Hero of the Dark Skies

by MosesArk Reborn2000

When Young Midoriya is left with the heart breaking news that he will never develop his own quirk, does he give into despair and chase after heroes? No, he strives to become a hero just like All Might and he knows just what to do to even the odds against those with quirks-he builds it, that's how. Quirkless Izuku, More confident Izuku, DC & Marvel influence

39. An New Evil – Shigaraki's Awakening

It's been a while but here we are. This chapter normally would have been released a couple of days ago but I'm been really burned out and only able to get the first two chapters of my new story done and posted. I also took the time to sit down and go through all my notes for the upcoming chapters for this story which meant that I had to seriously change things as I noticed how some events and characters will have to be edited and changed to better suit the flow of things.

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Chapter 38: And Old Evil – Shigaraki's Awakening

(With the League of Villains – Two days after 1-A completed their practical exams)

"Are you curious, Tomura Shigaraki, about that boy, Izuku Midoriya?" Kurogiri asked his young ward and his leader as he busied himself with cleaning a wine glass. Shigaraki himself was seated at the bar, looking over a picture of Izuku taken during the festival, one featuring him as he flew through the finish line of the first event.

"This kid is a little confusing. He acts like a glitch in the game but, at the same time, he's at the center of it all." Shigaraki noted, using his video game terms as he thought about this opponent.

"How so?" Kurogiri, long since accustomed to the younger man's use of such terms, asked as he could see that Tomura was maturing if only slightly is he was taking the time to learn more about his enemies.

"This little brat was the one that planned our defeat when he assaulted the USJ, he then goes on to win the US sports festival, so we know that he's not just some egghead. He can back himself up just fine with his items." Shigaraki said as he had to sit down and calm himself down after that poor performance at the USJ before he could realize who the real thorn in his side was that day. That point was driven home watching Izuku and his team fight during the second part of the sports festival. They fought smart, not hard. "Then he and two other NPCs steal our spotlight by taking on Stain and not dying, they didn't even beat him but here they are," Okay, that one stung a bit as they didn't even take that guy down, all they did was last.

"Getting praised for their actions." He finished as he crumbled the picture in his hands, his quirk turning the picture to dust within moments.

"What do you intend to do about it?" Kurogiri asked him, making a mental note to clean up the mess from that picture.

"His items, there's his strength. Take that away and he's just another weak NPC villager, easily killed with a single blow." Shigaraki said, for him, that would be easy, all he'll need to do is touch them. "But…"

"But?" Kurogiri asked him, wondering what was going through his ward's head as he would have normally stopped there.

"They could serve us just as well, if not better then they serve the heroes. If we can get him to join us, our rank and file can get themselves some useful equipment. Isn't that right, sensei?" Shigaraki proposed as he turned to look at the monitor in the corner. They both knew who he was talking to.

"A thoughtful observation, Tomura. You never know when you can turn an enemy into an alley. From what I have been able to dig up about this young hero in training, he has had a challenging life. He could be receptive to your message if you word it right." Sensei agreed with him as he could feel the smile growing on his face at the fact that his student was maturing. He was happy that he brought that up as he had made use of the tactic in the past, it was quite effective.

"What about the son of Endeavour? He had a useful quirk, and the waves it'll generate if he were to turn to our site will go a long way to destroying hero society." Tomura asked as he looked down at another picture, this one a still shot of when the three students took on Stain.

"Nothing much there, it appears that Todoroki household is rather tight-lipped about the going ons of their family. Not even former servants know anything of use." That in of itself was intriguing to the man known as 'Sensei'. There is no gossip or rumors about All Might's personal life makes sense, he never married and has no children, but Endeavour, on the other hand, had four kids. All he could find was that his wife suffered a mental lapse years ago and is currently in hospital. He'll have to look into that to find out more.

"Can't we just take them out when there are with their families? They're students, first-year brats at that. They won't know what hit them." Shigaraki asked the two older men.

"I would advise against that, Shigaraki. If we were to strike the student's homes or loved ones, it will surely bring down the full force of the heroes on us. At this stage, we wouldn't survive such a campaign, much less pull a victory." Kurogiri stated his refusal to such a plan of action.

"He is right, Shigaraki. There is a reason that even in the time before quirks, we criminals rarely ever targeted law enforcement in their own homes. For now, we'll stick to the rules of engagement." Even sensei disagreed with such an action. They would not last as if they made their fight against the heroes personal. One of their key advantages was that many saw this as a job, nothing more but if they targeted family, it'll only pour fuel on the blaze in the heroes' hearts to see them fall.

"Either way, obtaining Midoriya will be quite the boon for us, if we could combine his tech with our Nomu's, we could create a formidable fighting force against the heroes." Kurogiri did agree with his ward's idea to capture and turn Midoriya to their side. The boy was quite smart for his age and would only improve with time.

"Yes, the doctor has raised those some concerns with me. But I've recently got into contact with someone who may be able to help us in that regard." Sensei added in as he thought back to the conversation he had with the mind behind the nomus. Then he recalled a rather interesting phone call he had the other day.

"Who?" Shigaraki asked him, only to receive an amused chuckle in return.

"You'll just have to wait and see, Tomura. But I can assure you that you'll like the results." Sensei promised him as if their plans worked, it'll really shake the boat of the status quo and be a blow to the morale of their enemies.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Shigaraki." Someone spoke up after they knocked on the door and opened it. "You've been quite the talk of the town recently. I hear you're planning something big." A puff of smoke came in first as a grey-haired man in a cheap-looking suit walked in, lit cigarette in hand.

"Don't toy with you if you wanna live. Did you even bring them like you said you would, or are you just here to piss me off?" Shigaraki asked the man, not even surprised he was here since he was something of a regular for them. In response to this, the man stepped aside and allowed the three people who were with him to walk in. Two of which were male and the third was a young girl.

"Man, I saw a picture of you before coming here, but I didn't think you'll be this gross in person." The tallest of the three, a dark-haired man with brilliant, yet dull blue eyes said. He wasn't wearing anything special but what stuck out about him was the scarred skin across his exposed body. His neck, lower jaw, his ears, and underneath his eyes, all nothing but dark red scar tissue.

"Wow, it's the hand guy! Giran said you're friend with great Stain, right? Right?" The shortest of the girl, the blonde girl with wild, cat-like eyes said as she seemed either excited or something. "I want in, please let me join your league of villains!" She was dressed in a school uniform fitting for something in high school but Shigaraki couldn't place it, not that he knew the uniforms of the schools in Japan off by heart but he was pretty sure he hadn't seen this one being worn by anything one in the area, hinting she was most likely not from around here.

"I was expecting…..more of those who alley themselves with Stain." The last of the noted as he looked around the bar with clear disdain. What was different about him was the fact he had a reptile-like appearance with bright green scales and a face shaped like that of a lizard. His hair was pretty long, the longest present, and was a shake of pink-purple. "Are you allies to such a great man?" Aside from that, he dressed the most normal of the three, wearing a light blue hoodie and black leather jacket along with faded blue jeans and boots.

"Kurogiri, get rid of them. Just about everything I hate, they are. Some girl, a rude guy, and some Stain follower." Shigaraki was dismissed as he was displeased with the introductions of these three. He had to hear enough about Stain in the news, he refused to have that bastard's followers in his group.

"That might not be the best move right now, Shigaraki. They came all the way here, at least we can hear them out." Kurogiri advised him as he turned to look at the smug, smoking man as he stood by the wayside. "Besides, Giran is one of the best brokers in Japan, if he brought them here, then they have to be worth it, isn't that right, Giran?" He asked the now named man. Unlike them, while he was villain by law, he was mainly a broker and black market dealer, which meant he was the kind of guy who preferred backroom deals over brawls with heroes in the street.

"I appreciate the praise, Kurogiri but as long as I get my commission for scouting and bringing them here, I don't give a damn what you do with them." Giran said as he took a drag of his cigarette. "But seeing how I did bring them over, I might as well introduce them so you know what you're getting."

"Why don't we start with the lady? This cute high school girl's name and face are being tightly under wraps by the media but she's on the run due to being a suspect in 13 deaths via blood loss." Giran introduced the shortest of the three potential members of the league. To which she added to her introduction.

"Hi! My name is Toga! Himiko Toga! Life is hard! I wanna make a world where it's easier to live, just like Mr. Stainy!" Toga started as the blush on her cheeks grew in intensity as her eyes started to shine with a mad light. "I wanna kill Mr. Stainy, so please let me join your league of villains."

"What the hell? Is she crazy or something?" Shigaraki asked the guy as it was clear as day this girl was a few slices short of a load.

"She can hold a conversation for the most part, but don't expect her to pass any mental health tests anytime soon but I'm sure she'll be of some use to you." Giran, none too worried about it, explained to him as Toga nodded her head at the part about conversational skills. How else would you trick people in the streets into thinking you're sane?

"Next up, we have Mr. Patchwork. He hasn't committed any flashy crimes yet but he holds fast to the hero killer ideology." Giran moved onto the tallest of the three, who looked bored and wishing to be somewhere else with that lazy posture.

"This smells rotten, I can feel it. Do these people have a just cause? Don't tell me you're going to let this crazy girl join up." And clearly, he did not hold back his opinions, even if not wanted, and rude as Toga looked slightly offended but kept the smile on her face. The third unnamed one voicing his thoughts on the matter.

"I have to agree there, this is nothing that I expected and that is rather, unsettling." The green-scaled lizard guy said as he looked Tomura in the eye at that last part.

"And what you, you uptight emo? You can't even do what that girl was able to do. Give your name first, you're an adult, aren't you?" Shigaraki all but demanded as he felt himself growing irritated with these three.

"I currently go by Dabi." The revealed Dabi replied, though there wasn't a single person present who bought that.

"And I'm fucking Best Jeanist. I asked for your name, not some made-up alias." Shigaraki repeated himself to this apparent smart-ass.

"When the time is right, I'll tell you. But I will carry out the will of the hero killer. That you can be sure of." Dabi said as he blinked slowly before opening his eyes again. A little gleam to them at the mention of the hero killer.

"You don't get to answer questions whenever you want." Shigaraki was quick to retort to him before he turned to the last person present. If he had stayed on Dabi any longer, he'll have tried to kill him. "And what's the story with you?"

"He's Spinner, real name is Shuichi Iguchi. He's wanted for four accounts of assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm and two attempted murders." Giran answered that question for him as he found this guy to be quite entertaining. Having heard how he battles several minor heroes in his area. Sure none of them would have ever placed in the top 50 but it was still impressive in a way.

"Those fakes had it coming. They were nothing but false heroes." Spinner retorted, not feeling sorry in the slightest for what he had done to those people. This seemed to be the last straw as Shigaraki was now really pissed off.

"Stain this and Stain that. I'm getting sick and tired of hearing that bastard's name every ten minutes." The hand-masked man said as he felt like grinding his teeth as he got up from his seat to face the group.

"Shigaraki, you must be reasonable-!" Kurogiri, seeing where this was going, tried to calm him down before a fight could break out.

"I don't feel good." Shigaraki stated as he appeared to calm down if just a little bit, but all three felt it. The sense of danger put them all into high alert combat readiness.

"So I'll just kill the three of you here!" Shigaraki finished as he charged the three, both hands outstretched. To meet this act of aggression, Dabi turned one hand to face him, flickers of embers building. Toga pulled out a small knife from somewhere in her jacket. Spinner in the meantime was lifting his right arm as his other one reached for it, there seemed to be a glimmer of something hidden within the sleeve, just underneath his forearm. But before any violence could break out, Kurogiri acted, using his quick to redirect everyone's hand in different directions to prevent any friendly fire.

"Please calm down, Tomura Shigaraki. If your wish is to come to pass, then we must increase our organization's numbers." Kurogiri said as he tried to downplay the tense situation before it could boil over. His head stretched out towards Shigaraki so that he could speak with his ward without the others hearing him. "Also, we are in the spotlight right now, so we should use that to our advantage the best we can." He whispered to the pale-haired man.

"You must use it. All of it. All of the ideology he left behind, will be fuel to feed your ambitions." He reminded him as they both realized a while back that Stain's philosophy was the one responsible for bringing new life into the criminal underworld and it would likely mean they'll get more members.

"Forget this." Hating the fact that his partner was right, Shigaraki agreed to lower his hands which caused the others to lower their hands as well, allowing Kurogiri to release his quirk. But as soon as he did so, Shigaraki started to walk off, right on past the three he nearly attacked.

"Where are you going?" Giran asked him, concerned that he wasn't going to get paid.

"Shut it!" Shigaraki yelled back as he slammed the door shut behind him and left.

"Man, I don't like to complain about a client, but….he's young. Too young for this business if that's how he acts." Giran said as the group all watched as the would-be leader, left in a fit that appeared more common for children whenever they don't get their way.

"I thought he was going to kill us." Toga said, her tone sprinkled with excitement and a little fear as she rarely felt her danger sense go off so violently like that. He was dangerous.

"He makes me sick." Dabi on the other hand dismissed it. Spinner simply kept to himself as he watched the door.

"Will it be acceptable for us to give you our answer at a later date? I believe he knows what that answer is, it's because he knows that he left without saying anything." Kurogiri asked of them as he knew that his ward realized this but he wasn't one to accept such things easily.

"All Might, Hero Killer….He's been humbled twice already. I'm sure that he'll reach an answer that all parties will be satisfied with." He explained to them the reason why Shigaraki wasn't thrilled to meet them as one would expect.

"I'll follow him." Spinner said as he turned around to go for the door himself.

"Why would you want to follow that guy?" Dabi asked the lizard-looking guy who paused as he was reaching for the door handle.

"He doesn't strike me as a follower of Strain, but more of an animal. He could very well lash out at innocents to try and deal with his anger. I cannot allow such to a thing happened. If need be, he'll take care of him myself." Spinner explained his reasoning.

"Bold words, Lizard Breath." Dabi told him as he looked him over and could say he wasn't that impressive but then again, he was a skinny guy covered in scar tissue so what did he know.

"I have my ways." Spinner stated as he opened the door and walked out, closing it much more softly compared to the Shigaraki slamming it shut.

"Master, is it wise to let him leave?" Kurogiri asked the TV screen as they both knew that Tomura had a dangerous temper. Even if Spinner didn't do what he said he would, the guy getting into a fight in public would only hurt them in the long run.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it. The guy isn't some noob. He'll be able to keep an eye on Shigaraki without the guy ever realizes it." Giran said as he knew that Spinner didn't look like much and liked retro video games way too much but he was far from a pushover or inexperienced.

"Yes, I have faith that he won't act out in any way that would be….displeasing. Tomura could even take this chance to better himself if he's willing to open himself up to it that is." Sensei agreed with him as he looked over the information on Spinner that Giran was able to get.

"Yes, master." Seeing that he had no say in it, Kurogiri could only comply with the two of them.

'Besides, according to this Spinner's file. He isn't someone that would kill Tomura without reason. No he most likely went to observe Tomura for himself and then make his decision. Smart lad.' Sensei thought to himself as he knew that if Spinner did try something, it would only serve as another wake-up call for Tomura to further learn.

---

(The previous day – UA High)

"I still can't believe it. We didn't make it." Sato and the rest of those who failed in 1-A moped as they had an air of depression about them. It had been two days since their exam and while the previous day they were off seeing how 1-B was taking it, it gave them enough time to stew in their defeat.

"So long to our summer of fun. Guys…." Kaminari said to the group as he held back the tears. "Please make sure to tell us everything when you get back."

"I just hope we find something to keep us busy." Aoyama, for once, wasn't all sparkly as he said his piece.

"That's what you get for not thinking, you spiky-haired idiot." Bakugo, being himself, didn't even bother to offer anything words of encouragement as he talked with Kirishima. It had been hard these past couple of days to reign in his temper as Recovery Girl had seen fit to notify his folks about the fact he wasn't allowed to set off even the tiniest explosion as he healed. Though he was able to get by treating it as training in self-control.

"Bakugo! I promise to train extra hard this summer." Kirishima, also being himself, took his friend's words to heart as he vowed to train harder than ever…provided he could find the time between the summer classes he'll have to attend.

"You do that." Bakugo told him. As this was going on, the group of those who failed broke up as they went to talk in their group.

"Sorry about that Jiro. Hopefully, they'll be something for the winter break, right?" Kaminari tried to keep a smile on his face but he couldn't muster it up. Feeling for him and his (adorable) puppy pout, Jiro threw him a bone.

"Don't let it get to you too much. I mean, it was an exam, you can learn from that, can't you?" She asked to cheer him up as they all knew they had uphill battles from the beginning. No shame in a defeat, it was only their first hard exam after all.

"Yeah, but it still sucks that while you're having fun, I'll be stuck here, in summer school." He answered as he recalled the look on Aizawa's face when he told them that. They were so scared and depressed, they forgot to ask if anyone from 1-B failed.

"Were the exams that hard?" Meanwhile, in another group, the newly returned Iida questioned his friends on the challenges they had to face while he was away.

"Oh yeah. They put us through the wringer. Though I think they have something planned for you." Midoriya, who was still wearing a sling for his left arm, replied. Asui nodded their head in agreement, following Recovery Girl's advice on not speaking unnecessarily. That last part proved to be quite challenging when you had two young siblings but she somehow managed.

"Really?" Iida asked the two as he was unable to speak with them after their exams due to being in his final court hearing so this was the first he was hearing about this.

"Let's not talk about that, how about we focus on your assistant class rep being back in the saddle?" Ashido, who was fully recovered and back to her old self, suggested as he jumped up and wrapped an arm around the much taller boy's shoulders to bring him into a one-arm hug.

"She's right man, how's it feel to be a free man?" Sero asked the dude as he bumped him in the ribs, his toothy grin on full display as their class was no complete once again.

"It was a troubling time for me as you surely must have known. But I will never forget this and use it as a learning moment to better myself as a student and a future hero." Iida answered them with the same robotic flair that he was now known for throughout the entire first year of UA. Watching all this go down, Iida's friend group would only chuckle at it.

"That's our Iida." Uraraka said with a fond smile as Iida got into a small argument with Ashido over proper school manners.

"Yes he is, but I doubt we'll appreciate him any other way." Tokoyami said as they had come to enjoy one another mannerisms.

"I didn't know he was this lively." Shinso said as he watched this go down. Even if Iida was back, he still had a seat in the class, only now like 1-B, there was an extra table for him already present.

"Oh he is and more, just wait a while and you'll see." Midoriya told him with a little laugh before he changed the subject. "By the way, I hear you still haven't been told which class you're in yet."

"I don't even know if I'm in the hero course yet. They just keep bumping me from class to class. Though I can't complain." Shinso replied as he was still told to report to one of the two classes whenever they were in session but other than that. Nothing.

"Hey guy, cheer up. I gotta be getting in soon. Aizawa can just be grumpy sometimes and not want to talk about his feelings." Ashido said to cheer him up as he always looked like he needed some sunshine…and a nap in his life.

"What was that about me not talking about my feelings?" Speak of the devil and he will appear as to the surprise of the entire room, Aizawa was standing in the open doorway as he watched Ashido like a hawk. How he was able to open the door and stand there for who knows how long without a single person noticing him was beyond them.

"Shit!" Ashido jumped up in fright at the man's unexpected arrival.

"For your information, we don't judge students depending on we feel about them, but solely on their merit and potential. So why don't you all take your seats." Aizawa explained to her, his face giving off a little irritation at her little jab towards him but before he could even finish his sentence, he saw that everyone was able to quickly get into their seats and faced the front. The second row from the door being extended a bit to make room for Shinso's desk which now sat in-between Koda and Kirishima's desks.

'Good timing, at least their learning.' Aizawa noted to himself but didn't let any of that approval show on his face before he took his position at the front of the class.

"Alright, I'll cut to the chase about things and save us all the time. Aoyama, Kirishima, Sato, and Kaminari. All four of you failed in your practical exam and as a result, shouldn't be eligible for the summer training camp…." He started as the four mentioned students sunk into their chairs in sadness. "But that's not true, all of you are going!" Aizawa three them a curveball as he said the last part with a big smile on his face, one that wouldn't scare kids but one that still seemed off. Like he was paid to smile and nothing more.

'A Last-minute twist!' Everyone who failed thought to themselves as they felt hope flicker in them once more.

"We can go, for real?" Sato asked, hoping that it wasn't some cruel joke.

"Yeah. Four of you failed the practical but none of you failed the written portion. The lowest average in the class was Kaminari with 66%." Aizawa revealed to them as he was quite impressed that Kaminari was able to boost his average by 11% since their midterms.

"Yes, thanks Yaomomo. I got a higher average this time around." Kaminari turned around to face the source of his good grades as he didn't a quick bow from his seat to her.

"You're welcome. I'll be more than happy to help you again if you need it." Yaoyorozu replied to him, happy that he got a grade he was content with.

"As some of you might have guessed, we as the teachers played the villain side but we did leave ways for you to either take us down or get past us. What we were grading was how well you could do so. If he hadn't, none of you would have passed. Those who might up against All Might and Nejire know this well." Aizawa let that little conversation side before he continued with his explanation, facing the five that had the hardest challenge of all to get by.

"Hate to admit it but yeah, if he wanted to pummel us, we wouldn't have stood a chance." Midoriya, for all of the jokes, couldn't dispute that fact as he of all people knew just how strong All Might was. Even with those weights slowing him down.

"My skin is still aching from that." Sero massaged his jaw as he had to use a lot of moisturizer and drinks large amounts of water to make up for the damage he did to himself when he overused his quirk.

"So wait, when you said you were out to crush us…" Ojiro spoke up as he recalled how the teachers had told them they were going to try to beat them.

"It was to make you feel cornered. We needed to ensure they you all performed at your absolute best so we could get the best possible results." Aizawa explained that too as they needed the students to approach this with as much realism as they could manage for first years. "Also, it was long decided that no matter your performance, pass or fail, all of you were to be allowed to attend the summer training camp so long as your parents gave consent." He added in as he heard from Vlad that he informed his students of this before their exam.

"After all, those who failed to need this far more than those who passed as this camp is all about improvement and gaining strength. If we followed that flawed logic, then Iida and Shinso wouldn't be allowed to attend as neither of them did the practicals, to begin with. So in essence." Aizawa pointed out the flaw in the reasoning they had been lead to believe before he finished off his statement. "It was a logical falsehood." Once more he smiled but now his smile seemed like the type you gave your friend when you were messing with them….wait a minute.

"A logical falsehood?!" The whole class burst out in shock. What was up with this guy and his deceptions?!

"Man, I'm starting to think this guy become a teacher to screw with students." Midoriya muttered to himself as he was scared stiff when he found out he would have to fight All Might of all people.

"I wouldn't put it past him." Bakugo seemed to agree with him, something that was rare as the two looked onward towards their teacher.

"Sir, even if it was deemed necessary. You have lied to us twice now, how will you respond if our trust in your wavers?" Iida jumped to his feet as he proposed his question. Sure he wasn't there but he had heard from his friends enough about the exams to know they were no joke and they all treated them as such.

"Come on Iida, you're being a wet blanket." Uraraka said from her place behind him, keeping it to herself as amusing it was to watch Iida do his thing.

"That is true and I did consider it, which is why I wasn't lying about everything." Aizawa, on the other hand, took his question seriously as he addressed it. As fun as it was to mess with students, there needed to be a level of trust between the two for them to function properly. Both in the class and training. With that said, he turned his tired but still scary gaze towards those who failed.

"Failure is failure. We have prepared a separate schedule for those who didn't cut the practicals. While those who passed will be given time for relaxing, fun, and game, you'll all be taking extra classes with me or Vlad." He told them, watching as the life drained from them when they realized that their summer camp really will be mostly training. "They'll be even harder than what you would have got if you stayed here." Okay, he only added that part to screw with them. They didn't need to know it till they got there after all.

'Dammit!' They all thought to themselves.

---

(Later – At the end of the school day)

"Well, in any case. I'm glad we can all go together." Ojiro said to the class as a whole as they all went through the info books that had been handed out shortly before classes had ended.

"The training camp is about a weak long right?" Iida said as he looked at the dates which the camp will cover. He thought it would have been longer than just a week, maybe two but UA must have their reasons.

"According to this, we gotta bring a lot of our gear. I'm not even sure I have everything on the list." Midoriya said as he went through his list with Tokoyami and spotted a few items he didn't have.

"No kidding, I don't have a bathing suit that fits anymore. Been a while since I went to the beach." Kaminari said as all he had was the school issue one but that's it.

"I don't have night-vision goggles." Mineta added.

"Why do I have a feeling I'll need to break them the first night there?" Tokoyami asked the boy as he could only imagine the perverted antics Mineta would get up to. He was in no mood to have any sleep he may have been disturbed because of Mineta getting caught red-handed.

"Hey!" Mineta yelled back at him, clearly offended.

"Oh, I know! Since we're all off tomorrow and finished all our exams, why don't we all go to the mall to get everything we need?" Hagakure suggested to the group.

"Oh, good idea, Hagakure!" Kaminari agreed with her. It was a fun way to bond with their classmates too.

"Came to think about it. Wouldn't that be the first time we hung out as a class?" Uraraka asked as when she thought about it. They hadn't done much as a group.

"That's right." Jiro said in agreement.

"You coming, Bakugo?" Kirishima asked his friend as the class started to discuss this when and where they'll meet up.

"Like I'll do something like that." Bakugo dismissed it as he walked towards the door.

"He's just gonna have his mom get everything for him while he pigs out on the couch with a bag of Cheetos." Midoriya waved him off without even looking at him. Prompting a response from the blonde.

"Fuck you!" Bakugo yelled at him, barely keeping himself from using his quirk.

"Don't swing that way!" Once more, Midoriya countered. He needed something new to say the prick if he was going to keep using that counter.

"Come on man, it'll be fun!" Kirishima on the other hand, pressed him as he swung a hand around his shoulders and gave him a toothy grin.

"Arg…Fine! If it'll get you losers to stop." Bakugo relented as he didn't feel like dealing with shitty hair pushing for him to go with them.

"Will you show up, Todoroki." Uraraka asked their duel-haired classmate as he gathered his things.

"I can't. I normally go visit my mother on off days." Todoroki informed her as he already had plans to visit his mother.

"What about you, Shinso. Have any plans?" Midoriya asked their on-again/off-again classmate.

"Yeah, I'm already going with Kendo, Shiozaki, and Monoma. They discussed this before they had their exam." Shinso replied as they already had a similar discussion in 1-B. Only many of them had plans already and couldn't go.

"Good luck dealing with Monoma." Midoriya shot him a salute as the boy got his stuff and made his way towards the door.

"Thanks, I'll need it." Shinso said over his shoulder as he could already feel the headache coming on. He'll have to ask Kendo how she deals with him the next time they meet up to head to the training dojo.

---

(The next day – Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall)

"And so, here we are!" Ashido announced as the group arrived at their destination. Allowing them to see the grand mall in all its splendor.

"With by far, the most stores in the prefecture. With the newest, coolest, and move advanced stores and wares," She presented as they all looked around at how the place was a mix of street marketing, open roof, and multiple story shopping complex. "Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall." And much like any shopping mall would be, it was jammed packed with people either shopping, out for a bite, or hanging out with friends

"Man, I forget how just how many stores have adapted to cater to the needs of people with mutant quirks." Midoriya said to himself as he looked around at all the different stores and what they had on display. They had pants for people like Iida in one and shirts for people like Shoji in another. He was wearing one of his white t-shirts along with blue baggy pants and his red shoes. Like many of his shirts, his shirt said an odd message, this one being 'What I wanted to say was copyrighted.' In Kanji.

"Oh, aren't those UA students?" Someone in the crowd noticed them as he pointed towards them, drawing both their and everyone else's attention.

"Oh yeah! They are, they killed it during the sports festival." Another person said as he spotted Tokoyami.

"Oh, there are still people that remember that?" Uraraka asked as he felt a little nervous as people in the crowd tried to approach them.

"Trust me, it's not as bad as it can get." Midoriya said as he and Iida had to fend off people wishing to learn more about their encounter with Stain.

"Oh yeah, you guys still get noticed for Hosu." Mineta said as he looked at the two being swarmed by the group of fans. Even Iida despite the fact he was down for the entire televised section of the fight.

"It makes going anyway a pain. I had to stay in my house for three whole days since whenever I went, some guy recognized me." Midoriya whispered to them as he fought his way out of there before reaching in and pulling Iida out.

"Well, we'll leave you to that, I got a get a large carry-on to fit everything." Jiro said as she turned to Yaoyorozu.

"Why don't we look for a good one together? I don't need much but it would be fun to have a friend with me." Yaoyorozu didn't need anything for the trip, but she still wished to be bond with her classmates and friends, hence the reason why she was present.

"Where can I get lock picking tools and small drills?" Mineta thought aloud as he looked for a store that might have what he was looking for.

"I hope that you don't have ill intentions in mind for such devices." Iida told him as he fixed his glasses. Now that he was back in the saddle, he'll ensure proper behavior from all his classmates, even on their camp.

"Well I don't have any outdoorsy shoes, so I'm gonna go get some." Kaminari said towards Hagakure as they stood to the side.

"Oh, I'll go with you!" Hagakure cheered, showing off her optimism with what little of her body language she could express.

"The guide said to bring shoes that are already broke in!" Iida intervened there before they could go off but then paused to consider it. "Or perhaps we need to bring shoes based around utility."

"I need new training gear. There's no way in hell that I'm bringing what I have at home on this trip." Bakugo said as he pointed towards a store that sold training equipment.

"Hey everyone, since we all need different stuff, why don't we separate into smaller groups and get what we need like that. We can meet up for lunch later." Kirishima suggested to the group when it became apparent that most of them needed stuff that was completely unrelated to the other. If they didn't branch off, then they'll be stuck here the whole day, which was something they all knew would boring with time.

"I agree!" Ashido stated her approval.

"Alright, we'll meet back here at 2pm." Kirishima said as he looked towards a clock and saw that it was still pretty early, about midday.

"Okay!" Everyone called out as they all turned and left to do their own thing.

"Man, everybody's quick when they need to be, aren't they?" Midoriya said as he found himself alone with Uraraka.

"Yeah." Uraraka was equally impressed with the speed at which the group broke up.

"By the way, what do you need, Uraraka? I just need to get some supplies for outdoor repairs and upgrades. Chances are, I'm gonna need them." Midoriya said as he had a feeling that he'll come up with some new upgrades for his hero gear on this trip. So he'll need more than just writing supplies to record all his ideas, calculations, diagrams, and sketches but also tools and materials to construct them. They were gonna be in the woods so he'll be able to find somewhere safe to test them out pretty easily.

"I need some bug spray." Uraraka answered him before she realized that the two of them were alone….out of school…at the mall and soundly panicked "Bug spray!" She yelled with a furious blush on her face as she high-tailed it out of there, leaving a friend and classmate confused as all hell.

"Hold on, since when I'm a bug?!" Midoriya yelled back as he didn't know what the make of that. "Why are girls so strange?" He asked himself as he tried to think back to anytime he had offended her and couldn't think of one.

'Dang it, Ashido. That's not it. I'm not into it,' Meanwhile, with Uraraka, she ran further away as she tried to get control over her blushing cheeks. Recalling the comment Ashido had made in the girls' locker room sometime back. 'I think.'

"Great, we came as a group, and somehow, I'm by myself anyway." Midoriya said to himself with a huff as what should have been a group activity somehow left him by himself. "Might as well get one with it." He concluded as he turned around to go off and look for some supplies but he was intercepted.

"Oh, hey. You're from UA, right?" Some stranger in a black hoodie said as they walked up to him and swung an arm around his shoulders.

"Can I get an autograph?" The guy asked him, appearing to be a fan of the student. "It was amazing, watching you beat your way to the top during the sports festival." He chuckled as he looked down at the shorter boy who just laughed awkwardly at this attention.

'As expected of UA, so many people watched and still remember us but can't people see when you're busy?' Midoriya thought to himself as he knows was starting to understand why All Might super jumped everywhere. 'But on the other hand, why do I get this dangerous feeling from him?' That was the odd part as unlike the others from before, this guy had an air to him that didn't fit.

"And you were one the guys that took on Stain not too long ago, right? Man, I gotta admit, it was exciting to watch that one. You rarely get to watch someone fight for their lives like that." The apparent fan said to him as he smiled from underneath the hood and his pale blue hair.

'Okay, there is something seriously off with this guy. Who talks like that?' Midoriya was careful to not let his face slip what was going through his head but he did slowly reach for the newly compacted taser he kept with him at all times. Though he had to be very careful to not alert this guy as he wasn't sure why but he seemed familiar….in the bad sense.

"But then again. It was a good chance to see you fight since I didn't get to see much of during our USJ attack." The man said as his smile took on a darker tone as he looked at the boy with his bloodshot red eyes.

'Wait a frickin minute. There is only one other time I can pick out somebody with that voice.' Midoriya felt his heart rate increase and his breathing climb over so slightly as he recalled the one other time he had heard this voice, seen those eyes, felt this way.

"What are the odds of us meeting like this? It feels like destiny, or maybe fate if you're into that kinda thing." Shigaraki asked him as the arm that was around his shoulders moved so that his hand was gripping at his neck, all but one finger was in contact with his which made him gulp down spit as he remembered what these hands were capable of.

"Why don't you and I sit down for a nice cup of tea and a chat, Izuku Midoriya?" Shigaraki asked him with a sick smile as he stared down at the boy, both of them knowing that Midoriya was the prey and he was caught in a trap.

"Tomura….Shigaraki…!" Midoriya called him out slowly as he locked his sacred but determined gaze into Shigaraki's own.

"Act natural….I'm just an old friend you happen to ran into at the mall. Don't make a fuss, calm down and catch your breath." Shigaraki told him as he kept his grip on the boy but made sure he could still breathe and that the two of them didn't come off as suspicious to the people around them.

"I just want to talk to you, nothing more." He told the younger boy as he looked away to make sure no one was watching them. he didn't see anyone but he felt this weird sensation of eyes on him.

"Forgive me if our last encounter makes that hard to believe." Midoriya told him as he calmed himself down. He knew that he was in a stalemate and any sudden, unplanned action on his part would lead to his death.

"I suppose that would happen. But I wouldn't try anything if I were you. Someone as smart as you must be able to figure out what would happen if all five of fingers make contact with you." Shigaraki said as he started waving his ring finger around, keeping it from contact with the boy's skin by mere millimeters to scare him and drive home the fact he was his prisoner for the foreseeable future.

"I won't have to worry about neckties ever again, is that right?" Midoriya grounded out as he kept on silently drawing his taser and getting it into position, taking even more caution now that he knew what he was dealing with.

"That's a smart boy, you are correct. If all five make contact, the skin on your neck with decay, soon followed your throat. You'll be nothing but a pile of dust within a mere minute." Shigaraki told him, something he believed as he had seen the damage he had done during the USJ and what he reduced the main gate to before the attack. If he could do that to steel and stone, then flesh and bone wouldn't even be a challenge for him.

"Come on, a guy like you can't be that stupid. You and I both know that if you did that, the police and heroes will be here within minutes. You'll be caught." Midoriya retorted as he looked around and saw that with this many people, there would be no doubt, somebody, on their phone, it wouldn't even take five minutes for this place to be swarming with pros.

"That's true. There is no way I'll be able to fight my way out of that, not as things are but tell me," Shigaraki said as he gestured toward the crowds surrounding them. "Look at all these people. Any one of them could use their quirk and start a bloodbath at any time. How can any of them gather like this knowing that? When it comes down to it, the law and rules all assume that people have morals and that they'll follow them." He said as they both observed how groups of friends and families went about their day. Parents tended to their children and mall workers performed their duties.

"They've convinced themselves that there is no way someone would do that. That is against the rules, that it wouldn't be nice. So tell me," Midoriya was starting to wonder where he was going with this until the guy finally asked the question that chilled him to the bone. "How many people do you think I kill before I went? 20, or is 30. I think I could take down 40 of them before I go down." Shigaraki said with a sick, blood-thirsty smile as the boy felt like his soul left his body at that. This guy would go that far, just to prove a damn point?!

"And what makes you so sure that I'll let you, you crazed hand enthusiast?" Midoriya growled back at him but he kept his voice low to avoid drawing attention to them, the last thing they needed was panic with so many potential victims present.

"Last I checked, you don't have your gear." Shigaraki replied till he felt something poking his leg, he spared a look down and saw that Midoriya was holding a small black rod to him.

"And last I checked," Midoriya started as he made sure the villain could see what he was holding in his hands. "The average human body is pretty weak to 130,000 volts of electricity coursing through it." He told him, confirming what Tomura already thought the object was. "Even if I die, this baby has enough amps to cause your heart to clamp up, then just about anybody here could take you down."

"That's mighty heroic of you. Putting your life on the line for the sake of these sheep." Shigaraki felt a little impressed by this. It wasn't every day he found himself in such a variant of the Mexican stand-off such as this.

"If it means you spend the rest of your life in a prison cell, it'll be worth it." Midoriya told him, shoving his fear into the back seat as he couldn't afford to show weakness right now, even if he couldn't back up that threat. 'Thank God he brought that power lie. This thing doesn't have that sort of voltage or amps, sure it'll hurt him but it won't stop him.' He thought to himself as the model of taser he was carrying had the same power as any store-bought one. His usual one having been left at home for repairs.

'And I'm by myself. I have no idea where my classmates are so I can't even lead him towards them for easy capture.' Midoriya observed as he knew that he was in this by himself unless one or more of his classmates decided to come back to this exact spot for some reason, which was very unlikely.

"Well then, since we both have an ace up our sleeves, why don't we find somewhere we can sit and chat like adults? I'm not in the mood to get a heart attack or something." Lucky for him, Shigaraki had seen enough of his gear to take his word for it about the power of the taser he was carrying, though it would have been hard for him to call his bluff in the first place.

"And I'll like to keep my neck just the way it is, thank you very much." Midoriya said as the two started to move towards some random place where they could sit.

"Nice try, smart ass. I'm not letting go of you just yet." Shigaraki told him as he would sooner say All Might was his hero than let his grip go from the kid, they both knew that a fight would break out if that were to happen.

"Worth a try. Can't fault me for that." Midoriya couldn't help himself as he replied with a wisecrack, trying to distract himself from the literal hand of death around his neck.

---

(Later)

"I always did hate crowded areas." Shigaraki said as the two of them sat outside a small restaurant, having found that this spot would do as good as any other.

"Why, afraid someone will offer you some lip balm?" Midoriya asked him, to which the guy tightened the grip he had on his neck.

"You have a lot of jokes, don't you?" Shigaraki asked him, displaying a rarely seen moment of calmness despite the fact his hostage had a mouth on him.

"I call it as I see it. At least you took my advice about the hand. That thing brought out the crazy in your eyes." Midoriya told him as the guy had come out into the public without his little accessory.

"When it comes down to it. I hate everything, and you're quickly rising on that list but the hero killer. He pisses me off more than anything." Shigaraki decided to just get this over with before he killed the guy in a fit of rage and got himself caught.

"Really? I thought you and he were on the same side." Midoriya asked him, slightly surprised that Stain wasn't a member of the league but it did make some manner of sense. If he was, why wasn't he present during the USJ attack? If he was, they would have been bodies to collect. 'I gotta find out as much as I can, if I can do that, it'll make taking these guys out that much easier.' Midoriya thought to himself as he prayed that he'll survive long enough to deliver any information he could glean from this to the police.

"I didn't say anything of the sort, but it seems that the news decided otherwise. And that's the problem." Shigaraki replied as he looked across from them at a store that sold hero mech, and one of the items on display were fake Stain headbands, scarfs, and swords. "Almost everyone is looking at the hero killer." It was almost amusing how fast society took a dangerous criminal who had killed many and turned him into a method to make some cash. Capitalism at its finest he supposed.

"Our encounter at the USJ. The carnage I brought when I unleashed the nomus in Hosu. All of it was upstaged by him. Now one is looking at me." The villain finished, though if he was looking for sympathy, he wasn't gonna find it with Midoriya.

'You mean to tell me that you caused all that death and destruction just to get attention?!' Midoriya thought to himself in rage. He had seen the casualty reports, read the minor news reports covering it. He figured that the league was covering for Stain or had some hidden agenda he didn't know about but it appears he was giving too much credit to this villain.

"Why is that? No matter how much that bastard boasted. In the end, he just destroyed the things he didn't like, right?" Shigaraki said as he had thought about himself and couldn't seem to get the answer. So imagine his joy when he happened upon one of the people he figured would be able to help him out in that department.

"So I wanted to ask someone as smart, if a little annoying like you, what is the difference between the two of us? Between me and Stain?" He asked the boy, wishing to hear his opinion on things.

---

(With Uraraka – Moments after she ran off)

'Why did I do that? I got all flustered and ran off at full speed. How did he take that?' Moments before this, Uraraka found herself by herself as she leaned against the guard rail that kept people safe from falling over.

'No doubt he was really confused by it. We were supposed to be shopping together.' She could see how that must have been so out of nowhere that he couldn't be able to properly interpret it. It didn't make things easier when she heard that he thought she thought he was a bug. 'I need to go back and apologize to him. That's right, I need to go back.'

'No, I need to do more. When I get back, I need to do more than just apologize.' Uraraka resolved as she saw that this was a wrong that needed to be corrected. 'That'll be the right thing to do. It's not like I want to go around shopping with him or anything. Sure I think it's cool that he's working to be a hero even with a quirk. That he has the same goal as me.' She tried to keep herself as cool and collected as possible as she thought about how this could be taken as a date. Then he recalled what Ashido had said in the locker room the day they peeped into the boy's locker room. The thought of seeing him shirtless-! Stop it. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts.

'What Ashido said was ridiculous!' She said to herself but before she could be lost to her own teenage mind's impure thoughts about the boy she may or may not have a massive crush on, she was saved by someone calling out to her.

"Hmm, is that you, Uraraka?" Someone in the crowd called out to her, causing her to turn to see who that was. Walking towards her, was another student from UA hero's course but not from 1-A. The rather cute girl was of a medium height but was taller than her by quite a bit. She processed green, thorn-covered vines for hair that went to just above her waist, something which proved to be the marker Uraraka could place as she knew recalled she was in 1-B, their sister class. Her eyes were squinted and dark green, much like her hair. Lastly, she had long lower eyelashes.

"Oh, hmmm. I know you, you're from 1-B right? Sorry, I'm trying to remember your name." Uraraka said as she rubbed the back of her in embarrassment, feeling silly that she couldn't recall the girl's name. Only for the girl in question to smile as she waved her off.

"No need for apologies. We haven't spoken in the past. I am Ibara Shiozaki." Shiozaki introduced herself as muck Uraraka, she was dressed in her casual clothing which was a shin-length, brown dress with yellow and blue patterns along the sleeves of the dress's bottom with modest but fashionable brown boots. Along with this, she were a plain, white cloth around her shoulder which came down to her elbows in length and was fastened in the front with her single large clip.

"Ochaco Uraraka. Are you here to get supplies too?" Uraraka introduced herself as well so that she didn't feel left out.

"That's right. I require some things for the camp. Would you like to travel together, at least until we need to split again?" Shiozaki proposed as, like herself, she had been shopping by her lonesome for a while now.

"Sure. It wouldn't be trouble." Uraraka agreed to it as she was interested in learning more about her, knowing little about those in 1-B outside of the eccentric ones(Monoma) 'I'll just have to keep an eye out for Midoriya while we shop.' She decided as she figured that she couldn't just retrace her steps, Midoriya would have moved on by now, but she could maybe spot him if she kept her eye out for him. "Are you here with a group too?"

"I am but Kendo and Monoma were the only ones who needed similar things. Shinso went off by himself so it left just me." Shiozaki said as the two started to walk off towards one of the many stores in the mall.

"Oh yeah, Shinso told us he was going out with you guys." Uraraka recalled hearing that but she hadn't seen any of them and assumed that they had gone to a different shopping center. "How were your practicals?" She asked the girl to try and foster some sort of positive relationship with her. There was no reason not to, after all, they'll both working towards becoming heroines, so why not try and get along with your future co-workers?

---

(Back with Shigaraki and Midoriya)

"….What's the difference? Is that all?" Midoriya asked the guy as he didn't know what to make of this encounter.

"Yes, so spit it out. Your take in all this." Shigaraki ordered him as he was starting to grow impatient.

"All I can say is this, I cannot understand or agree with you, most likely never will but, with Stain. I may not agree with him or his methods but I can understand why he made the choices he made." Midoriya started as after the incident, he had made it a point to read up on anything he could find about Stain and his goals. He would never agree with his methods but what he believed was similar to his own beliefs. "Because for me and the hero killer, it all started with the same man."

"All Might." He finished as he turned to face Tomura and even though his glare would have scared him stiff back during the USJ attack, he had seen real terror when he fought Stain so he was able to keep himself collected, if only barely.

"At the time, just facing him was scary enough. I still get nightmares with him in it but, he wasn't just destroying because he wanted to. There was a clear reason for his madness, a goal that he was pursuing." He explained to the older guy as he tried to work out a way for him to survive and take this asshole down for the count.

"He didn't give up just cause the going got tough unlike you. Even if I will never agree with the way he went about it, he was still trying his best to live up to his ideals. That's why," Midoriya gulped down his fear the odds of this being taken badly were high but the ass asked for his opinion, and rain or shine, he was gonna get it. "Even if I'm scared for my life right now,"

"It pales in comparison to the fear I felt that night when I was facing off against a man that had inhumane amounts of belief in his principal and had the conviction and will to see them done." He said his piece as Shigaraki, oddly enough didn't kill him but rather considered his words before seeming to come to his answer.

"Oh boy, that feels like a weight off my chest. Can't believe I wasn't able to connect the dots sooner." Shigaraki said as he breathed out a sigh of relief like he was the one with the death grip around his neck. "The way the hero killer pisses me off so much, why you irritate me so damn much."

"I understand it now, it's because of All Might." He said as he looked forward, though it was clear he wasn't actually looking into the crowd but rather at something only he could see.

'That's what you got from that? And people say I'm obsessed with heroes.' Midoriya thought to himself as the grip around his neck tightened.

"When it was all said and done, that's where I ended up. I don't even know why I was worrying so damn much. The reason why all these people can smile like idiots is because All Might smiles like an idiot." Shigaraki seemed to figure out as he now knew the real meaning behind All Might being called 'The Symbol of Peace' so long as he was standing and smiling, the rest of them will keep on smiling as well.

"It's because of the trash hero, All Might. He smiles like he can do it all as if there is no one he can't save!" Midoriya took what he said and sure to remember it, this guy seemed to have a real bone to pick with All Might, or was it something deeper.

"I'm so glad that he could have this chat, Izuku Midoriya. It really helped me figure some things out." Shigaraki said as he felt like he had finally gotten his answer but at that same moment, Midoriya was reaching one hand towards his neck to levitate the pressure from the guy but he picked up on it. "Whoops, I wouldn't struggle if I was you! The slightest wrong move can end very badly for you."

"I can say the same thing about you, aren't you forgetting that if you kill me, my last act on God's green earth will be to make you spasm like a fish out of water." Midoriya choked out as he was starting to find it hard to breathe with this guy's grip on him. Still, he kept his taser firmly against his leg and already set it to auto, even if his grip on the trigger was released, once he pressed it, it wouldn't stop.

"Oh? So now you're willing to risk all these people?" Shigaraki asked him with his creepy grin only growing. "That's not a very hero-like."

"Screw you. It's not as if you're able to hurt anybody, not if you're heart ain't working right." Midoriya shot back as he could see that the tension between them was only growing in intensity. Meanwhile, watching all this play out from the next floor, Spinner was able to keep an eye on the both of them as he observed the entire encounter from the start where it was now.

'All these so that he could chat with the boy that Stain declared a true hero? What's your game, Tomura Shigaraki?' He thought to himself as he had tailed the guy ever since he left the bar. It wasn't too hard, the guy stuck out in a crowd if you knew what to look for. Coming to a mall seemed like an odd thing for him but then they found those students from 1-A. he doubted that Shigaraki knew that they'll be here but still, it seemed like the man was making full use of this.

'In any case, it looks like things are about to boil over,' Spinner thought to himself as he prepped his hidden weapon from the bar. He will have to choose between who to attack as he only had one shot before he would need to reload. 'I better ready get to take me the shot, but the question is? Do I take out the boy who Stain believes to be a true hero, or do I take out Shigaraki, the man that seems to have potential, but acts like a rapid dog?'

"Midoriya." Someone spoke up, catching the attention of the two guys as Midoriya turned his eyes towards who that was, revealing that somehow, Uraraka and Shiozaki had found the two of them.

'Shit!' he took in how both of them seemed to catch on pretty quickly that something was up and he prayed they didn't do anything stupid.

'Why does he look so nervous? Who is that? He is an overzealous fan, like the ones Kendo got when we arrived?' Shiozaki, who had never met or had any interaction with the league or any of its members for that matter, was the only one who didn't suspect who this person was but she was getting this feeling in her gut that he had ill intent.

"A friend…? No…" Uraraka on the other hand was able to put two and two together and could make out from his face that this wasn't something like that. Tomura turned his eyes towards them and seemed to be planning something if the glint in his eyes was anything to work with.

'I know that look, he wouldn't!' Midoriya felt himself starting to panic as he could feel that Tomura was about to pull something.

"Get away from him…" Uraraka said softly as took a step closer, meanwhile, the people around them were still going about their daily routine like normal, completely unaware of what was about to go down.

"What are you doing with him? He seems very uncomfortable, would you kindly leave him alone." Shiozaki stepped in as this situation was getting out of hand. Seeing that there were two of them, it seemed like Shigaraki was going to try and fight his way out, which was something he couldn't allow.

'No choic!' Izuku thought to himself as he used what little breathing room he had to scream out an order to the two of them. "Ran!" At that same moment, he slammed his taser deep into Shigaraki's thigh and hit him up with 50,000 volts of power, hoping that the shock will give him an opening to escape the death grip.

"You little-!" But Tomura was far from done as he was able to graze the side of Midoriya's neck with all five fingers. Not enough to kill him but enough to open it up and cause some serious bleeding. Midoriya's calls caught the attention of those nearby but it was the sight of him being injured after tazing the other guy that sent people into a panic as they all started to ran away, screaming from what they believed was a fight between two villains.

"Midoriya!" Uraraka yelled as she rushed to his side as Midoriya rolled over to them, keeping one hand firmly pressed against his neck as he did his best to slow the bleeding. Even if he was still conscious, he didn't need a medical degree to know that it wouldn't be for long, not unless he could stop the bleeding completely and get to a hospital.

"Someone call the heroes, the police! Hurry!" Uraraka quickly turned to the crowd and yelled out as neither she nor Shiozaki was in any position to take their attention off the villain in front of them.

"Looks like you manage to luck your way out of death. That won't happen again." Shigaraki growled as he managed to work himself back to his feet, pleasantly surprised that Midoriya was bullshitting him about having a heart attack or whatever.

"Like hell, Shiozaki, restrain him, he's from the league!" Midoriya ordered as she was the best equipped to take this guy out. Uraraka and he may have better martial arts training but getting close enough to make use of it was too risky.

"Understood!" Shiozaki, seeing the situation for what it was, was quick to act as she activated her quirk to try and capture the man. "Stop where you are, villain." Her vines reached over towards him but the ones he couldn't dodge, he merely grabbed and let his quirk to its thing of turning them to dust.

"Please, you're far too early to take me on, little girl." Shigaraki said to the surprised girl as she had no idea how he did that. She made sure to water and make sure her vines got sunlight.

"What?" Shiozaki took a step back in slight fear and surprise, but before that could cost her, Uraraka tackled her out of the way of what was Shigaraki reaching for her face.

"Don't let him touch you. If he does, you're screwed!" Uraraka told the girl as they moved to avoid him, giving Midoriya time to attack him from the rear, though with just one hand and the steady loss of blood, his movements were starting to slow and become more predictable. 'Crap, I'm starting to see double, that attack didn't kill me but I'm sure am losing blood!'

"Uraraka, keep the people back, Shiozaki, make sure he can't get to them!" He yelled as he had to stop Shigaraki from trying to jump into the crowd and was nearly grabbed again for his troubles. He had to take a step back to catch his breath.

"Right!" Uraraka said as she quickly turned her head and started yelling for people to give them space while Shiozaki used her quirk to close off escape routes for the villain, leaving him only the two, the one directly behind him which lead into the restaurant which no doubt had a back entrance but was where Midoriya was, and the one in front of them, leading him right into her. Going for the path of least resistance, he turned on a dime and pounced on Midoriya, taking him to the ground and gripping at his side, his quirk starting to eat away at the guy.

"This time, you die." Shigaraki told him as he started to feel blood on his hands as he broke through to the muscle.

"Sorry, today ain't my day!" Midoriya, despite the pain, yelled back as he slammed his taser right into the villain's neck, pumping everything it had into him.

"Got you!" Midoriya called out as he kicked the guy off of him but found he could barely get back up to his feet.

"Who got who?" He said as the villain struggled to get up but that proved to be pointless as Shiozaki moved in for the kill and wrapped him up with as many vines as she could.

"Midoriya!" Uraraka was at his side in an instant, Shiozaki as well as the two of them checked him over and in Shiozaki's case, ripped off the white cloth she was wearing and used it to try and cover up the large, bleeding mess that was his side.

"I'm fine, just restrain him. Quickly!" Midoriya told the two of them as already, the vines holding him in place started to rot and decay from his touch. But before the two of them could act out on that and secure him or knock him out, intervention occurred.

BANG!

"ARRG!" Uraraka screamed just after a loud gunshot rang out throughout the mall and she went down, gripping at her thigh as she started to bleed.

"Uraraka!" Midoriya called out but his speech started to slur as his vision begun to cloud and double.

"There are more of them?!" Shiozaki asked as she tried to look towards the direction the shooter could be in but with so many people moving about as they ran, she couldn't place heads or tails. But in her panic, she forgot to use her quirk to try and form a barrier to prevent another shot, something that she paid for.

"But where-Oh Mercy!" Shiozaki cried as she went down as well, with a small throwing knife lodged firmly in her upper arm, right above her elbow. From how the knife had struck her, she knew that it was from the same direction as the shooter and quickly corrected her mistake by creating a barrier from her vines to shield them from further harm.

'My work here is done.' Spinner thought to himself as he took out a smoke grenade and tossed it down, over the barrier where it landed and started releasing a black cloud of smoke. "Shigaraki, it's time to get out of here, hurry! If those two are here, who knows how many of them are!" He called out over the chaos, knowing the man could hear him as he made his exit with the crowds before it became too deserted for him to get out and disappear into the masses and escape.

"Damn you brats, be thankful you get to live this time." Shigaraki told them as he decayed the last of the vines holding him in place. In the distance, he could make out people running towards them, voices that sounded familiar so as much as he wanted to take them out now, he didn't have the time.

"Tomura Shigaraki!" Midoriya called out to him as he struggled to keep him in focus.

"Shigaraki…?" Shiozaki asked herself as she had heard that name before. When Vlad-sensei told them of the USJ, was this that same guy?

"Next time, Izuku Midoriya. The next time we met, that will be when whether or not I have decided to kill you." Shigaraki didn't stay long enough to answer anything, only turning around and running off into the smoke which led towards the restaurant with a back entrance.

"Wait-Shit!" Midoriya cried out as he held both the cloth to his side, having been forced to drop his only weapon to do so while he also held his hand to his neck.

"Midoriya, you'll bleed out, be careful!" Uraraka said as she crawled towards him and helped him keep pressure on his neck. He could recover from the side injury but she needs to ensure his brain kept a steady supply otherwise…she didn't like to think about that.

"Dammit." It wasn't that long before they heard someone curing through the smoke. Their classmates had finally arrived!

"I think I heard them over here!" They heard what sounded like Mineta call out to the rest as the smoke cloud had grown to quite the large size in the time it took for them to get here.

"Dammit, where the fuck did all this smoke come from?!"Bakugo yelled

"Worry about that, just find them!" Kendo shut him down as she used her quirk to try and blow away as much of the smoke as possible, which proved to be quite effective as they could see the cloud thinning.

"We're over here!" With their vision clearing up, the students were able to make out Shiozaki's vines and figured that they were behind them.

"What the isu-Oh shit, are you guys okay?! Everyone! Over here, somebody call an ambulance!" Kaminari was the first to make it round and the first to see the mess all of them were in as Shiozaki got herself back up to her feet to try and move on her own. Right after his call, the bulk of the teens got in and immediately went to work as they checked and aided all three.

"Oh shit, what the hell happened?" Jiro called out as she came up to help Ashido as they tended to Shiozaki.

"Shigaraki…." Shiozaki told them as they pulled the knife out of her and with some bandages that Yaoyorozu quickly made, started to tend to the injury.

"Him, you mean he's here? Where?!" Shoji asked a she looked around the place for any sign of the villain but even with the cleared smoke, he couldn't pick up a trace of him.

"We don't have time for that. We need to tend to their injuries." Kendo told him as she and Yaoyorozu helped Uraraka make sure that Midoriya stayed awake once they saw his neck wound.

"Midoriya. You gotta keep pressure, understand?" Yaoyorozu said in a slight panic as she felt how he was releasing pressure on his neck and was forced to place her hand over his to keep it there as she had placed a thick wad of bandage between their hands and the wound to better stop the bleeding.

"Wha…."Okay, now they were worried as the guy didn't seem capable of responding.

"Shit, not enough oxygen if getting to his brain, we need to stop the bleeding now!" Kendo said as she took some of the bandages Yaoyorozu had made and started wrapping up his bleeding side while Bakugo and Sato dealt with Uraraka. The rest of them keeping a lookout as Shinso and Iida were still calling for backup.

"I just called the emergency services, they'll be here soon. Someone already called them." Iida said as he hung up the phone, Shinso not that far behind him as he put his back into his pocket.

"Same with the cops, shit. This was supposed to be a relaxing day." Shinso cursed as he couldn't have imagined that their day could take such a turn.

"What happened you guys?" Sero asked them as he used his quirk to make a sling for Shiozaki to use.

"Uraraka and happened upon Midoriya, who was with the villain already. He had a hand around his neck, threatening him." Shiozaki explained to them the best she could as she worked to ignore the pain from her wound.

"Shit, it's a miracle he still has a neck. That dude as destroy just about anything he touches." Bakugo cursed as he knew firsthand that hand fucker was no joke.

"We tried to fight him, keep him away from the people in case he tried to hurt them but," Shiozaki paused in apparent shame in their failure. "We got attacked from the crowd. I didn't see where but someone attacked us, shot Uraraka, and threw a knife at me." She explained to them why they came to getting hurt.

"Shigaraki escaped in the chaos." Uraraka said as Sato helped her onto his back so that he could carry her towards help if need be.

"It doesn't look too bad but let's not take any chances. We need to get you two to the hospital." Kendo said as they finished wrapping up Midoriya's wounds but they were both still nervous by the fact he wasn't making any sense anymore. Suffering from confusion as his brain struggled to get oxygen from what little blood was still reaching it.

'Within less than two minutes, the emergency services had arrived, just like Iida said. The police were first to arrive, soon followed by the paramedics who quickly got our friend out of the way and started treating us as we were loaded into the ambulances. The mall was temporarily closed by the police so they could look for clues and search for the villains. In the end, they didn't find Shigaraki or any suspicious persons that may have aided in his escape. All they had to show for it, was a single spent, 25-auto casing found where they believe the shooter targeted them.' Midoriya thought to himself from another time as he was lucky that help arrived in time to be of use.

'While our friends were all taken to the police station to be questioned and so our parents could be notified of the situation and pick them up. Meanwhile, Shiozaki, Uraraka, and myself were all transported to the local hospital for treatment. Shiozaki got off the best out of us, the knife having done no serious damage to the muscle or bone in her arm but she was still kept with us for treatment and observation. Uraraka had to have to bullet surgically removed and the damage is done to her thigh healed by one of the doctors who had a minor healing quirk. The good news was that she would be back on her feet within a couple of days. I needed an emergency blood transfusion which I heard Kendo volunteered to give. After that, they surgically repaired the damage down to my neck and did what they could for the decayed, dead flesh of my right abdomen where Shigaraki had gripped. They said another moment and it would have been 'Goodbye kidney and some liver.' That was rather memorable as he recalled how all three of their parents busted into their shared room at the same time. It was hell explaining to his crying mother that they hadn't gone out searching for a fight but the ass-wipe(Both Shiozaki and her parents scolded him for his choice of language) had found them by chance.

---

(Later that day – With Nezu)

"I see…." The principal of UA spoke with the detective over the phone as he had been informed of the incident earlier. Sure it was outside school grounds or activities but he still cared for their well-being as their educator and sought out more information about the incident. "Yes, it does seem like this was a chance encounter, but we should prepare for attacks from the league….." He told the detective as he went through some papers he had brought onto his desk. "Because it seems like Shigaraki is in fact, evolving as we feared…." He answered the question raised about his concerns.

"I have a little proposal that I've been working on…." He said as he looked back towards the paperwork in front of him. Nothing much but some building permits and supply lists for some new buildings he was hoping to make use out of. "No, I don't think they'll be too difficult to finish up, no need to involve the police…." He didn't think things were that bad, it wouldn't be too hard to gain the approval his plans needed. "Yes, that along with upgrading our security once more, we are charged with our students' wellbeing and I'll be darned if I let the villains pull another one on us." He finished as he hung the call and in a rare sight for anyone in the school, he pulled out a lighter and cigarette and placed the cancer stick into his mouth.

'So it seems that he really is out there…..All for One.' He thought to himself as he lit the thing and took a long drag at it. Feeling a shiver going down his throat as he thought about that man, the one person he hoped beyond all belief was dead.

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And that is the end of season 2, I hope you all enjoyed it. It was certainly longer than then season 1 chapter-wise. As you all read, there were changes to cannon with the first being that Tomura is maturing faster than cannon speed as he's working to try and learn more about his enemies and even see if he can't recruit them to his cause, which will mean big trouble for the UA students and hero society as a whole. The second thing was the fact that I brought in Spinner early and gave him a bit of an equipment upgrade. As his character page says he likes games, I decided to give him an Assassin creed style hidden pistol, if you're wondering if that is hard to make, making one is surprisingly easy, add in the fact that you can find tutorials for practically anything online, it isn't too far of a stretch to consider someone with the mechanical know-how building such a thing. I mean, there is a YouTube channel where the guy creates the weapons from fiction. I already know that made Cloud's Buster Sword and Kirito's black blade from the first arc of SAO.

Also, Iida is back in the picture! Writing his lines can be funny sometimes as that guy has way too much energy than he knows what do to with.

Since I'm sleepy. I'll end this here. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, thanks for reading, and please don't forget to leave a review, follow and favorite the story.

Reviews:

D3lph0xL0v3r: Thanks, also sorry for the little delay with this chapter, I was a bit burned out. I don't know that many other than he's smart. Yes, Tetsutetsu will get his time in the sun.

bauers374: I was surprised that we didn't get to see more of their parents as I'll be interested in seeing many of their families. Especially since for Asui, we learn that from an omake, though trying to figure out parents who could have provided the parent quirk material for their kids is a bit of a challenge for some of the class. Stan Lee cameo's can be planned for another chapter but the whole vulture thing is kinda taken.

Yamajiji: Yeah, though I was going for more of the classic Gundam mech than the hulk buster. I won't say much but the training camp and the Kamino ward incident will be very different to canon due to a whole lot of factors that have been changed and will change.

NinjaFang1331: Thanks.

ocomhdhain1: Well he is like Ironman in that regard, so who knows what he'll develop for specialty threats as I already have some ideas but mainly for industrial or environmental disasters where he could be of some use.

Blaze1992: That was what I was going for. Though the idea of using zoids is a bit appealing. When it comes to an international hero agency, one step at a time, he doesn't even have his license yet.

tacktician: Calling it an All Might buster would have been a stretch as the suit is a prototype and the guy was holding back but the name I dis chose for it seemed to fit with the story better and so far, it has gotten positive reviews. You are also right in that regard as he is one of the smartest characters in the show and is very analytical in combat so at times, it's kinda sad to see him take the power approach than the brains one but we both know that at times, it doesn't matter how smart you are and you need more of power then smarts such as whenever Superman takes on Doomsday(One of the most broken characters in comic book history and in my opinion, a creature DC should just get rid of).

Captain343Spark: Well I hope it lived up to the hype then.