what it was about…
It was a face mask, similar to the ones worn in theatre plays. It was red all over, with a pair of horns and the top, a mouth filled with sharp fangs, a pair of eyeholes, and dense patches of fake white hair resembling bushy eyebrows, mustache and a goatee beard. "Isn't it cool? / ISN'T IT AWFUL?" the clone said, handing it to Shigaraki.
He inspected it up close. "Whatever the hell this is…" he said. There was something weird about it though. Something scary and indescribable. "Oooh, it's an Oni mask!" Toga exclaimed. "It's like those monsters from ancient japan that appeared at night and scared children who misbehave!" She replied with a maniacal grin.
"It's just trash." Finally he decided, but instead of disintegrating it he just left it at the nearby table and walked away. Having an idea, Mr. Compress grabbed it. "Hey, Spinner! Why don't you use this mask while you get your replacement? I'd say it fits your ninja aesthetic nicely!" He claimed, handing the mask to Spinner. The lizard man grabbed it.
"It doesn't even have any laces!" He complained, but by that moment, everyone else had just marched away. "Well, I can't do everything for you, can I? Just find some tape and tape it to your face!" He mockingly suggested, before walking away."
Spinner grunted annoyingly, heading to the outside. Using his quirk, Gecko, Spinner easily climbed to the nearest tree in order to mount guard, making sure nobody noticed their hideout. After a while, he got bored and reclined himself against a rock, examining the mask. He had to admit that it looked kind of scary, though he wondered how anyone would be able to look through those tiny eye holes...
As soon as the mask got close to his face, it jumped straight to his head. Surprised, Spinner tried to remove it, but it didn't budge, as the mask had a strong grip in his head now. "What the… AAAAAAGH!" He yelled in pain all of a sudden, loud enough that the other members of the League could hear him. Thinking that he was under attack, they all ran outside, just to see Spinner crouching while holding his head.
"Spinner, what's wrong?" Dabi asked, thinking that his fellow villain had been blinded, until he realized that he was wearing the Oni mask. Not only that, but it seemed like the mask was spreading across his face, turning his green scales red, the hair on the mask becoming real hair and attaching to his face, while turning his pink hair white, and his dull teeth merging with the sharp fangs.
The changes didn't stop there, as the rest of his skin was covered in red scales, and his torso and arms became twice as muscular, with a barreled chest and massive biceps that could barely fit in his ninja vest. All of a sudden, the pain subsided… but as he turned towards his fellow teammates, they noticed in horror that his brown eyes were now a sickly green, surrounded by yellow sclera.
"Uhh… Spinner, you ok?" Twice said, approaching the scaly ninja, albeit with caution. However, Spinner replied by grabbing him and impacting him against the rocks with full force… which caused him to disintegrate, as he was just a clone.
"Hey, what gives?" The real Twice asked, who was just arriving at the scene. "I just made that clone! / WOW, HOW STRONG YOU ARE!"
"This feels… nice." Spinner finally said, though it wasn't his voice, but rather a deep and rumbling demonic voice. "You were right, Compress, it fits my aesthetic really nicely."
"Hey, Spinner, what gives?" Dabi asked, readying a flame with his right arm. "You know it's forbidden to attack each other, that's the League's rule!" However, Spinner extended one arm towards him, suddenly making it float and extinguishing its flame, and then sending him flying backwards.
Befuddled, Toga and Mr. Compress headed towards him, but unlike the regular Spinner, this one was able to anticipate each of their movements, gracefully dodging each and every one of their attacks, pushing Toga backwards and punching Mr. Compress in the stomach, incapacitating him.
All of a sudden, the red scaled Spinner was surrounded by Twice clones, immobilizing him, as Tomura Shigaraki walked towards them. "I don't know what's gotten into you Spinner… But attacking a member of the League of villains is treason." He extended his hand towards his face, which meant he was about to disintegrate him whole with his Decay quirk. "And the punishment for betraying the league is death." He surrounded his scaly neck with his five fingers…
...but nothing happened. The demonic lizard in front of him just laughed in disdain. "Is that all you can do, Tomura Shigaraki? Then, let me show you what REAL power looks like. Shadowkhan, attack!"
At first nothing happened, but then, Shikgaraki noticed something happening to his shadow, as if it became alive. Suddenly, a Ninja materialized from his shadow, aiming a kunai at his neck while immobilizing his arms. At the same time, each of Twice's clones' shadows spawned a ninja which attacked directly to the heart of the clones, disintegrating them and subduing the real Twice.
"Okay, this is getting boring. Let's end this once and for all." Spinner raised his hand, sending a pulse of telekinesis through the air that levitated each member of the league and brought them in front of him. The ninja holding Shigaraki kicked him in the back of his knees, making him kneel.
"I've been thinking lately that the League of Villains needs to be in a different direction. So, from this moment onwards, I will be the one taking control. Is it okay with you, Tomura Shigaraki?" Spinner addressed his former leader with an authoritative voice that was completely unlike him.
"Unhand me, you moron!" He said, trying to escape the grip of the shadow ninja to no avail. He was still distressed to know his Decay quirk was useless against the red scaled lizard, but he could not even use it against the ninja behind him.
"Yeah, I thought it would be something like this." Spinner crouched to be face to face with Tomura, looking at him with those yellow, demonic eyes. "But don't worry, Shigaraki… soon you will learn to OBEY me." Suddenly, Shigaraly felt a cold chill down his spine, as his body was paralized by unimaginable terrors.
The more Shigaraki looked at them, the more he felt his will to fight and resist diminishing, and his will to obey and follow his new leader increased. "Y...Yes, I will obey, Lord Spinner", he finally replied, defeated. The rest of the League of Villains was astonished at his defeat.
"That's more like it. Although… I don't think I like the name 'Spinner' anymore. I need a better name suited for my new power. "He said, flexing both arms and appreciating his powerful biceps. "I need something fierce, something intimidating, like…" Out of nowhere, a name popped in his mind, the perfect name for him. "Tarakudo. Yeah, from now on, Shuichi Iguchi will be known as the great and powerful Tarakudo, king of the Shadowkhan, and leader of the League of Shadows!"
Twice was scratching his head in confusion. "I think you mispronounced, we're the League of Villains!". Spinner turned towards him. "Well, new leader, new name, new team. And a new goal, as well. We'll focus on something more important than just raiding random warehouses and performing petty thievery." He declared, as he released all the villains from his telepathic hold.
Dabi coughed a couple of times, before addressing the 'new' leader. "So, if that's the case… what's the plan now, boss?" he questioned.
"There are 9 oni masks spread across Japan, and we need to find them all. Each mask corresponds to an Oni general, each one of them has control over a tribe of shadowkhan ninjas." Spinner, or rather now Tarakudo, explained to him. "Once we get all 9 masks, the whole country… no, the WORLD will be covered in shadows! Is that clear?"
The other league villains didn't know how to respond, so they decided to just agree in unison. "Yes, Lord Tarakudo".
"Excellent. Soon, the whole world will learn to fear and tremble the name of Tarakudo!"
As always, thanks a lot for reading and faving this story!
Now the question is… which characters would be wearing each mask? Leave your guess or suggestions in the reviews.
Until next time!