Hey guys, I've got some less than stellar news to share with you all.

My dad recently tested positive for COVID after attending a meeting and I eventually caught it when we did the test. I have tested positive for COVID.

But do not worry, all we have is common cold symptoms: runny nose, sore throat, fatigue and generally feeling crappy. My mother told us it's a breakthrough infection, we've got enough vaccines and booster shots to help us fight through it. We're doing just fine. Though my dad and I do have to quarantine ourselves for several days until we know it's out of our system. I couldn't finish this chapter because of these unfortunate circumstances so I once again had to cut this chapter in half. Man, fate does not want me concluding this arc anytime soon, huh?

So yeah, I know your all worried but I'm fighting through it and gradually getting better. At least I was able to release another chapter to you guys, I'm doped up on so much Mucinex, Chloraseptic and Asprin that I don't even know what planet I'm on.

Anyway, enjoy what I managed to get out!

My Hero Academia, Doom and Darksiders belong to their respective owners. I do not own either of them.

Chapter 19

Dark Visions

"And I looked and behold, a pale horse. And his name that sat on him was Death...and Hell followed with him.

-Johnny Cash

I-ISLAND ROOFTOOPS

SEVERAL SECONDS EARLIER

Freefalling through the air, the Villains landed on a nearby rooftop near the tower. The landing wasn't exactly comfortable as they smacked against the hard concrete, skidding to a painful stop near the edge of the building. The Villains painfully forced themselves to stand and glared at the top of the tower where they heard Wolfram laughing manically and the sounds of battle taking place. That's when they all became very, very livid.

"I. Am going. To kill him." Curator calmly grounded out, both of his hands forming into glass shards while his arms took on a whale-like skin texture.

"Get in line." Volcano breathed through his teeth as his hands boiled with scorching anger. He didn't care of Curator was 2nd in command, he just wanted to flay Wolfram alive.

"Guys? We've got a situation!" Gust Boy called out the two Villains, causing them to glare at him and scaring the living daylights out of him in the process.

"What now?" Curator growled in annoyance.

"Heroes." Dusty Ash said tersely as she looked through a pair of collapsible binoculars she brought with her. Walking over near the edge of the building where she stood and squinting out to the vast sea beyond, Curator and Volcano could almost make out two large boats and several flying Heroes approaching the island at a rapid pace while illuminated by the bright moon in the night sky.

"Perfect." Volcano grunted sarcastically. "Now they're on the agenda."

A vein popped on Curator's head. He was close to reaching the end of his rope; this entire operation had been a complete nightmare from beginning to end. Curator carefully weighed his options as the other Villains stayed silent. They could try and eliminate Wolfram and retrieve the headset but that would mean they would have to fend off the Number 5 Pro Hero and that...thing. They could try to enter the building and retrieve the bomb from the brats but for all they knew, they could've freed All Might and the Heroes in the ballroom by now. But any one of those choices would close off all of their escape routes if that small army of Heroes arrived. Each of those scenarios would result in a huge fight that they didn't have time for. Curator knew that there was only one option left and it was not something he could consider lightly. Unfortunately, due to the current circumstances, he had to go for the latter choice of retreating. As much as he loathed having to disappoint All for One, they also couldn't afford to be captured either.

For the first time in his service to All for One and the League of Villains, Curator took a loss.

"Dusty, get us out of here." Curator calmly ordered as the other regarded him with stunned silence. "The mission is scrubbed."

Volcano's shoulders sagged as he grunted in disappointment while Dusty Ash and Gust Boy looked at each other worriedly. Failing AFO was basically signing your own death warrant. But maybe they could convince AFO that Wolfram ruined their attempts to retrieve the headset and spare themselves a messy death. Dusty, with a look of reluctance, summoned an ash disk for everyone to board upon. Once that was done, Dusty flew her disk off the roof and into the air where they flew past the tower where the battle was taking place. they scowled bitterly as they flew past it, completely unaware they were in the crosshairs of the Doomslayer's Rocket Launcher who was forced to disengage to aid Miruko.

They flew over the burning city and over the walls until they cleared I-Island. They kept low under the cover of the clouds to conceal their movements from the Heroes. Hopefully, they were too focused on retaking I-Island to notice. As they soared through the air looking for a secluded place to land, their thoughts went back to the Vigilante and they found themselves asking the same question Dusty Ash had when they arrived.

How did they not see this guy coming?

I-ISLAND CENTRAL TOWER-STAIRWELL

PRESENT TIME

The rumbling from the rooftop nearly knocked the group off their feet as they ran down the stairs. Izuku and Uraraka carried Shoto as he was too badly wounded to walk. Melissa still had the bomb in her arms while Mirio followed behind.

"How close are we to the ballroom?" Mirio asked Izuku.

Midoriya dug out his cellphone and checked the map. "Not far. We just need to go down one more-AAAAGH!"

Another tremor, this one far stronger than the last, shook the whole stairwell and the teens were sent tumbling down the stairs. Melissa grabbed on to a railing but accidently dropped the WMD in the process and it fell over the edge! Everyone gasped in horror but Shoto outstretched his hand and a wave of ice engulfed the device and most of the stairwell.

"Sorry, it was all I could think of." Shoto groaned. Uraraka patted his shoulder reassuringly as they all went over to the ice wall at the bottom of the stairs. The WMD was sticking out of the miniature iceberg so Izuku used 5% of his Quirk to chip away at the ice surrounding the bomb with quick jabs. He finally extracted the bomb and looked it over while Shoto was able to muster up enough strength to melt the ice with his superheated hand. Midoriya carefully set the bomb down and inspected it while everyone else held their breaths.

"No cracks or anything broken...I think we're safe." Midoriya confirmed.

Everyone let out the breaths they had been holding in. "Thank God." Melissa buried her face into her hands.

"Likewise." Mirio wiped the sweat off his forehead. "I cant believe the League actually brought a nuke with them..."

"But how?!" Uraraka exclaimed as she helped an exhausted Shoto up again. "How did they get their hands on something like this?"

Izuku was mentally asking himself that same question. At first, he thought the LOV was just a band of Villains who grouped up to try and ransack U.A. while attempting to get a shot at All Might in the process. But now after his repeated run-ins with them, it became clear that they were well a highly dangerous organization who were perfectly willing to kill thousands of innocent people to get what they wanted.

"/What you are looking at is not a nuclear weapon./"

Everyone jolted at the sound of their mysterious contact announcing themselves again through Midoriya's phone resting on one of the steps in front of them.

"Wh-who is that?" Melissa questioned but she only received a shrug from the others.

"/The device is a miniature rocket containing VX Poison Gas: a deadly, inhumane weapon that was categorized by the United Nations as a Weapon of Mass Destruction in 1993. In 2103, the UN led a joint operation with other countries to seek out and destroy all known caches of the nerve agent. They were successful but the League of Villains were able to acquire the last known sample in the world./"

"P-P-P-Poison gas?" Midoriya stammered, eyes as wide as saucers. "They were going to gas us?!"

"/Correct. If the casing were to be ruptured, it would be lethal up to a hundred feet and terminate the five of you. The LOV had installed the casing into a rocket so it could be launched into the air and detonated at a fixed height for maximum dispersion of the agent. It would kill every single living being on this island./"

As everyone looked at each other with mortified expressions, Shoto swallowed grimly. "How exactly does this stuff kill you?" He inquired.

"/VX Gas is a cholinesterase inhibitor. It stops the brain from sending nerve messages down the spinal cord within 30 seconds, effectively rendering anyone exposed to the gas incapable of breathing. Any form of epidermal exposure or inhalation and you'll know via a twinge at the small of your back: that's the poison seizing your nervous system. Your muscles will painfully contract while your body goes into increasingly violent spasms to the point where you can break your own bones in the process. After which you will expire from asphyxiation due to your brain being unable to transmit orders to your lungs. The League of Villains intended to use this to eliminate any witnesses./"

Everyone was speechless. The description alone was enough to make VX sound ten times more frightening than any nuclear bomb. To think that the League was going to unleash something this horrific upon innocent people...

"/Miss Shield./"

"H-huh?" She jumped at the sudden announcement of her name.

"/The main server room should allow you to disable the security systems restraining the Heroes and contact a team of Pro Heroes en route to I-Island./"

Although VEGA could just as easily do it himself, He wanted these youths to have some level of control due to their already traumatized mental states.

"Heroes are coming? Finally...!" Uraraka sighed as did Mirio and Melissa.

"/Your father is also present in the sever room Ms. Shield. He is unconscious but safe./"

Melissa looked momentarily surprised but that when her tone shifted drastically. She looked down at her feet, bringing her tightly clenched hand up to her chest. She appeared conflicted and almost resentful. Mirio was just about to ask her what was wrong until another series of rumbles rattled the stairwell.

"I think we should get going." Mirio spoke for everyone as he raised a finger. Uraraka helped Shoto down the stairs while Mirio grabbed the bomb followed Melissa down. Izuku picked up his phone and began to follow after them but stopped. He looked back up the staircase and gulped apprehensively. His worried expression turned darkly serious as he ran up the steps, much to the group's confusion when they witnessed this.

"Deku, where are you going?!" Uraraka called out.

"I'm going back up to the roof." Izuku said as he stopped going back up the stairwell. "Miruko needs support and I don't trust that Vigilante."

"Izuku, no!" Mirio implored. "It's far too dangerous to go up there!"

"/I would advise against this course of action, Mr. Midoriya./"

"I have to stop him from killing that Villain!" Midoriya argued as he glared at his phone, the screen showing the contact's symbol. He internally asked himself how and why this person knew his name. "It doesn't have to end that way! Just let me remove the headset and restrain him so I can take him to the authorities!"

"/Wolfram has become a danger to everyone on the island and now poses a significant threat. Attempting to subdue him via non-lethal methods is impossible at this point and he should therefore be eliminated./"

"No! He doesn't have to die! You-I mean, he can't just solve every problem with extreme violence!" Izuku fired back.

"/That much is true. But in this case, Wolfram is beyond the point of mental recovery and must be-/"

"STOP IT!" Izuku suddenly shouted, his voice almost loud enough to drown out the rumbling from above. "ENOUGH OF THIS! ALL OF THIS DEATH AND BLOODSHED, HE CAN'T KEEP KILLING PEOPLE LIKE THIS! HE CAN'T!"

Despite the tremors coming from the roof, everyone stayed silent as they watched Izuku breathing heavily, most likely straining his vocal cords. Everyone had heard the contact's grim assessment of the situation and were left at a loss. Uraraka could feel the sting of tears welling up in her eyes as she felt Izuku's desperation for this whole nightmare to stop.

"/The 'people' you are referring to were mercenaries and Villains who were planning on murdering innocent civilians. By the time the Pro Heroes came here to stop them, they would have already killed all of the hostages, the Heroes and escape with I-Island's Support Items to use for their own purposes. There was no alternative solution to resolve this situation peacefully. We did what had to be done./"

"But-But it's still not right!" Izuku desperately implored, trying to find some way to get him to see reason.

"/Then would it be 'right' to let them escape after committing what amounts to a small-scale genocide?/"

"But-"

"/Would it be 'right' to allow the Steel Sabers to continue hunting down Heroes?/"

"That's not what I meant-!"

"/Would it be 'right' to let families suffer from their actions?/"

"I-"

"/Would it be 'right' to not eliminate them in order to prevent them from endangering more people?/"

"...!"

"/The world is not black and white, Izuku Midoriya. It is gray./"

And with that, Izuku's phone shut itself off. The boy could only stare at his phone, wide-eyed and speechless. He was completely oblivious from the persistent rumblings occurring from the roof and the rattling of the stairwell. That is, until he felt a hand tightly grab his wrist which caused him to look over his shoulder. It was Uraraka. His eyes were locked onto those tear-filled eyes of hers.

"We have to go." She pleaded.

Izuku stared at her for a few more seconds before looking down the stairs and saw Melissa carrying the rocket with Mirio helping Shoto down the stairs. Swallowing, Izuku stuffed his phone back into his pocket and nodded, following her down the stairs afterwards.

I-ISLAND CENTRAL TOWER-ROOFTOP

The Doomslayer dodged an overhead blow from Wolfram while Miruko moved in and axe kicked the hand, splitting it in two. Letting out a snarl, Wolfram sent an open palm heading their way to knock them off the roof but Miruko backflipped over the blow while the Slayer reared his fist back and punched straight through it. Wolfram reeled his hands back away from the lethal pair as they swiftly retaliated.

The Slayer launched a barrage of missiles at the Villain while Miruko punted a truck-sized slab of uprooted concrete. The warheads against the giant's metal armor; blasting some pieces off of it while the slab impaled itself into the golem's elbow joint, preventing it's right arm from moving. Miruko pumped her fist while the Slayer hefted his rocket launcher with satisfaction. But this was short lived when Wolfram let out a chuckle and the blown off pieces of his armor gravitated towards him and reattached themselves back to his body.

Miruko grimaced at this and gave her temporary partner a sideways glance. "I don't suppose you still have that big laser cannon in your magic pockets, do you?"

The Doomslayer kept his focus on Wolfram. He knew she was talking about the Gauss Cannon he used to subdue Ryukyu earlier but he had burned through all of his plasma ammo against the Steel Sabers, same thing went for his heavier munitions for the HAR and Chaingun. All he had left now was a plentiful supply of shotgun shells and a handful of rockets. He still had his BFG but he didn't want Miruko to be caught up in the blast. Those Argent tendrils did not differentiate between friend or foe.

"GO AHEAD, KEEP ATTACKING! IT'S ONLY GONNA MAKE ME STRONGER!" Wolfram cackled as he raised his golem's arm and swung it down at them. They both dodged the blow and the Doomslayer double-jumped onto the hand and ran up it's arm while Miruko made a beeline for the other arm. The Slayer switched to his Combat Shotgun and attached the Explosive Shot mod. He rapidly fired a volley of grenades at Wolfram who summoned a wall of metal fragments to block the explosives. Due to the Slayer's UAC-brand explosive munitions being stronger than modern explosives, each blast from the octanitrocubane rounds destroyed Wolfram's shield with ease, causing the villain to summon more to protect himself. Meanwhile, Miruko closed the distance on the other arm and jumped into the air, slamming her feet down upon the slab of concrete jutting out of the elbow.

The force of Miruko's blow speared the slab straight through the elbow, severing the golem's arm as it toppled to the ground. Landing back on the ground, Miruko followed up by kicking the slab right at Wolfram who was preoccupied with shielding himself from the Slayer's assault. The slab stabbed right into the golem's midsection, forcing it backwards while Wolfram grunted from the impact. With his opponent distracted, the Hellwalker jumped off the arm and barreled through the metal debris that protected Wolfram. The Villain panicked as the Slayer closed the distance and landed on his armor while Miruko avoided the falling shrapnel from the shield.

The Doomslayer tore away the armor surrounding Wolfram's main body with his bare hands until a swarm of cables burst out of the Golem and slithered towards the Slayer. But that's when he grabbed a sharpened piece of the armor and used it like a makeshift weapon, hacking apart the cables like he was slicing salami. After they had been hacked to pieces, the Slayer raised his fists and slammed them down against the armor, destroying it to reveal Wolfram who suddenly surged forward and grabbed the Unchained Predator by the neck.

"YOU LITTLE SUNOVABITCH! I'M GONNA ENJOY POPPING YOUR HEAD LIKE A ZIT!" Wolfram grinned as his muscles bulged hideously as a purple glow emanated from his eyes. The Doomslayer merely dipped his head and glared at Wolfram in amusement as the Villian tried to choke the life out of him.

Cute.

The Slayer grabbed Wolfram's arm with both of his hands and squeezed so hard that snapped it in two. The villain screamed as the Slayer raised his fist but the remaining hand of the golem grabbed the Doomslayer and slammed him down face first into the roof. Wolfram willed the golem to raise it's hand and smash the Vigilante until something struck him in the chest and before he could register what it was, it burst into a blinding flame that seared his flesh!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHH!" Wolfram hollered in agony as more projectiles collided into his body and lit him aflame, one striking him right in the eye!

"DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME!" Miruko shouted as she fired her flare launcher at Wolfram. The flares dug into his skin and burned brightly until his whole body was on fire. Miruko chucked away the spent launcher and jumped high into the air towards Wolfram; launching into a dragon kick that smashed into the Villain's face, destroying most of his teeth and probably breaking his skull. She kicked him again in the face with her other leg and sent Wolfram teetering near the edge of the building as the force propelled her away from him.

As she landed on the roof, a stream of missiles sailed past her and collided into Wolfram; a series of massive explosion detonating against him and finally causing the golem to topple over the edge. Miruko peeked behind her to see the Slayer armed with a smoking Rocket Launcher, looking no worse for wear after being swatted like a bug. It seemed like that armor of his could shrug off just about anything. Looking back at where the golem once was, Miruko surmised that the Villain was probably defeated at last.

"Well, that takes care of him." Miruko wiped the sweat off her forehead as the Great Slayer displaced his weapon.

"Now then..." She started off as she walked right up towards the Scourge of Hell, without a hint of fear, and placed her hands on her hips as she glared up at him with a cocky smile. "Let's talk about carting your crazy ass off to Tartarus. Hopefully they'll have a cozy reinforced cell ready for you."

She wasn't serious, was she? And what was this Tartarus she was talking about?

/Tartarus is the most heavily guarded maximum-security penitentiary in the world. The prison was constructed to contain extremely dangerous Villains that pose the upmost threat to society./

And she thought a prison was going to hold him? He would break out of there in a heartbeat...but not before sending every one of those prisoners out of there in body bags. The Doomslayer stared down at Miruko as she continued to stare back at him as if she was expecting an answer. Seeing her defiant posture even while wounded and bleeding impressed the Slayer. She really did remind him of Emily.

A loud disturbance alerted them; the pair shifted their attention to the left to see the golem climbing back up onto the tower with it's remaining hand!

Miruko sighed in annoyance. "Hang back, Murder Happy. I got this." She sprinted towards the clambering monster until another wave of cables erupted from the ground in front of it, but this time they were covered in rebar and coated in chunks of metal. But instead of dodging, Miruko ran straight towards them with a smirk; fully confident that she could handle them. What was a few more cuts and scrapes on her body?

But before Miruko could deliver a swift kick to the cables, a hand grabbed her by the scruff of her leotard and yanked her back. Landing on the ground, she looked up to see the Doomslayer grab a cluster of cables while a few stray tentacles slammed against him, the rebar spikes broke against his unpenetrable Praetor Suit.

"HEY!" Miruko shouted at him, waving her fist in the air. "I had that one!"

Idiot. Those spiked cables could've killed her and she just charged in blindly like a bull. At least he knew when to dodge and when he could take a hit. What she did was borderline suicidal. The Slayer ripped off the cluster of cables and slammed them down on the ones attacking him before jumping out of the way when the golem regrew it's right hand and slammed it down on the roof. The golem magnetically added more metal to it's mass; becoming larger and more armored with sharpened protrusions sticking out of it's metal coating.

Wolfram was, shockingly enough, still alive in spite of his gruesome injuries. His skin was horribly burned and torn apart, exposing his oversized muscles. His right eye had been burned out, leaving a cauterized hole while his broken arm hung limply with a bone sticking out. Wolfram looked positively feral, gnashing his teeth together as his remaining eye glowed brighter. Not only that, but the Quirk Amplification Headset was undamaged.

"YOU LITTLE FUCKEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRSSSSSSSS!" Wolfram hatefully bellowed. "I"M GONNA RIP YOUR FUCKIN BONES OUT, SMASH EM TO SPLINTERS AND JAM THEM INTO YOUR FUCKIN EARS!"

Miruko raised an eyebrow. "Overplaying it a little, isn't he?"

The Doomslayer drew his Super Shotgun and reloaded. He could do worse.

I-ISLAND CENTRAL TOWER-BALLROOM

"You guys all heard that, right?" Denki shakingly asked as he gripped the wires, overcharging them with electricity.

"Try to focus, Kaminari!" Ida snapped him back. "I think you've almost got it!"

After recovering from watching the bloodbath that unfolded earlier and after the Vigilante had left the room, Class 1-A immediately set to work on attempting to free the bound Heroes. This was already proving to be almost fruitless as the bindings restricting the Heroes were nigh unbreakable. That is until Momo hatched an idea: If they could overload the wires connected to the cables, they might be able to short circuit them and free the rest of them.

To start, Kirishima ripped up the center of the carpet and broke part the bare floor with his hardening Quirk, easily smashing the tiles with little effort. They managed to find some wires connected to the cables that were holding down All Might. Momo constructed a generator of her own design that could amplify electric currents. After clipping a pair of jumper cables onto the wires, Denki grabbed another pair and started funneling his electricity into them. The current was channeled through the generator and fed into the jumpers connected to the wires in the floor but with an enhanced charge to overload it. This was pushing Denki's Quirk to his limit, as he was becoming dangerously close to exceeding his wattage limit and going into "Derp Mode".

While Momo and Ida oversaw Denki, Jiro attached her earphones to the wall in case she heard anyone coming towards the ballroom; acting as a lookout. Kirishima and Mineta were tending to a shellshocked Bakugou who was sitting in a chair. Kirishima tried as best as he could to shake him out of it but there was no reaction, just pure fear all over his face. There was no trace of the cocky, hotheaded explosive teen. It was almost darkly humorous: all of those times Bakugou yelled die at the top of his lungs without a care in the world and then he gets to see what it's like to have someone actually die in front of him.

Or rather popped like a balloon right next to him and shower him with blood and guts.

"I think it's working." Momo said when she saw the blue glow of the cables wrapped around All Might flickered with sparks. "Just one more time and you should be able to free him!"

Denki let out an exhausted groan before nearly sagging to his knees. "If I go any further I'll turn into a dumba-"

"Do not fear or curse you own limitations, Kaminari." All Might assured him with encouragement. "You can overcome your hurdles as long as you focus on your goal and give it your all. Go beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Emboldened, Denki nodded and channeled all of his electrical power into the jumpers he was holding onto. All Might was proud of his student's determination...but he could tell that he and the others were barely holding it together. He could see the raw fear in their eyes; Bakugou easily taking it the worst. It would be a miracle of any of these youths wanted to continue their enrollment at U.A. High School. In fact, the amount of blood shed this day was enough to make Yagi doubt his own words.

"Guys! I can hear people coming!" Jiro warned her friends.

Ida, Momo, Kirishima and Mineta tensed up when they heard footsteps approaching the door and they all prepared themselves. Denki focused everything he had into the jumpers until the cables holding down All Might short-circuited as it released him, but also frying the boy's brain in the process (non-fatally of course). All Might tore off the rest of his bindings and looked towards the doors just as they opened to reveal Izuku, Shoto, Uraraka and Mirio.

"Guys!" Midoriya exclaimed, overjoyed that his friends were okay. But his elation slowly vanished when he saw the bodies strewn about on the floor, more victims of the Vigilante's rampage. As his friends voiced their relief at seeing him again, Izuku's gaze focused on the seated, hunched over form of his friend. In all of his life, Midoriya had never seen Bakugou this scared, Ever. Sure, there was that one time where he saw fear on Katsuki's face during the Sludge Villain incident but this was genuine trauma written all over his face.

"W-W-what happened to him?" Midoriya asked his classmates. Jiro looked down at her feet, or rather the blood staining her clothes. Mineta twiddled his fingers together as he turned away while Kirishima swallowed the lump in his throat; averting his eyes towards the desiccated corpses in the room.

"Young Midoriya!" All Might rushed over to his apprentice as Ida and Momo followed after him, the former carrying the now stupefied Denki. But then he and everyone else in the room noticed the unclothed Mirio and they all looked away with a light blush. Mineta nearly barfed. Realizing this, Mirio grabbed a tablecloth from the floor (which was thankfully not covered in blood) and wrapped it around himself.

Before All Might could ask Midoriya where Melissa was, all of the bindings that had captured the Heroes suddenly deactivated and released them. All of the Heroes picked themselves up, many of them were ecstatic for being freed from their imprisonment.

"HA! Freedom at last! Harasho!" Kontsert, the Number 1 Pro Hero of Russia laughed.

"That must've been Melissa!" Izuku realized. "She managed to deactivate the security system!"

"Wait, so if someone was already going to turn the security off then..." Kyoka trailed off as she looked at the babbling simpleton that was Denki. Momo sweat dropped as her friend gave her a thumbs up, giggling absentmindedly. An earsplitting rumble rocked the room, nearly throwing everybody off their feet and sending tiles from the ceiling falling down on top of them. They all heard an enraged roar from above, followed by more rumbling and the sounds of an oversized shotgun being fired. Elecplant, the Number 2 Pro Hero of North America, clenched his fists. "Quickly, everyone! To the roof!"

"WAIT!" All Might suddenly exclaimed, holding out his hand as the overseas Heroes immediately halted. "We need to ensure the safety of the hostages! They have no idea where to go and if this tower collapses, they won't have time to escape. We need to protect them."

The Heroes present looked confused. What about that armored psychopath? They couldn't just let him have free reign of the place, they had to apprehend him! Midoriya silently agreed with his mentor's plan but knew that there was another reason: he was reaching his limit. Izuku could see small wisps of steam coming from the nape of his neck and there was no telling when he would forcibly revert back to his previous state. Mirio knew it too but Izuku didn't know that. Luckly for All Might, the Heroes understood his reasoning.

"He's right!" Salaam, the Number 1 Pro Hero of Egypt, agreed rather theatrically. "The lives of innocent people are always a first priority! Quickly, close friends and allies! We have no time to waste!" The walking pictogram literally sped straight out of the room due to his Quirk making him paper thin while several Heroes followed after him. Kirishima and Mineta ushered Bakugou out of the room though they still had to guide the unresponsive boy out of the room. As the rest of Izuku's friends and the Heroes vacated the room, Izuku went towards the opposite door.

"I need to go find Melissa so we can find someplace where the civilians will be safe. She's going to get in contact with Pro Hero teams on their way here right now." Izuku said to All Might, the only occupant in the room.

Yagi felt a sense of hope rise up from within. It seemed that the end was finally in sight. "Good! I'll go ensure everyone's safe."

As they both headed for their respective exits, All Might suddenly stopped. "Young Midoriya!" Izuku halted halfway out the door and turned to All Might. The Symbol of Peace glanced at the corpses and gore decorating the walls before giving Izuku and apologetic look. "I...I didn't think that things could escalate like this."

"...Neither did any of us." Izuku solemnly answered as he hung his head. After a few seconds they exited the room, leaving behind the dead bodies of those unlucky enough to cross paths with the blood maddened Vigilante.

A FEW MILES AWAY FROM I-ISLAND

"We're almost there, everybody! Better get yourselves prepared." Tiger said over his shoulder as his steered his rescue boat in the cabin. A distance away from his right, the other boat traveled alongside him; piloted by Mandalay. Each of the boats carried a dozen or so heroes while Hawks, Ryukyu, Majestic, Loud Cloud and Air Jet flew alongside them. Every one of them were preparing themselves for whatever was on I-Island but if the scent of death and rot in the air was any indication, it was going to be bad.

"I'm telling you, there were Villains leaving the island not long ago, my Quirk is never wrong." Ragdoll told Eraser Head.

"I'm not doubting you but we need to focus on the bigger picture: our top priority is to secure I-Island. We'll get the escapees another time." Eraser Head reminded her.

"But what is your plan for apprehending the Vigilante?" Yoroi Musha the Samurai Hero inquired as he stroked his beard. "If that armor of his could withstand Endevour's Hellflames, he won't be easy to subdue."

"Simple: We'll knock him out." Midnight answered slyly with a wave of her finger. "If we can hold him down and take off his helmet, I can hit him with Somnambulist and then we got him in a bag."

"You're positive it'll work against him?" Ectoplasm asked.

"I'll be using an enhanced formula. I've been honing my Quirk for years so I'm able to alter the potency of my fumes. The one I'll be using on him is strong enough to instantly put an entire herd of elephants to sleep." Midnight explained; some of the Heroes nodding in agreement to her plan. Some of them looked towards I-Island at the pillar of smoke spawned from the explosion earlier.

"Tiger, are you sure that-" Gran Torino begun to ask before Tiger cut him off.

"For the hundredth time, the Geiger counter isn't picking anything up and yes, it's working just fine." Tiger tiredly repeated. Then again, even he wasn't exactly sure how that was possible.

"Do you know for certain he doesn't have a Quirk?" Edgeshot questioned Eraser Head.

"I'm not exactly sure yet but we all think that suit of his might have something to do with it." Eraser Head answered as he pondered on the subject of the Vigilante. "The real question is, who is he and where did he get his hands on such powerful technology?"

"You can ask him when we throw him in the deepest, darkest, most reinforced cell in Tartarus." Snatch told him as he kept his eyes on I-Island.

"Everyone! Someone's contacting us! Patching it through to you now!" Came the excited voice of Mandalay over the boat's radio. All at once, the Heroes piled into the cabin and crowded around Tiger who pressed a button to activated the speakers.

"Hello? This is Melissa Shield from I-Island, can anyone hear me?" It was a voice of a young girl; her tone of voice was shaken and rife with fear.

"We do! This is Tiger of the Wild Wild Pussycats!" The Hero answered her, picking up the transceiver as the other Heroes were elated to finally hear someone from the island.

"The Pussycats? That Pro Hero team? Oh, thank God!"

"Just hang tight, there's two boats crammed with Heroes on the way to I-Island. We'll take care of everything, kid. Just leave it to us!" Tiger said proudly.

There was a long silence on the other end. "I...I don't think that'll make a difference. He's...he's already killed them all..."

Everyone gasped. In that instant, they all assumed the worst: the hostages were dead. It was like they had all ben doused with ice cold water. Everyone looked at the radio in shock as their mouths hung open. And it wasn't just them; the other Heroes on the second rescue boat heard it as well along with the flying Heroes who were close by.

"No...!" Cementoss whispered as he back away, his stony hands trembling.

"I knew it...!" Snatch angrily cursed as he punched the wall.

Eraser Head felt like he was about to throw up as his worst fears were realized. How was he going to tell the families of the students he swore to protect? How was he going to tell them that he failed them? There was also another chilling possibility for everyone: were All Might and the other Heros a part of the body count as well?

"You mean...all of the hostages are dead?" Tiger hesitantly asked.

"What? No, the hostages are alive! All of them!"

"They are!?" Tiger exclaimed. Everyone was dumbstruck at the announcement.

"Yes! Uhh...they're all being held at the main airport and All Might is leading the rest of them to safety with the other Heroes!"

The sounds of cheering came from both of the boats as the Heroes celebrated at the fantastic news. After hours and hours of fearing the worst, they were exultant to hear that there were no innocent civilian or Hero casualties. It was just the morale boost they needed after getting half of them pummeled by an insane Vigilante, watching him slaughter the Sabers on live television before setting off an earth-shaking explosion.

"Didja hear?! They're okay! Your students are alive!" Present Mic laughed excitedly as he shook Aizawa's shoulders before hugging him. Shota could only utter a chuckle as he genuinely smiled; going a little bit weak at the knees over the confirmation that his students were alive. Midnight folded her arms as a light flush was visible on her cheeks. It was rare to see Aizawa crack a smile and even she had to admit she was just as elated as he was. But then a thought came to her: what did that girl mean earlier about everyone was dead?

The R-Rated Heroine walked up to the radio motioned Tiger to hand her the receiver. "Ms. Shield, this is Midnight. When you said, 'He's already killed them all', what exactly did you mean if the hostages are okay?"

"I meant the Steel Sabers. They're... they're all dead. Every one of them, there's bodies everywhere, oh my God...!"

Everyone looked at each other, startled. Did they really just hear all of that right? The entire organization was dead? It was shockingly hard to believe but after all of the gunfire and explosions they heard earlier, it didn't seem to be an exaggeration. Their eyes casting down at the floor, nobody knew what to feel. The Steel Sabers deserved to be captured, dragged in front of a judge and put away in prison for the rest of their lives. Not butchered like animals. But there was one big question on everybody's minds: should they feel glad that the Sabers were dead? Should they feel elation since their reign of terror upon Heroes had been brought to an end?

"Melissa! I've got your father, we need to go!" Came the voice of a boy on the radio.

"Midoriya?" Aizawa blinked.

"O-okay! The hostages are being held at the main airport, All Might and the other will be there. Good Luck!" And the radio went dead before anyone could answer.

Hawks flew onto the boat and walked up to the cabin. "You guys should probably get out here and check this out."

Everyone either stepped out of the cabin or looked out it's windows to see a dark, purple haze on I-Island's central tower. They could see some massive shape swinging it's arms around while angry roars came from the creature.

"What the hell is happening today?" Snipe grumbled in annoyance.

Hawks narrowed his eyes at the top of the building. Miruko had to be up there but he wanted to confirm it first. He turned to Ragdoll. "Tomoko, can you get a lock up there?"

"Can do!" Ragdoll cheerily posed. She glared at the tower and activated her search Quirk. "Okay, that huge rock monster thing is definitely a Villain...and I can sense Miruko! She's banged up and fighting him."

Keigo's mouth formed a thin line. Hopefully his friend could hang in there just a bit longer.

"What about the Vigilante? Can you search him out?" Thirteen the Space Heroine asked.

"Gimmie a sec..." Ragdoll replied focusing hard. "Got him! He's-"

In that instant, time froze for Tomoko. It was like she was turned into a statue; unable to move at all. Her whole world went dark and the most absolutely horrific visions assaulted her mind. She found herself falling through a deep pit with flames circling around her, the sheer heat completely unfathomable. Then, a mass of tentacles with stingers at the end wrapped around her and dragged her further into the flames. She was flung down face first into a pile of dismembered bodies, blood splashing against her face as she managed to regain her footing and crawl away from the pile. She looked around and found herself in a nightmarish hellscape: a barren, rocky wasteland with emaciated corpses impaled on stakes with rivers of lava flowing in the background.

An inhuman screech filled the air and Ragdoll turned around to find herself face to face with an army of the most horrendous creatures imaginable. Nearly every one of them had razor sharp teeth, hooked claws, towered over the others, had weapons grafted to their arms, soulless eyes radiating utter hatred, conjured fire from their palms, one of them was a literal floating meatball with teeth. With a roar, the monsters converged on her and Ragdoll braced herself for the inevitable until a bright green orb collided into the horde, the force of the explosion throwing her backwards and nearly blinding her. She could feel more blood splattering against her like tidal wave, covering her cheery costume in crimson fluids.

She looked up from where she lay and saw the Vigilante, standing upon a literal mountain of the disemboweled monsters, clutching a giant canon that was bigger than he was in one hand while brandishing some kind of energy sword that glowed blood red with runes etched along the blade. The fires began to surround them, getting hotter with every passing second and engulfed her right up until the Vigilante glared back at her with emotionless, hate-filled eyes that bored into her very soul.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ragdoll screamed, snapping herself out of her vision as she clutched the sides of her head in agony!

"Ragdoll!?" Tiger balked as the other Heroes jerked at her sudden screaming. Ragdoll collapsed to the floor, writhing and flailing as she continued to scream as her throat went raw. The Heroes immediately tried to hold her down as she thrashed around in their grip.

"AAAAAAAAAAH AAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHH!" Ragdoll continued to scream her lungs out. He pupils were like pinpricks as she struggled with the Heroes restraining her while kicking out with her legs.

"What the hell is wrong with her!?"

"Hold her still!"

"Calm down, Tomoko!"

"IT CAME FROM HELL! IT CAME FROM HEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLL!" Ragdoll shrilled as tears ran down her cheeks, her fingers digging into her skin until they drew blood.

"She's out of her mind, Nemuri! Give her something!" Snipe yelled to Midnight. The Heroine tore off a tiny piece of the thin fabric covering her hand and quickly held down Ragdoll before pressing her hand up against the panicking woman's nose.

"Shhh, shhh, shhh, it's okay. Just breath it in, everything's going to be okay." Midnight whispered as gently as she could as Ragdoll's squirming subsided. Her eyes fluttered as she finally lost consciousness, going limp in Midnight's arms. Everyone stared at the unconscious girl, rattled at what had just transpired before them.

"What. Was. That?" Present Mic breathed, disturbed to the core.

"Guys! I heard Ragdoll screaming over there! What's going on?!" Pixie Bob shouted over the radio.

Hawks faced the central tower and balled his hands up into fists, his mind finally made up. He didn't know what had happened to Ragdoll but that Vigilante had something to do with it and Miruko was up there with him. And there was no way he was going to sit around and wait while his friend was in peril. With a flap of his wings, Hawks launched himself off the boat and flew next to Ryukyu.

"You guys go protect the civilians at the airport, I'm going on ahead." Hawks said to her before taking off into the air and flying towards I-Island.

"Hawks, wait! We're supposed to stick together! HAWKS!" Ryukyu called after him but he was already out of sight. Hawks shot towards the tower like a bullet going as fast as his wings could carry him. He was getting Miruko out of there and far away from that psycho as possible. But after what happened with Ragdoll, Hawks couldn't fathom what that man was capable of.

"What are you?" Hawks muttered to himself.

To be continued...

Let the bad times roll!

The world of MHA is getting a small taste of what's in store for them in the future! Poor Ragdoll, she only got to experience a few seconds of what the Doomslayer has lived through for literal eons. Her canon counterpart got off lucky if you think about it.

What I'm aiming for in future chapters in the story in the moral conflict between the Slayer and the Heroes. As evidenced by the stairwell scene, the Heroes believe in justice and doing the right thing, a sharp contrast to the Slayer's "Kill them all so they can't hurt anyone" mentality along with VEGA's cold logic. Eventually, they will all have to accept that they can't hold back their punches when the Demons invade.

I honestly don't know when I'll get back to writing. Maybe when I start to feel better but I won't push myself too hard. I'll probably have to go on extended break while thinking of news ideas for my story and avoid burnout. In them meantime, you guys stay gold and thank you so much for the support you have given me as well as understand what I'm going through. Cheers!

Don't forget to review but please don't flame.

Stay healthy and stay Safe!