A/N: Welcome to the story! Please note, this story will take a very dark turn later on and will feature explicit language, recreational drug abuse, assault, psychological torture, explicit sexual content, and Rape and non/con elements. Please be warned going into this, and if any of these elements trigger you, please don't read further. I will also make a point to warn about these elements before each chapter they appear in.

If you feel comfortable moving forward, please come on in and let me know what you think! Story is also cross posted on AO3 under The_Storm_Unleashed.


Burning Envy

Chapter 1

Out of all the scum bag heroes in the world to sympathize with Stain's ideology and turncoat to the League of Villains, Dabi would have never guessed that flying douche bag Hawks to be among them. Yet here the winged hero stands before him, shit eating grin plastered on his face as he tells the villain that he wishes to join their ranks.

Dabi takes his time responding to the hero, allowing his features to remain still and unreadable so Hawks cannot decipher what the villain is thinking. He knows the winged boy-wonder has to be pulling his leg. It's clear this is his way of solidifying himself within the ranks of the veteran heroes, by gunning for the famed League of Villains. So how can he possibly think that they would be foolish enough to fall for this ruse?

He can't talk to Shigaraki. It's clear he wants to see the man-child for himself and use that information to arrest them all and bathe in the glory, but Dabi knows how heroes think. They are all self-serving bastards moving with the singular purpose to elevate themselves by standing on the backs of the people they kneel down into submission.

Dabi feels his body heating as he thinks about the pieces of shit that have forced him into the dark alleys of this city. It is people like this pretty boy that stands before him that he has to skulk in the shadows, understanding the true evil that resides in the scum that the public have built up to be heroes.

"So," the blonde finally speaks up with a pressed smile on his face. Dabi recognizes the smile, having seen it on so many heroes that fake it for the cameras and upvotes. There is nothing genuine about his smile; his eyes tell the true story. "Whaddaya say?" he presses him with a lopsided smirk. "Considering my rank as a Pro Hero, I can give the League valuable information on the whereabouts and movements of other Pro Heroes. I think your leader would appreciate that information and find it to be fairly useful." He tilts his head, smirk placed unevenly as it crawls up the right side of his face.

I wanna punch the fuck outta a grin like that. Dabi thinks to himself, but restrains.

"The boss-man is understandably a cautious guy—"

"Of course," he interrupts the villain. "Anything I can do to show him I mean business."

Dabi cocks his head to the side, lifting his nose upwards to look down on him. "Anything?" his voice returns roughly as the idea excites him.

"Well within reason, of course. I still gotta maintain my hero image. Else having me on the team doesn't seem very beneficial," he chuckles and Dabi notices the nervous inflection in his breath.

"We have a new set of Nomu, we'd love to give them some fresh air," he says with a sinister hint in his voice.

Hawks swallows, looking over at the black-haired villain, "What would you have me do?"

"Let's make a show of it," Dabi begins with excitement heating in his chest. "Nomu battling against Pro Heroes. You come and save the day. Everyone loves you all over again. But you gotta make it look convincing; the hardest battle you've ever fought in." Hawks nods in agreement and Dabi smiles to himself as he adds his own condition. "But you're not the only hero there. We need it to be a spectacular show. We need the public to truly lose their sick complacency that the heroes will always be there to save them."

"What do you suggest?" he asks him with a growing lump constricting in his throat.

"You're gunna beat the Nomu no problem, but Nomu's gotta get some punches in, and not with some B-rate wannabe." Dabi smiles, pulling at the staples in his cheeks. "We want Endeavor."

Hawks' eyes widen if only for a second before he recovers and returns to a cool lidded expression. "Yeah sure, the soon to be Number One's gotta become a target at some point," he says knowing that the flame hero will be able to handle his own, but still feeling the sting of selling him out nonetheless. "But here's my condition," he begins, "In the interest of public safety, I will lure Endeavor to Nomu, but the fight's gotta happen somewhere secluded from civilians."

Dabi exhales a humored scoff, knowing that hero's gotta hero. "Fine, you've got a deal. The abandoned warehouse off the shore in the industrial district should suffice. You've got two weeks." Dabi pulls his hand out of his pocket, tossing a burner phone to the winged hero who catches it effortlessly. "We'll be in touch."

Hawks places the phone in the breast pocket of his jacket and moves his hand to shake on it, but Dabi keeps his hands rested firmly in his pockets. Hawks pulls his hand back and the shit eating grin returns on his lips. "So, after that, I get to meet the boss?"

Dabi turns away from the hero, unable to look onto his smug face any longer, "yeah, whatever," he returns lazily waving over his head as he walks away from the hero.


Asami enters the Endeavor Hero Agency twenty minutes early as she does every day. Only once in her two years there did she arrive 'on time', and the flame hero never let her hear the end of the 'to be early is to be on time, but to be on time is to be late' speech. So, she has done everything in her power to ensure that she is never 'on time' ever again.

Her amethyst eyes glance down at the stacks of papers she holds tightly against her chest. Pieces of her dark purple hair crush between the papers and she tries to tug out the strands without dropping the stacks.

She has prepared hundreds of proposals for Endeavor's speech in a week. Based on the online polls, he is expected to assume the mantel of the newly vacant Number One Hero spot, and address the crowd during the Japanese Hero Billboard Charts.

Naturally, Endeavor is not one for inspiring words, so he has tasked Asami with the privilege of staying up for three nights straight to come up with a rousing call to the people.

She enters the Pro Hero's office as he sits stiffly at his desk watching various videos that question if the hero is prepared to assume the Number One spot. He sneers at the videos as pathetic civilians devalue his efforts with snide and baseless comments.

"Sir," Asami says approaching the Pro carefully. He looks up at her with aggravated confusion in his eyes at why she is here disturbing his peace. "Our eight o'clock, Sir?" she reminds him.

He glances over at the clock to see it is fifteen 'til. "You're early," he grunts at her.

"To be early—"

"Yeah, whatever, come in," he lazily waves at her.

She steps closer to him, sitting across from him as his large mahogany desk separates them. She places the files on his desk carefully in front of him, ripping loose purple strands of hair that were caught in the folds of the papers. She quickly snatches the hairs and throws them to the ground before he can notice.

"I've compiled various approaches you can explore for your acceptance speech at the Japanese Hero Billboard Charts," she begins while he clearly does not listen to her as his eyes focus on the headlines he reads. "This year's awards are going to be more important than previous years with all the villainous activity of late. So, we will really have to make a statement. I placed color coordinated flags on different category types. Yellow is a humbler approach, red is the straight forward method, blue is—"

"You honestly think I am going to assume the Number One slot?" he asks her with a roughness in his tone, turquoise eyes cutting into her soul through flames that mask his face.

She swallows hard as her purple eyes fall from his harsh gaze. She tucks pieces of her plum-colored hair behind her ear as she speaks. "I have collected data from numerous sources that are predicting your rise as the Number One Hero. Countless tabloids have also started reporting that you have won, and online polls are showing—"

"What do you make of this?" he asks her, turning the computer screen towards her where he plays a clip of civilians addressing their concern with the flame hero's ability to act as the Number One Hero.

"Sir, I understand your concerns, but statistically speaking, you are going to be voted the Number One Hero. This is just a biased broadcast of a selective group of people to push a targeted narrative out to the public. It's a slander story." He leans back, eyes still focused on the screen as he remains unconvinced.

She sighs, "Regardless, we need to prepare you for a speech, since the top ten have to speak. So, as I was saying, blue is—"

"What does it matter?" he continues with a grumble still in his tone. "I will never be what All Might stood for."

"Well, that's because you're not All Might," she says bluntly and he looks up at her with harsh eyes. She swallows hard, her body temperature rising as she tries to explain herself. "What I mean, is you are Endeavor," she begins. "Reading the threads online, people are expecting you to either come in with a rehearsed and cheap 'I am here' speech that they are eager to roast online, or with your signature cold demeanor that will just push people towards the realization that the true Symbol of Peace is actually gone."

He watches her now, his attention fully undivided towards her words. "So, what does the Symbol of Peace mean to you?" he asks her, knowing what All Might told him when he asked, but wondering what it means to the general public.

"After the publication of Stain's ideology, people have become disillusioned with the promise that heroes are here to protect us," she informs him. "Heroes are sprouting out of the ground with nothing but the tunneled vision of a paycheck and fame to motivate their actions. You need to show the public that you are not one of these people. You are a veteran hero with the highest resolves in history," she stresses. "You don't do that for the fame," he opens his mouth to disagree but she continues without letting him pipe up over her, "and if you do then don't mention it," she commands him sternly. "The people need someone to take action and show them they are safe as long as you are out there protecting them. Show them you are not a Symbol of Peace. You are a Bringer of Peace."

His eyes soften and she feels her heart flutter as her words seem to chip away at his hardened exterior. "That's pretty good, I think I will use that one."

"Well then you'll be interested in the blue labeled speeches that layout the actions you've taken to improve the quality of life for the people of Japan," she says sliding the stack in front of him and lifting herself from her seat to leave him to his other meetings.

"Asami," he calls out to her before she can leave the room, addressing her by her name for the first time in the two years she has worked for him. "I am assuming you were a fan of All Might when you were younger?"

She turns to him, watching his unreadable expression as he tries to read her own. "Honestly, Sir," she begins as he watches her. "You were my favorite," she tells him and his turquoise eyes widen in disbelief. She shrugs her shoulders, knowing his next question is to ask why. "You showed a young girl with a less than heroic Quirk that she could do good one day if she worked hard for what she wanted."

"Thank you, Hatsuse," he says to her with a flat tone that masks how much her words truly mean to him. "That will be all."

She bows to him and returns to her desk where she continues her work scrubbing the internet of less than favorable responses to Endeavor's rise to the number one spot. She has worked hard to ensure his public image is well received, and with the Billboard Charts only a week away, she will ensure that the civilians of Japan will cheer when his name is called as the Number One Hero.