The large metal door to the Phoenix Revolution's base slowly opened in front Todoroki an Mushou. Behind them stood the last nomu at their disposal. Attached to the nomu's back was the payload they've gone to such great effort to transport from I-island. One large glass tube, big enough to hold a person, and filled with a white translucent liquid.
The large metal door finished its' opening sequence and locked into place with a heavy thud. On the other side stood someone familiar ready to welcome them. "I heard there were some issues getting transporting the cloning tube here" Dabi said with a grin.
"Just an unplanned run in with some American hero. It forced us to go for transport-plan Ulmo, but it worked out" Todoroki responded. He and Mushou then began entering the base with the nomu following behind.
"Did you manage to take down any heroes with the ship?" Dabi asked as the door began closing. The group then began walking through the base.
"We could have" Mushou replied. "But there were American heroes there as well. Killing them would only give us more enemies. Not to mention that Uravity was there as well" She explained.
"That is unfortunate. Would have been nice to get some of heroes out of the way before we initiate the Minami offensive" Dabi commented.
"It's just a few heroes, most of them operate in the Kanto region. If everything goes according to plan, then they won't make difference" Todoroki said. "Where is spinner by the way?" He asked and looked around. "I assumed he would like to be here for this"
"Oh spinner, he's on a mission" Dabi replied.
"What mission?" Mushou asked.
"You remember that short lady that came to us last year? The one with ponytails?" Dabi asked.
"Yeah, I remember her. La Brava I think" Mushou replied.
"That's the one. And Spinner is out trying to free her lover" Dabi said. "A villain that was arrested several years ago. He was known for committing mostly small crimes until he got arrested while trying to enter UA" He explained.
"And why are we wasting time getting some small-time villain out of prison?" Todoroki asked.
"Because this villain was also known for always getting away with his crimes. Even if he publicly announced his crimes before committing them. Of course, he was caught at UA, but that is to be expected" Dabi answered
The group then arrived at a room hidden well within the base. On the floor there were cables and pipes ready to be connected to something.
"Now then. Let's get this thing hooked up" Dabi said and looked at towards the glass tube on the nomu's back.
While Todoroki and Mushou returned to the revolution's base. Spinner was walking through a narrow tunnel going under a prison. In front of him was the one who was digging the tunnel using his quirk, mole, a short man covered in dirt. Behind Spinner followed a short lady with two large ponytails.
"We're getting close" The man in front said.
"Alright. Once we're in stay hidden while me and La Brave rescue Gentle. We'll need you to close this tunnel behind us when we escape" Spinner said. He then turned around and face La Brava. "And you follow me closely and do as I say" He stated, receiving a small nod in response.
The sound of earth moving out of the way then suddenly stopped as the group exited the tunnel and into a generator room. The one with the tunnelling quirk hid behind the generators while Spinner and La Brava began making their way through the facility.
The facility wasn't a heavily guarded one like Tartarus used to be. But it was still guarded enough to warrant caution. Even so it didn't take long before Spinner encountered a guard and sliced them down before they had time to react. The duo then continued to quickly make their way to Gentle's cell. It was only a matter of time before they were spotted on the security cameras.
That moment came earlier than Spinner and La Brava would like. Just as they made their last turn before reaching Gentle's cell, an alarm started blaring throughout the prison. An alarm with the promise of more guards.
"Let's be quick about this" Spinner said as he stopped in front of the solid iron door that led to Gentle's cell. He pulled out a small explosive device and placed it over the locking mechanism. "If you can hear me then step away from the door! We're blowing you out!" Spinner exclaimed before stepping back and detonating the explosives.
The explosion destroyed the lock of the door and blew it open. Spinner quickly stormed into the cell and saw a somewhat confused man with white hair sitting on his bed. "What is the deal with this?" The man asked, almost as if he was offended. "I was having a very ice morning before you…" He continued, but trailed off as he notice La Brava standing behind Spinner. "La Brava" He whispered.
"Gentle" La Brava said with tears of joy as she ran to her lover. "I promised I would get you free" She said.
"My dear La Brava" Gentle said as he embraced the shorter woman. "Didn't tell you to move on and make your own life?" He asked.
"Not without you" La Brava responded. "I love you" She whispered.
Meanwhile Spinner stood next to the blown-up door, hearing the approaching guards. "You can deal with your reunion later. Right now we need to get out of here before we're overrun" Spinner said and readied his sword.
"Do you have any escape plan?" Gentle asked as he felt the power from La Brava's words.
"A tunnel in the generator room. If we can get there we'll be clear" Spinner explained. "But we still need to get around-" He began, but was suddenly grabbed by someone and began bouncing through the hallways at an incredible speed.
"There is no need to worry about that my green scaled friend" Gentle said as he carried both La Brava and Spinner through the hallways. "I, the gentle criminal, can get us there" He proclaimed as he bounced around a group of shocked guards.
"Great, just hurry up" Spinner mumbled as he felt the motion sickness start to kick in.
Gentle eventually arrived in the generator room after evading more guards and a few turns that almost made Spinner lose his lunch. Gentle looked around before gently putting La Brava down. Meanwhile Spinner almost tumbled to the ground.
"Now that wasn't so bad was it?" Gentle wondered.
"Easy for you to say" Spinner retorted. He then noticed mole coming out from the corner of the room. "Let's just get out of here before they start following us" He said and walked into the tunnel.
La Brava and Gentle followed behind, the latter having to bend down slightly because of his height. Lastly came mole who started closing the tunnel behind the group as they made their way forwards.
"This tunnel is a bit cramped" Gentle commented.
"Sorry. This is as big as I can make it" Mole said as he continued to close the tunnel behind them.
"There's only about 200 meters left. Then we follow an abandoned underground tunnel until it ends. From there we can get to the surface and drive back to base" Spinner explained.
"I seem to remember that your leader, Deku, had some sort of teleportation quirk" Gentle mentioned. "Is he too busy to shorten our trip perhaps?" He asked.
Spinner stopped for a moment, standing still. "Deku he…" Spinner mumbled. "Things have changed since you were imprisoned Gentle. You'll be free to ask questions when we reach the main base" He explained.
The rest of the trip continued being silent. They reached the abandoned tunnel and followed it to its' end and exited to the surface. There Spinner turned on the car and began driving the group to the main base. The only conversations during the entire trip was the occasional chatter between La Brava and Gentle.
After a car trip that lasted a few hours through small and remote roads, the group of four finally arrived at the main base. The large metal gates closed behind them as Spinner drove inside where Dabi was already waiting.
"Good to see that the mission was a success" Dabi greeted as Spinner exited the vehicle
"Likewise" Spinner responded. "Has Todoroki and Mushou returned by the way?" He asked. "It was today right?"
"They came back a few hours ago with the payload. Now they're just resting after the journey" Dabi replied. "The cloning tank is secured in case you want to see it" He said more quietly, making sure only Spinner heard him.
"Really?" Spinner exclaimed as his eyes shot up. "I need to go right now" He said and ran further into the base.
Dabi then turned his attention towards the other two that had arrived with Spinner, excluding mole. "So you're the one La Brava here has been talking so much about" Dabi stated. "I hope that your rumour holds up"
"Well I aim to please my fans" Gentle responded and gave a gracious bow. "Meanwhile I'll hope that your organization is as admirable as I remember it" He said as he stood up.
"You'll have plenty of time to figure that out in the time ahead" Dabi said, slightly puzzling Gentle.
"What do you mean?" Gentle asked, suddenly becoming more sceptical of the ones who had just freed him.
"Didn't La Brava tell you? She promised me you would join the revolution if we freed you" Dabi explained. "And so far I've held my end of that bargain" He added.
Gentle then looked towards La Brava who had a face filled with guilt. "I'm sorry Gentle. It was the only way to get you free" She said quietly.
"You have nothing to apologize for my dear La Brava. You only did what you thought to be right" Gentle said with a gentle tone. "But Dabi on the other hand…" He said with a sourer tone as he turned towards the scarred man. "You exploited someone's emotions for your own gain" Gentle stated accusingly.
"I simply looked at it objectively. If I were to free you and then just let you go and do whatever you wanted I would gain nothing. But having you work with us, now that isn't useless" Dabi said plainly. "Besides, you wouldn't last long on your own anyways. We haven't spent all these years doing nothing. There isn't a single villain that doesn't answer to us. One way or another, you will join the revolution" He explained with a small smirk.
Gentle looked at Dabi with an unreadable expression for a long time before coming with a response. "If you want me to consider joining you, then you could at least let me talk to your leader" Gentle said.
"I am the current leader" Dabi replied.
"I am not uneducated. I know that your leader is Deku. The villain that rose out from nothing and became the equal to the likes of All for one and Destro. I would like to meet him" Gentle insisted.
"Deku is preoccupied" Dabi said.
"So preoccupied that you became the leader?" Gentle wondered.
"He is dead" Dabi stated, giving Gentle a surprised look. "Deku died 8 years ago when he gave his life to save everyone. Heroes and villains alike" Dabi explained.
"I see" Gentle mumbled. "I guess the world has changed a great deal" He said quietly. "But what did you mean when you said that he was preoccupied?" Gentle asked.
"Perhaps it would be easier if I showed you" Dabi said. "Follow me" He added and began walking through the base.
For a while Gentle remained silent as he and La Brava followed Dabi. However, his curiosity eventually broke that silence. "How did Deku die?" Gentle asked.
"All for one had an ally who managed to bring him back, younger and stronger. Deku decided that All for one was a bigger threat than the heroes and managed to orchestrate a joint attack. And in the end he used a power that killed him to kill All for one" Dabi explained.
"I didn't know that" Gentle mumbled, slightly taken aback.
"That's not your fault, but the system's. Everyone should have the right to know what is going on around them. Even those who break the law" Dabi responded. "By the way, what is your opinion of the Phoenix Revolution? If you look away from our little argument earlier of course" He asked.
Gentle scratched his beard contemplating for a while before giving his answer. "You didn't do much before I was arrested, so it was hard for me to tell. The only large thing you did was to attack Musutafu and UA, as well as kill that villain Shigaraki. Though your ideals are noble indeed. There are many injustices that go by without anyone caring, so I can only hope that you will bring the change you say you will bring. And if what you told me of Deku's death is true, then that would increase my opinion of your revolution" Gentle explained.
"I see" Dabi mumbled as he stopped in front of a closed door. "Perhaps if everything goes according to plan you will get the time you want to discuss your ideas with Deku" He said and opened the door and stepped aside.
Both Gentle and La Brava tried to make sense of what they saw inside the dimly lit room. The floor was covered in pipes and wires that all converged around the central object in the room. A large glass tube filled with an illuminated and white translucent liquid. And inside the liquid they could see the vague shape of a person floating inside the tube.
"What is that?" La Brava asked.
"That is Deku" Dabi replied as he walked up behind them
"Deku? Is this what you meant when you said he was preoccupied?" Gentle wondered.
"Yes, this is what I meant" Dabi replied. "You see, Deku always had plans for everything, even his own death. So he began working on something he called the phoenix project. A project that aimed to make clones of him in case he died. Deku and another barely managed to make the project functional before he died. Because of those efforts he will soon be back" Dabi explained.
"That is truly remarkable" Gentle said quietly, along with a small nod from La Brava. Both of them amazed by the sight in front of them.
"Perhaps you would like to reconsider my offer from earlier?" Dabi suggested with a hidden smirk.
"Yes" Gentle replied. "I think I might have to accept your offer" He said and gave a deep bow to Dabi.
"That's good to hear. Welcome to the revolution Gentle" Dabi said.
A/N: Alright, I'll just have to give up on trying to release one chapter every day. It's just impossible with everything going on. Maybe during holidays, but not during school. It's just too little time. Not to mention that I ended up rewriting half of this chapter three times because I wasn't pleased with it. Anyways, I'm hoping you're all having a wonderful day. Goodbye.