AN: I don't own MHA

Stop it!

"We have a problem."

The person behind the desk looked up at their subordinate. Eyes cold and cruel, "Speak."

"It's about subject 5A1K1. They're getting…aggressive," they explained. It was old news. A young child was found with an extraordinary quirk. Then they were immediately 'recruited'. The problem was they had a lot more bite than they anticipated. At first, they were docile. Then when standard training started the tiger kitten showed its fangs. "The beast already managed to kill one of his caretakers and injured several others. Perhaps it's best to ship him off to the doctor. The cost to tame it will only grow."

"No." The boss quickly deny. As much trouble that little beast caused, they couldn't help but see the potential dollar signs all around them. "That thing will become a cash cow. Best to milk the thing for all it's worth and then send the corpse to that mad doctor." It was then an idea came to mind. After all their little tests one thing is proven clear. For the beast's quirk to function, they needed their eyes. So, what would happen if they took them away. Temporarily, of course.

A specialised mask was then commissioned. It had complicated locks that could only be opened with only one key. Other than that, it was a one-sided hunk of metal. Made to be slightly bit smaller than the little beast's head. It was a hassle getting the thing on. Someone almost lost a finger. Another did lose an arm. Eventually, through sheer numbers, they managed to herd the little beast down. There they laid growling and hissing while the weight of the mask pulled them down.

"Not so tough now. Are you brat?" The mocked with a cackle while circling the now defenceless child. Like a shark circling an injured seal. Their greed hungry eyes glared at the child. "look at you. So weak and helpless without that quirk of yours. You can't even fight back can you." They gave the little beast a good kick to the stomach. It caused them to groan and flip on their back. Clenching their now surely bruised stomach. "you should be grateful. We're the ones keeping you alive. You know why?"

The little beast didn't list. Only snarled as they bit air. The metal mask made then top-heavy. It will take some getting used to before they could get up properly without stumbling like a new-born. It gave way to the perfect opportunity to make a point.

The boss grinned. Amused by the little beast's struggles. "we're going to make you useful. A hero no less. Isn't that great? You were born with such a powerful quirk. Why not use it?"

The little beast paid no attention to them. Choosing to attempt to claw the mask off. Their fingernails only meet with a cold smooth surface. No chance of getting them off.

Annoyed by their clear disinterest, the boss stomped harshly on top of the metal mask. It made the little beast squeal. Soon a trail of blood trickled down the edges of their nose. The pressure of the sharp and heavy slap of metal forced them to still. It was a delightful sight of strain submission. A step in the right direction. They leaned close to the beast's ear and whispered in a threatening tone. "if you know what's good for you. You better obey."

There was no other choice. So, the beast became a puppet.

After watching Arata fall got hit, All Might quickly step to their side despite the spiking pain on his side. "what's wrong?" He corked. He received no repose. The way the man shook handheld himself was thought. Like I frightened child in the cold Arata's body shook until it collapsed. Panicked, All Might tried to shake them to their senses. That's when he noticed something off about their eyes. They were completely jet black. Not even the white of their eyes was spared.

"I-I-I can't see," he stuttered. He clawed the upper part, trying to rip off the mask. There was nothing there. "Why is this happening now when I need this cursed thing the most," he growled while clawing the sides of his eyes. It was enough to force to make them bleed.

"Stay with me," All Might whispered grabbing hold of Arata's hands preventing him from hurting himself more. In the corner of his eye, he saw Enji attempt to fight off that monster of a man. It was a one-sided battle. One he could not ignore. He quickly grabbed Arata cradling him in his arms and changed forward. He managed to intercept a punch that would have squeezed the flame hero in one hand. Gaining the moment of surprise, All Might clench tighter on the captured hand and used it to fling the man to the other side. "Endeavour! Take him." He yelled as he tossed Arata to them. His eyes shot back to the villain smirking smugly. The hero may have a hole in his side and a short leg, but he'd be dammed if he allowed that man to walk away from this. "I'll deal with this monster."

The two Titans soon found themselves clashing. Each time their fist meant was like a wild cry of thunder. Unlike before the man had no choice but to focus entirely on the symbol of peace. It was both awe-inspiring and irritating.

Enji watched the two trade blow for blow. Once again, he couldn't help but feel inadequate. His rival received a similar wound of his own. Arguably, much worse. Yet, they fought as if they didn't have that handicap. His thoughts were soon disrupted by the twitchy movements in his arms. Glancing down, Arata looked disoriented. Struggling in his arms like an injured wild animal. "What's the matter?"

"I can't use my quirk," he admitted. His voice cracked with something he couldn't pin down. In that familiar darkness, he could hear them. Voices have long since been forgotten. Back when he was forcefully plunged into the darkness, again and again. Those voices. Constantly taunting about how pathetic he was without his caused quirk. It's been so long. They grew to mean so little that they were left forgotten. Nothing but relics of a time he long since overcome. Or so he thought. Now a nightmare he never expected as come to be. He could lose something precious again, and the power he would use to fight has been taken. Those voices spoke terrifying truths.

"Father. Arata sensei." Just then, Izuku came running towards them with his backpack on his back. The child wasn't completely sure what happened to him. All he remembered was falling and hitting something soft before blacking out. Then waking up to see that villain fighting with an even more injured All Might and his father and sensei hiding behind some crates.

Worriedly, looked over the both of them. His father's bandages were bleeding out, but he didn't have enough extra to give him clean set. He did have a water bottle that helped cool their skin. The water steamed on impact. It was a clear sign they were reaching their limit, but they weren't the only thing of concern. "Can you not see at all?" Izuku asked tearily as he tried to rub the black stuff out of Arata's eyes with a wet wipe. It never came off.

Arata held his head down in shame. "I'm sorry."

Izuku felt like crying at his teacher's disheartened expression. The fact his father was also wounded didn't ease his mind either. Then there's All Might giving it his all against that scary man. He doesn't know how long either of them would last. There had to be something he could do. They could escape while All Might had that villain distracted, but that was cowardly. The boy's conscience couldn't let the hero fight alone. That's when an idea came to mind. "Let me be your eyes," he suggested.

It's something he learned when running some tests on Arata's quirk. They happily indulged in the boy's curiosity leading to some interesting results. Their telekinesis required sight to anchor on the target they wished to manipulate. Their telepathy was different. Some testing with his brother and Tenko acted like a radar. Themselves as the centre point. He could hear the inner minds of the people under a certain distance without the use of their eyes. However, if he wished to communicate with them, he had to home in on one person. Through the duration of the conversion, he couldn't hear anyone else thoughts. Thoughts weren't the only things that can be transmitted. Mental images can be seen as well if that's what the target was thinking. That is their key.

"Use your telepathy on me and I can tell you or show you where to go," Izuku explained. All he needed to do was hide somewhere with a good enough vantage point. Then fill his mind with what he can see. Even give brief warnings. The rest was in the psychic user's hands. He then touched the blades still by their side. "These things aren't just for show right? Then use them."

Although he couldn't see, he could still imagine the child's wilful face. Their workaround might just be crazy enough to work. Nervously, his hand glided to his locket hidden safely in his shirt. He pressed his hand on top of it while taking a couple of deep breaths. If he was going to entrust his life to someone. Why not the child that reminded him of his beloved. "I leave my eyes to you. Be warned. You will see some unsightly things," he warned while partly taking out one of his blades. The glint in the light showed their deadly sharpness.

Izuku gulped, but his eyes remained headstrong. "I understand."

The battle between All Might and the villain grew wilder. The ground quaked at their every moment. Punch after punch the hero threw had nearly all his strength. Anymore and this entire building would collapse. He couldn't let them happen knowing there were people in there. Strangely, the villain did the same. Only giving out enough force to match the hero. He knew they were stronger than this. Were they making light of him? The thought made him want to hit harder and faster.

The villain absorbed it all. He was like an impenetrable fortress with the cockiness to match. They grinned at the hero's sad attempts. Not only were they weakened they were trying to be careful. An excuse to protect the other bodies here. It was highly amusing. To see that smiling face be twisted so beautifully into frustration. It was a good look for them.

For a moment the two broke off from their constant assault. The villain saw it as an opportunity to change up his attacks. He held his palm that lit up with energy. Ready to bast the hero. It never came. It was hard to pull off the attack when your arm was detached from your body. Confusedly, he watched his cleanly chopped arm fall and roll away. It was so clean and fast it took a second for his blood to follow. The next thing he knew he was slanted over. One of his legs appeared to have gone through the same treatment, causing him to lose balance. With a swift look to his side, he saw the shine of a blade coming his way.

"I think not." Faster than they could swing down, the man pointed his other hand at the attacker. They were sent flying.

"Esper!" All Might called as he jumped up to catch them.

Now in the hero's arms, Arata carefully swung his swords about attempting to get his bearing like a blind man with a cane. "Do you mind putting me down? It's disorienting being lifted up in my current state." With that said, All Might carefully place them back on solid ground.

As for their opponent, since they had some time to breathe, they cursed picked up their chopped off limbs and screwed them back to his main body. It took a couple of seconds to be he managed to twiddle back some movement. He then stretched out his arms, the black tendrils from before shot out from his fingertips. Only there was more of them. Branching out like trees with dragger like tips.

Protectively, All Might force Arata behind him. "Don't let those things touch you. He could take quirks to form a touch."

There was a moment of pause.

Arata's head whipped back at the number 1 hero. All Might could feel their judgemental strained black eyes burning a hole in their head. "You choose now to bring up this piece of information!" He silently swore to himself if they made it out of here alive, he would strangle this man.

It was then Enji jumped back into battle. His arms were in an X like position as they burned brighter. With a yell, he slashed them forwards unleashed a wall of fire. It slowly the tendrils down as the tips partly burned away on in impact.

Taking the opportunity, Arata hoisted himself up on top of All Might's muscular frame. Then used them as a launching board to jump over Enji's flames. They nicked his uniform darkening its white colour. Still, he managed to backflip past the wall of fire.

Their opponent took notice, redirecting their tendrils upwards. A second before they hit, their target fought back. Slicing in in one fluid motion. Their remains met with the fire hero below, who burned the fallen pieces and burned down the main body's nubs. Preventing them from regenerating too soon.

Arata found himself leaping from tendril to tendril using one leg before leaping to another. The second he left them; he'd contorted his body to sliced down. Allowing Enji to repeat his burning process below him. Following the other by pushing his firewall. Eventually, the psychic user found himself close enough to their target. Swiftly, he readjusted his blade and dashed forward. His blades soon met their opponent's neck.

Clang!

They were stopped as they hit something mechanical.

The villain grinned. Their neck smiled to shine with a silver sheen that wasn't there before. "I thought heroes had a no-killing policy," he mocked.

"Tell that to the commission," Arata hissed back trying to push his blades forward. There was no point. Whatever he was hitting he couldn't cut in.

During this pause, the man tried to take the upper hand and grab them. Too bad he was a second too late. All Might stopped the hand from reaching Arata and flip the villain over his shoulder. Violently, threshed them around like a rag doll.

Eventually, the man freed himself but soon found his back against fire. Then his front with a blade. Then that grinning hero's fist again. Like a carousel the hits kept coming round and round from one blind spot to another. It took some effort to doge and or block them. Those blades were surprisingly accurate. Too accurate. He could understand that the other two were able to follow each other's movements. Perhaps even readjusting them to aid their currently blinded ally. But the motion was too sooth.

Despite being blinded they never once got in the way of the other two heroes. Elegantly, weaving between them in a dance-like motion. When the heroes were about to make their move, they would follow closely behind. Perfectly timed like a rehearsed play. It puzzled the villain. He knew they couldn't see yet they move as they do to a degree. Only wobbling with a couple of seconds lagged response. Something else was in play here. Another pair of eyes.

That's when it clicked form for him. There was one other in the area that could act as a second pair of eyes. In between attacks, he scanned the facility until he saw a tuff of green hair hiding on top of the upper railings. Instantly, his eyes homed in on them, "You're the eyes."

Soon they leapt away from three heroes and bolted to the boy.

In fear, Izuku screamed realising he was caught. The fear was so great his body was locked into place. His body to move it refused. All he could do was stared into the demon's red eyes as they came closer to them. Reaching out their hand.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY SON!"

Coming from a blind spot, the man was caught off guard when a flaming hand clamped on his face like a vice. He screamed at the sudden pain. The fire grew hotter the tighter the hand gripped him. It burned and seared his skin going straight to the bone. The agony was indescribable. Soon, the fire spread throughout his entire body. Darkening it to an ashy black lump of a body. He was thrown aside carelessly. The fire continued to burn him.

After tossing their opponent, Enji found himself crashing headfirst into the floor. He could barely feel the pain of his bare skin slamming on the concrete. The heat of his body prevented him from feeling much else. Tgen his flames died out leaving the remains of smoke clouds.

"Enji," Arata came running. He tried to put a hand over their forehead but the heat they produced prevented them from coming a head close. "You're heating up too much."

"I'm fine," the flame hero snapped back. He pushed himself half off the ground. His muscles might be burning, but he refused to look so pathic right now. It's over, right? They won.

No. It wasn't over.

Rising to form the flames, the villain rose. The fire still engulfed them, but that didn't stop them from moving. A demon coming back from the ashes. Slowly, they put themselves together. Skin and flesh that was once burned away and now showing the off white of their bones regrew. Muscle strands shot out of the gapping areas weave themselves to form a whole. Disjoined limbs clicked back to place. Their crimson red eyes glared through their half-burnt face. They held such contempt. "Your son?" They hissed through their skull teeth.

The group watched in horror. After everything they threw at that demon. They still came back.

All Might, may it be from bravery or stupidity, make his body a wall between that demon and his other two companions. "If you both run now, I can buy you time to escape."

"Like hell," Enji roared, stumbling to his feet. "That creep kidnapped my son. This is my fight."

Arata stood by him, reading his blades. "If he's staying I will too."

The hero gave them both a glace and sighed. There was no point in trying to convince them. They were as stubborn as he was. Then he tightened his fists and glared down the demon. "Together it is then."

With a war cry, the three changed at the demon. They were they couldn't end things half-finished no matter how bruised they were. One way or another they had to keep fighting.

Unfortunately for them, the demon grew tired of this little game.

"Enough!"

The heroes were stunned into place. These pesty heroes were nuisances that lost their fun. It's time to end this little game. His arm morphed into something unrecognisable. A fusion limb of various different concoctions. Form rocks to metals. With how top-heavy it looked it was a miracle the man could still stand straight. Or it was proof of how inhuman they truly were. Like a hammer, he slammed the monstrous arm down sending electrical shockwaves through the ground. It knocked the stunned heroes out of place.

Like dominos, they fell one after the other. That stunning effect was still activated preventing them from moving. It became horridly clear that the man was toying with them this whole time. As if this was all some sick game, he had finally grown tired of. There was no beating him.

The villain looked over the trio and contemplated which one should he deal with first. The quirk he used was a new one he hadn't fully explored yet, so he was unsure of the lasting effects. Should he go for the hero who was slowly becoming a thorn on his side? Nah. Where the fun in that? He would much rather play with them in a more even fight sometime in the future. Then watch the hope slowly drain from their eyes. That would be much more amusing.

How about the fella with the interesting quirk? It was a rather tempting prospect. To have such a quirk in his arsenal. Then again, its drawback was on the troublesome side. He could make it work but perhaps not for himself. For one of his doctor's projects. He could just take the body and save a lot of effort. Bonus it might crush the little symbol's spirt more.

Soon his eyes fell on the flame hero. Easily, the most ragged of the lot. His amused smile sharply turned into a frown. He walked up to the hero his arm growing on a sharp axe. "I suppose I should get rid of the boring one first," he sighed raising his arm high. He'll make this as painful as possible.

Slam!

Suddenly, he felt something heavy slam against his face. It knocked his balance forcing him back a couple of steps. It was a backpack. All of its goodies spilt across the floor. A doll, pens, alcohol gel and various different notebooks. One of them tilted: number 1.

"Stop it!" a scream demanded.

The man's eyes shot towards the source. It was little Izuku. His arms were wide in a firm stance. Shielding his father from the villainous man. They were shaking like a little leaf in the wind, yet despite that, they held on to their branch firmly. Never letting go of that burning fire in their eyes.

"I won't let you hurt father!" The child screamed in declaration then kicked the villain as hard as he could. If they wanted his father, they had to go through him first.

There was a pause. The man's eyes widen at the scene in shock familiarity. Shakily, he reached his hand towards the boy. Uttering an unusual phrase: "little… brother?"

The action was disrupted as an arch of weak flames. The flame hero clumsily shot himself up. One arm in fragmented flames ready to strike. The other reactively wrapped itself around the small boy. They cried with worry and shock. Ignoring the villain in favour of talking to their father. They call out but there was no repose. The flame hero was barely conscious. Only a dazed look in their eyes.

It allowed the man to calm himself. His eyes drifted back to the bag, and its spilt contents. Curiously, he picked up the notebook ladled 'number 1' and flicked through its pages. The frown he wore slowly twisted upward with each flick. Even his eyes couldn't hold back their gleam. "Interesting. Very interesting." He then shut the book and turned away. "I've seen enough." he suddenly declared. His eyes filled with excitement as he used the book to wave goodbye. "Till next we meet." With that final ominous promise, the man disappeared.

AN: contrary to what most of you may believe this isn't the big AFO and All Might showdown. I mean I see why it may look like that with All Might getting stabbed, but this is in fact the prelude to it. That fight is partly the endgame of this season...which is not for awhile.

Tragic- well there's really no point in saying anything but that's fine. I kind of expected people to have mix feelings for this second season due to how many moving pieces there are. Admittedly, it looks messy since the storyline isn't as clean and simple as season 1. I still have no regrets since I write what I feel is fun. So long as I'm happy I'll keep going. So goodbye stranger that will never see this.