Death

by tmb1112

Death is a Quirk that can only kill. A perfect Quirk for a villain, but what if the boy who manifested that power just wanted to be a hero? Enrolling in U.A. might not be enough when all your Quirk can do is kill people. Follow Zach Sazaki from his first day in Class A on a story that spans years, as he learns to be a hero, finds out more about his Quirk, and too much to summarize!

27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27:

In a suburban area of Musutafu City, Jenny Akers sat on her couch with her legs crossed and her head leaning forward over them. "Jenny, come sit at the table," Mrs. Akers called over to her daughter who had been sitting in the same place that she was in if she wasn't pacing around whenever she was home now. "You can leave the tv on," she added to her daughter who looked reluctant to come over.

Jenny smiled and she rushed over to the table. She did not even make it there before glancing over her shoulder to check the news again, and she almost tripped on an empty chair as she made her way to her seat. "Whoops," she spun around it and ran over, taking her seat and then turning to the screen in the living room again. She glanced back at the empty chair she had nearly fallen over, a chair that had been empty for months now, but used to seat a boy who would come over at least once a week to eat with them.

"Don't eat it too fast now, just to get back to watching tv," Mr. Akers said as he placed a plate down in front of his daughter. Jenny spun to him in surprise, not even noticing he was standing next to her until he said something.

"It's all anyone's been talking about all day," Jenny said. She started twirling her fork into her food, but she was barely looking at it. Jenny was looking up at her dad while she moved around her fork, and she continued to the man who sat on her right side. "I knew it. I knew there was a reason he had been saving less and less people. It was all a trap," Jenny stabbed her fork down into her steak and she pointed a finger towards her dad with a big grin on her face. "Just luring them into a sense of security, tricking them by acting like saving people wasn't the biggest thing anymore. When they stopped teleporting him around to all the accidents, he must have started planning this!"

"Honey," Mrs. Akers started in a slow voice. Jenny turned towards her mother, and Mrs. Akers turned from her daughter to her husband. She had a hesitant look on her face, and then she turned back to Jenny and said, "I don't think that's actually what happened." Jenny's eyes started to widen, then her mother lifted her fork from her food and pointed it at her daughter, "This is Zach we're talking about. He must have had this planned since before he even went through the portal at the courthouse."

Jenny's face lit back up and she rose her fork still with her steak on it to point back at her mother. "Great point!"

Mr. Akers laughed while he actually used his fork to pick up some food and put it in his mouth. "Whatever really happened, Zach caught two villains. I would have thought the heroes would try to take credit if something like this happened. I'm surprised they're actually crediting him."

"Oh look," Jenny pointed back towards the tv in the other room. She did not turn up the volume before running to the table, so they had to quiet down as the three news anchors started talking at their discussion table again. "Shh," Jenny said as her mom put her fork down and made a clinking noise.

"I'll say it again, there is no argument here Bob. Lifebringer, confirmed now without a doubt, as Zach Sazaki, is on our side-"

"There never was a doubt, Kasami," the chubbier man whose hairline was receding started, but he continued, "about the boy's identity. How can we be sure this is really a good thing though?"

"The two he helped the U.A. faculty arrest were wanted criminals-"

"I'm not arguing the point there. All I'm saying-"

"Well what is it you're saying?"

"He's still with the villains! In my mind, there are two options. Either the League of Villains wants us to trust this Lifebringer, so they had him hand us two of their own who were not worth anything to them, or!" Bob shouted as it looked like the other two were about to interrupt him, "Or, Lifebringer really did turn on them and help capture those two just because he is on our side. But if that's true, and he was taken back through the portal as we've heard, then what does that mean for him?"

"What are you saying Bob? He always goes back through the portal-"

"But that's not what the report this time says. They say that Sazaki was brought back through the portal against his will."

"Well you know what?" Kasami started, while the Akers family started staring at the screen more nervously. The thin, young man with slicked black hair and pointy ears sticking out of it grinned and held out a hand. "I bet, the villains just want it to seem like he's on our side. Like you said, they might want us to think he's on our side- but! And this is a big 'but' Bob. Even if the villains are trying to use Lifebringer that way, all this kid has done so far is save lives and now, capture villains. If he is secretly some super-villain super-weapon, he hasn't shown us that side of him yet. And maybe the thing the villains are relying on, the moment when he will turn on us that they're trying to lure us into, maybe he's the one messing with them. Get as much out of them as he can before bailing."

"I hope you're right Kasami. I really do."

"We all do."

"There's no question about it," Jenny said, while turning back to her parents who refaced their daughter. Jenny lifted her fork again and she said, "It was even before he went to trial. I bet he acted all weird during it just to get the villains to think he would actually join them again!"

Mr. Akers lost his smile for a second, but then he regained it and said in a soft voice, "Now wouldn't that be something."

---

"Momo, come on," Jirou said. Yaoyorozu turned to her friend with earphone-jacks for earlobes who just jumped up from Yaoyorozu's own bed. "Kirishima just got back. He's downstairs in the common room." Jirou pocketed her phone while Yaoyorozu popped up from her desk chair.

The two of them ran out the room and headed towards the stairs, and Jirou said in annoyance as they rushed down, "Finally we can get some answers. Stupid teachers only telling us the official statements-"

"Kyoka," Yaoyorozu started, feeling she should say something about her friend calling the teachers stupid.

"Hey don't act like it hasn't been bothering you," Jirou said accusingly. "All you've been doing is fidgeting around and scrolling the web for hours now. I was starting to get worried about you there." Jirou picked up her feet to speed up, and she added, "Plus, you're practically sprinting down these stairs."

"I am being careful," Yaoyorozu assured her.

The two girls reached the first floor and they popped out of the stairwell and looked around. It did not take them long to see the boy across the floor surrounded by almost their entire class at the tables near the kitchen. The two of them were in Yaoyorozu's room on the fifth floor, so they were two of the last ones to get there.

"Kirishima," Jirou called out as they ran forward. A few others moved to make space for Jirou and Yaoyorozu in the growing circle around the spiky-red-haired boy.

"Why'd it take so long for you to get out?" Hagakure asked.

"I don't know," Kirishima said. "The cops thought we might all be targets or something, even though we told them it wasn't it, so they tried to keep us at the station."

"You had to stay longer though," Ojiro mentioned. He had also just arrived back at the dorm, the last one besides Kirishima who had not come back yet. They had said they wanted to wait for Kirishima to show up before talking about what happened though for some reason, and Ojiro asked after Kirishima turned to make eye contact with him. "How did you know to do that? What was that message you said Zach got to you?"

"Heh," Kirishima scratched the back of his head.

"He was sending you messages?" Kaminari asked in surprise, his eyes wide.

"Just one," Kirishima said, and Kaminari leaned back, getting more confused. "And I won't say how I got it," Kirishima started. Everyone opened their mouths to argue, but he continued, "I'll say what he told me though." The ones who opened their mouths closed them to let him go on. Midoriya had leaned forward and opened his mouth wide, and then he leaned back as Kirishima started talking again, though there was still sweat all over the green-haired boy's face.

"He just told me, that his Quirk could no longer kill me," Kirishima said. Most of the class stared at him in confusion, and he continued, "He told me that Death couldn't kill what it had already brought back to life, and he added 'old friend,' into the message too. I didn't really get why he said something like that, it sounded weird to me at the time. So when he said it while pretending to be all evil, I knew he wanted me to play along. And then I thought about what might lure the villains in-"

"You scared the crap out of me!" Ashido exclaimed, and she smacked Kirishima on the shoulder angrily. They had all been rushed out by police the day before when they were separated and then they had not really seen each other again until now. The pink-skinned and pink-haired girl gave Kirishima such an annoyed look. "Couldn't you have thought of anything better than playing dead?!"

"I don't get it," Sero started slowly. "What are you talking about?"

"Zach touched Kirishima with his right hand," Ojiro started to the dark-haired boy on his left. "And Kirishima fell backwards like he was dead. We all thought he was," Ojiro added, turning back and frowning at Kirishima just like Ashido was.

"Hey, we all survived didn't we? No injuries too?" Kirishima asked, looking around at the other four who were with him at the training. "And that guy Shooter, he was going to kill someone. If we didn't do that trick, he might have shot All Might." Kirishima turned to Ashido and the girl's dark eyes widened. "Or you," Kirishima added.

Ashido's frown lowered more, but not in an angry way this time. "So, I don't really get it," Sato started. The others looked towards the tall boy with spiky brown hair and big lips who had a confused look on his face. "No one's really been telling us anything."

"And the news is useless," Kaminari added. "They're talking like the villains totally failed, since no students were hurt and two villains were captured. But, the stuff they're saying about Zach?"

Midoriya looked down at the floor, his fists clenching so hard at his sides they hurt. His teeth bit against each other and his eyes watered up again. Every time, Midoriya thought. "He's," Midoriya whispered, his voice hoarse. A few of the others near Midoriya turned to him, then back to Kirishima whose expression turned frustrated and angry as well.

"I, didn't really see," Aoyama said when Mineta looked up at him as if wondering why the others had those expressions.

"It happened so fast," Ashido added in a soft voice.

"How did Zach get out of there with all the teachers watching him?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"It, wasn't him 'getting out' of anywhere," Ojiro said in a low voice. "He was, he told us he was, turning himself in."

"What?" Sero asked in surprise. "Why doesn't the news-"

"They're treating it like, Zach went back with the villains," Kirishima started. His fists clenched and he hardened them because of how hard he knew he was about to squeeze. "Because if they consider him as a student, getting captured," Kirishima's teeth ground over each other. "That must be the reason," he said, while his classmates stared at him wide-eyed. "U.A. had too many incidents already. People were losing too much faith in heroes, but still," Kirishima shook his head. "That's not what happened. It wasn't just, the villains bringing back their…" Kirishima slammed his hand down on the table behind him, and he left a dent in it.

"Kirishima-kun," Iida started, but when Kirishima's gaze lifted back up the class rep found it hard to start scolding him.

"He looked so, scared," Kirishima said. "And we were surrounded by the teachers! They couldn't do, a thing," Kirishima shook his head. "And neither could I."

"Maybe Zach meant to go back with them," Kaminari began. "He's been doing that kind of stuff-"

"It wasn't like that this time," Kirishima snapped. He looked towards Kaminari angrily, then he lost that angry look at the nervous and afraid one on Kaminari's face. "You didn't see him. He was so relieved, that he was finally back. I saw it in his eyes. He wanted to come back. Even if it meant getting arrested, he was just glad to be out of it. Out of the villains' hands. And we just stood there and watched him get taken, again," Kirishima clenched his eyes shut and wanted to slam his hand back on the table, but he stopped himself from doing it this time after what Iida said. Instead, all he could do was unclench his fist and feel even more frustration that there was nothing he could take his anger out on.

"I don't know if the teachers didn't care about saving him, or if they just couldn't do it," Kirishima said, his eyes opening back up darkly. He shook his head and then continued while looking right, "The only one who did anything, was Midoriya-"

"I couldn't stop it," Midoriya whispered, looking back up as Kirishima mentioned that. "I didn't do anything, Kirishima. All, all I did, was give Zach hope that-" Midoriya's teeth clenched again and tears seeped out of his eyes. "Three times. That's three times now, I couldn't stop him," Midoriya gasped out. "From right next to him. He, the first two times, he went into the warp gates on his own," Midoriya gasped out. Todoroki looked towards Midoriya and thought about the courthouse and how close Midoriya had gotten, but Midoriya had never said that Zach went into that portal voluntarily before. "But this time," Midoriya whispered. "He knew what was coming, and I'd never seen him more afraid."

"What, was coming?" Kaminari asked. He stepped farther in and into the gap of the circle while facing Midoriya. "What do you mean by that? What do you think, is happening to him?"

"After betraying them like that," Asui started, her head bowing and her voice soft. Kaminari looked towards her, but when Asui opened her mouth to finish, she could not make out the words.

Sero's eyes opened huge as he looked next to him at the short girl whose head bowed after the start of her sentence. "No way," Sero whispered. "You think they killed him?"

"Don't talk like that," everyone turned towards the tallest girl in the class who stepped forward after Sero's whisper. Yaoyorozu held up a palm and she said, "It has only been one day. Perhaps the heroes will locate the League of Villains' hideout soon. Or maybe Zach will continue saving people and we'll see it on the news. It is much too early to be saying anything like that Sero," Yaoyorozu frowned and gave the boy a stern look that made him hold up his hands apologetically.

"Sorry, sorry," he said, then he scratched the back of his head and gave her a half-smile. "You're right. I don't know what I'm talking about. It's, too early to say."

"Yeah," Kirishima agreed, nodding his head and getting a harder look on his face as he shook away the unsettled look that had been on it for a while now. He looked towards Yaoyorozu and stared into her eyes for a second, then he lifted the corners of his mouth and turned to Midoriya, "Cheer up Midoriya." Izuku lifted his head and saw Kirishima grinning back at him, "How many times now have we thought he was gone, only for him to show back up, still on our side?"

Midoriya's eyes widened, and Kirishima looked around at the others near him with that same confident smile. He locked eyes with Kaminari for a second, and finally Kaminari let out a deep breath and scratched the back of his head. Tsuyu had him really nervous all of a sudden, but he shook that feeling away with a shake of his head. "Yeah, you're right," Kaminari said. "I bet he might have already broken out of there too. He showed you guys, right?" Kaminari asked, cracking a small grin while Kirishima looked at him wide-eyed.

"You saw it too?" Kirishima asked.

"Hehe," Kaminari chuckled.

Yaoyorozu was about to scold Kaminari for saying something, but she spun to Kirishima in surprise at his response. "You did see it?"

"See what?" Uraraka questioned.

Ashido looked towards Uraraka and spoke before Yaoyorozu could call out for her to stop, "Zach's got this creepy transformation thing! He looked like the grim reaper with this spooky dark form with red eyes!"

Shoji turned his head to the right and looked at Tokoyami who pretended not to see him turn. Though Tokoyami was also just still staring forward in interest at what Ashido just said. "How does he-" Tokoyami started.

"Everyone," Yaoyorozu said. The others looked towards her, and she seemed hesitant, but then she continued in a firm voice, "Zach seemed very self-conscious about that form to me. We should not-"

"Maybe a while ago," Kirishima said, cutting her off. "But you should have seen him. He walked out of the portal looking like that. I don't know when you saw it, but," Kirishima shook his head, lifting the corners of his lips since he was brought to a better mood again. "He used that thing to take down both villains like that!" Kirishima snapped his fingers and then grinned at the surprise on Yaoyorozu's face. "He was popping in and out of the form like it was second nature to him, even though I had never seen him do it before!"

"It, was strong," Ojiro admitted, cracking a small smile himself. He sweatdropped after saying it and added, "Scary too though."

"Maybe he'll tell us all about it," Kaminari said, turning his head at the classmates around him since he was still kind of in the center of the gap. "Once he comes back for real, that is."

Midoriya's eyes lowered after Kaminari said it, even though everyone else seemed to like the idea of that. That was him trying to come back for real though, he thought, his eyes focused on the ground. And as much as everyone wants to be optimistic, I- I'm afraid. Zach, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry!

---

Zach let out a loud moan and he yelled in a hoarse voice, "Please! Just shut it off already!" He let out this yell, and then his half-open eyes shot open wider as the strobe lights and loud noises cut off at the same time. The room descended into pitch blackness, and Zach started breathing heavily as this did not make him feel at ease enough to go to sleep. The door in front of him opened up and the light turned on in there, and Zach stared straight forward at the man covered in green scales who stood before him. "Spinner," Zach muttered. "What do you want?" Zach spat out at him.

The man who looked a bit like a lizard had a white bandanna around his eyes, and his long pinkish purple hair was pushed back over the top of his head before spiking up. His eyes were dark under his bandanna as he walked forward towards the chair Zach was in. "Just come a little closer," Zach said. "And take off this box on my right hand, so I can KILL YOU WITH IT!" Zach screamed, leaning towards Spinner as the man walked around his left side instead of Zach's right. Spinner did not back up when the boy leaned towards him though, he just walked behind Zach's chair and pulled it back so it was tilted up on its back legs. "Hey, HEY!"

Spinner pulled the chair around and started dragging it and Zach towards the door. "Quicker to just take you and the chair, than get you out of it," Spinner remarked in a low voice.

"Damn it! Let me out!" Zach shouted, forgetting his exhaustion and roaring in anger. "How long was I in there? How long have you been keeping me-"

"It's been three days," Spinner replied.

"Only, three days?" Zach whispered. His eyes were huge and he leaned back in his chair in shock, staring behind him as Spinner dragged him backwards out the room. Zach's eyes twitched and his whole body started sweating. It felt, so much longer, he thought. "Spinner, where are you taking me?" Zach asked. He turned to the guy behind him, twisting his neck as much as he could. "Just let me out of here. Say I escaped or something-"

"Do you think I like you?" Spinner asked.

"We're comrades, right?" Zach asked, his lips twisting up. "Come on! I know you liked me-"

"You were lying the entire time," Spinner said. "Lying through your teeth. And you know, I never liked you," Spinner kept dragging without turning around to face Zach. "Maybe, when we first got you out of the forest, but you killed Mr. Compress. I was never happy Shigaraki let you back in."

"I'll kill you too!" Zach yelled. "If you don't kill me soon, you're going to regret it, when I come back and MURDER YOU!"

Zach struggled in his chair, and then he let out a scream of pain and stopped squirming around. He looked down towards his left hand, and he winced in pain as he tried moving his hand again. He thought about the day he was sat in this chair, what felt like so long ago to him now but had actually only been a few days. "Guess we'll have to start back up at phase one again. We're not letting you out of that box again until…" They were just messing with me. Telling me that stuff, so I wouldn't think it was going to be so bad, so I had the idea that I could keep lying to them and acting as Lifebringer. Then they nailed my fucking hand to this chair! Zach's lips trembled as he saw the dark blood covering his left hand, and the brighter red blood that just started coming out as he moved around again. He struggled to pull his legs from the chair, and he groaned and ground his teeth around in pain at the feeling of the barbed wire wrapped around his ankles and the front bars of the chair.

"I'm losing a lot of blood already," Zach said, turning his head to the side as Spinner kept dragging him. Spinner actually turned his head sideways this time and slowed down, looking out his left eye back at Zach's tired, pale face. "So can't you just, finish me off? Please. I don't know, what other sick things you have planned. But it's enough already."

"Not according to Shigaraki," Spinner said, turning back forward again. "And you're not feeling that way because of the blood loss. You're just sleep-deprived. Don't fall asleep on me now though, we're here."

Spinner opened up the door in front of him and then dragged Zach through it into a large room that was darker than the hallway they just exited. Spinner dragged him into the room and right into the middle of it before spinning his chair around so Zach was facing him. Spinner backed up, and Zach turned his head left to look at Twice, then right where he saw Shigaraki standing. "You look tired," Shigaraki remarked.

"Why are you doing this?" Zach muttered. "I wish I wasn't born, okay? Now just finish it. I know the heroes won't come. You know they won't. And I'm never going to turn." Shigaraki smirked, and Zach bit down before shouting in a more angry way, "I won't! I'll never kill anyone for you! Torture isn't going to work-"

"You think that was torture?" Shigaraki asked. Zach froze with his mouth open, then a form started walking forward from behind Shigaraki that had Zach leaning far back in his seat. He leaned so hard back that the chair started leaning backwards, and it fell over and made Zach yell out in pain from his left hand and his legs and his right knee were there still a bandage wrapped around where Shigaraki had stabbed him a few days ago. His right arm hurt too, but it was in a splint despite the box on his right hand. After all, Shigaraki had said, what would Zach's purpose be if he did not have his right hand? Zach's chair fell on its side after falling over, and Zach tried scooting back while darting his eyes down and towards Shigaraki.

The large figure that walked forward behind Shigaraki stepped into the dim light of the large room. He was twelve feet tall, and he had a blank expression on his dark face. "Ganeshi," Zach whispered in fear of the huge man who looked down towards him, his trunk waving back and forth in front of his huge body. "How, I thought-"

Spinner was walking towards Zach's chair to get him upright again, and Shigaraki stepped forward while grinning behind his mask. "That wasn't torture," Shigaraki said. "I wasn't even warming up yet. But this, this is the real warm up," Shigaraki said, while Spinner lifted Zach's chair so he was face to face with the leader of the League of Villains again. Shigaraki Tomura was smirking from behind the hand attached to his face, and then he did something that terrified Zach. Shigaraki reached up and he grabbed the hand over his face, and he pulled it off.

Shigaraki leaned down and he placed the hand on the floor. There were still a bunch of other hands attached all over his body, but his face did not have one on it now. He stood there looking forward at Zach with a huge grin, and then he said, "Snap my neck, Ganeshi."

"I still think this is crazy… DO IT!" Twice shouted, stepping forward closer to Zach's chair and jumping up in an excited way.

Spinner glanced at Shigaraki and shook his head, a bead of sweat rolling down his face, then he turned to the big guy marching up behind him. "He only listens to your commands now, Shigaraki. You sure he's not going to go nuts soon as you're dead?"

"He's pretty much brain dead, but don't be mean Spinner," Shigaraki said, while Zach looked around at them all like they were mad. Ganeshi reached Shigaraki and his trunk started bulking up as did his whole body. His arms dropped onto the floor behind Shigaraki at his sides, and Shigaraki kept looking at Zach while the thick trunk lifted up and wrapped around his neck.

"You're, you're insane!" Zach shouted at the man before him who was lifted up by Ganeshi's trunk.

Ganeshi hesitated for a second, then Shigaraki said, "Do it." Crack! Zach's eyes bulged open, and Spinner even dropped his bottom lip at the sight of Shigaraki's head going limp to the side.

"Hey hey! Don't rip his head off-" Spinner stopped shouting as Shigaraki's body dropped through the loop of Ganeshi's trunk. Then, the huge elephant-looking figure took a seat and just stared down towards Shigaraki with a downright confused look on his face. Spinner rubbed the back of his head, then he turned towards Zach and he said, "Alright Sazaki, now." Zach turned towards Spinner with huge eyes, finally realizing what was happening. "You're going to bring Shigaraki back to life."

Zach stared at Spinner in shock. He stared at the man, then turned to look at Twice who gave him a thumbs up and thumbs down with opposite hands. Then Zach turned to Ganeshi who seemed to be useless without Shigaraki telling him what to do. "Ha, haha," Zach's lips twisted and he started laughing. "Hahaha! AHHAHAHAA-ach ack, HAHA!" Zach laughed so hard that all of his injuries hurt at how much he was moving. "You really are all insane! I'm not bringing him back!"

Zach spun to Spinner again and looked at him like he was an idiot. "Was this really his plan? Have Ganeshi kill him, so that I could bring him back to life, so that I can never kill him?! That's ridiculous! He should have…" Zach saw Spinner doing something ever since he started laughing, and Zach trailed off as Spinner was completely ignoring everything he was shouting. Spinner had lifted up a tablet he pulled out of his pocket, and he was tapping a few buttons on it. "What is that? What are you doing?! Don't you hear me? I'm going to leave Shigaraki dead!"

"He never thought you would just agree to it," Spinner said, shaking his head in annoyance at all the boy's shouts. He tapped one more button on the tablet, then he walked up to Zach and lowered it in front of the boy's chest.

Zach stayed staring up at Spinner's dark face for a few seconds, his breathing picking up speed. There were a lot of things he did not want to do in his life but felt forced into. Yet in his entire life, he could not think of anything he wanted to do less than look down at the tablet in front of him. "Look," Spinner told him. "You need to look," Spinner lifted his other hand and grabbed Zach by the top of the head, and he yanked his head down to force him to stare at the tablet.

On one side of the tablet, Zach saw a dark room. He saw a dark room that he recognized well. He recognized it, because it was his own apartment. The apartment's main room was dark, but the men in there had his television turned on. There were three figures in Zach's apartment who he could see in the light of his tv. He saw one of them with his hand on top of the screen, and he recognized the dark-skinned, short, glasses-wearing, Hackerman's figure anywhere. The fact that he had black spikes sticking out of his nose, ears, cheeks, and forehead that were all too thick to be called piercings gave him away. The other two, Zach recognized a lot more because he had seen them almost every day of his life for three months now.

It was the other half of the tablet that Zach's eyes were locked onto though. The other side of the tablet was more lit up, showing an apartment complex just like his. In fact, because of the positioning of the two cameras, it almost looked like the black line in the center of the screen was acting as a wall between the two rooms, and it very well could have been considering the rooms were neighboring anyway. Zach stared at the image of the apartment next door to his, of the man sitting on the couch watching television, of the woman in the kitchen washing the dishes from dinner, and the girl who just ran out of the hallway from her room and jumped on the couch near her dad.

"What are," Zach whispered. His gaze shifted back to his own room, and he looked at the television in front of Kurogiri and Dabi. He stared at the screen that Hackerman had his hand on top of, and he saw the same image that took up the right half of the tablet he himself was staring at. Zach's gaze slowly lifted up to Spinner, and Spinner gave him a dark glare before lifting up the hand he initially used to shove Zach's hand down.

Spinner pulled the tablet back, and he held the key out in front of Zach. "You know how this is going to work, don't you? You won't try anything, right?"

Zach looked from the key, back over to the tablet Spinner was holding. A part of him wanted to start thinking up ways he could get out of this. He started to think up scenarios where the box came off, and he killed everyone, and he raced home, but none of those thoughts managed to take much form. He just started nodding his head at Spinner, his lips pursing and fear covering his face. "Alright then," Spinner said. He stepped right in front of Zach, then he reached down to the boy's left hand.

"Hold on, I-" Zach started, then he let out a yell of pain as Spinner ripped the spike out of his left hand.

"I'm not taking that box off myself," Spinner said. He grabbed Zach's left hand, flipped it over, and slammed the key down into his bloody palm. "The clock's ticking. Move fast."

Zach gulped down the next scream he wanted to make, and he moved his shaking left hand over to the box on his right. It was not the same box the hero system had originally put on him, but one the villains designed and starting making him use only a few weeks before they stopped making him wear it at all. He always saw it around though, in rooms where he was with the villains, as if reminding him that they could slap it on at any time. Zach's hand was shaking so much as he tried to open the box that he was getting scared he was going to take too long, and that just made his hand more unsteady.

"Keep shaking it around!" Twice shouted at him.

"I'm not trying to," Zach said, somewhat understanding what the crazy man was saying. He finally slid the key into the lock, and he bit down even harder before twisting in a movement that made his left hand fill with pain again. The box came off of his hand, and Zach tried to get off the chair to go help Shigaraki. He totally forgot about his legs with the intense fear clouding his mind, and he almost fell out of the chair. Instead though, he was stuck to it and just fell forward with it on top of him, his legs scraping against the barbed wire and making in growl in pain. Zach ignored the pain though, and he crawled forward, dragging the chair with him as he used only his left hand to drag him towards Shigaraki's body.

Spinner and Twice watched him move, and then Zach noticed Ganeshi's head had lifted a little too and the big man was staring at him as he dragged forward. Where's the Nomu? If I kill these guys, how does Kurogiri find out? If they're all dead, will Dabi and Kurogiri still kill them? What am I thinking about? I can't even move, let alone kill three villains. And, I can't risk it. I have to save them. It's what matters most. I'll do anything to save them, Zach thought it and then froze as he reached Shigaraki's body. It had only been a minute, two, three at max. He had a lot of time before the limit ran out. He froze there though, lying on his stomach with blood coming out of reopened wounds around his body, a terrified look on his face. Will I really do anything they ask? I, I have to think of something different. Before I bring back Shigaraki-

"Hesitate for any longer, and I'll tell them it's a go," Spinner said from behind Zach on his right.

Zach reached to his right arm and dragged it forward with his left. "YaaaAAA!" Zach ignored the pain of moving his broken right arm, and he continued to try and ignore it as he slammed his right hand down on Shigaraki's chest. I wanted to kill him. If there was anyone, anyone I would break my rule for, it would have been him! Zach kept screaming as his right arm turned black. He was in only his underwear, his villain costume taken away almost as soon as he got back. He saw his entire arm turning black, and he wished a snapped neck was not something his Quirk could heal. As he screamed though, he thought, But Monoma saved Mt. Lady with a broken neck. And that time would have been longer than this. And that was Ganeshi too- oh no… Zach's arm started to lose its black color, and the pain started to fade away a little. "What, am I doing?" He whispered, pulling his arm away from Shigaraki's body.

Shigaraki opened up his eyes. His eyes widened huge for a few seconds, and he reached up to his neck and rubbed it while he sat up. Shigaraki turned to Zach and looked down at his right arm that was limp in front of his body as he lay there with a horrified look on his face at what he had just done. Shigaraki reached down and he grabbed Zach's right hand. "Oh, oh that's good," Shigaraki said, grinning ear to ear at Zach who stared up in terror at Shigaraki's face. "When was the last time someone held your hand like this?" Shigaraki asked, and Zach's eyes opened huge as he realized it had been his mother 8 years ago. Then Zach screamed in agony as Shigaraki tugged Zach's arm just a bit.

The villain let go and stood up in front of Zach, not wanting to mess with his right arm that much after all. He turned towards Spinner who was shaking his head, "Can't believe you took that risk."

"It wasn't a risk at all," Shigaraki said. He held up a hand, and he caught the box Spinner tossed to him. Shigaraki leaned down and he lifted Zach's arm more carefully this time, using the splint still attached to it instead of grabbing by the actual arm. He placed Zach's hand in the box while Zach stared down at the ground. "Who wouldn't do something like that, for their family?" Shigaraki asked.

Zach could hear the smirk on Shigaraki's face. He slowly lifted his gaze, while Shigaraki locked the box back onto Zach's right hand. He grabbed Zach by the shoulder and hoisted him and the chair attached to his legs up again. He put Zach down in a sitting position, then he reached down and grabbed a hand on the floor not far from him. Ganeshi stood up behind Shigaraki, a smile on the large man's face and a more alert look to it after a few seconds of Shigaraki back on his feet. Shigaraki attached the hand to his face and let out a long, deep breath.

"You were alive! That's weird," Twice said, throwing his hands up and making confusing motions with them.

Everyone. They're all insane. They're evil. They're all monsters. The Nomus. Ganeshi. Shigaraki. Twice and Toga. Spinner, and Dabi and Kurogiri too. If they're threatening my- Zach's eyes widened again, and he lifted them to Shigaraki who started smirking towards him once more, looking to be in a good mood. He stared between the fingers of the reattached hand on his face into Zach's dark, scared, and confused eyes. "You said, 'I have a family,' when I told you how I spread the rumor that you joined us."

Zach's eyes opened up huge, and he started panting as he thought back on how he did mumble that after watching the U.A. press conference the night of Camino Ward. "It surprised me," Shigaraki continued. "Because Kurogiri told me that your family was all gone. I though maybe you meant that Aunt of yours, but after your trial," Shigaraki chuckled darkly, and Zach's eyes started shaking as he thought about it himself. He realized that it would not be hard to piece it together, not with the testimonies his aunt gave compared to the one Mr. Akers did. "I understood what you meant," Shigaraki finished.

Spinner walked over, and he handed the tablet to Shigaraki who looked down at it and continued smirking. He looked up at Zach, then back at the tablet, and he hummed to himself in a way that made Zach's blood run cold. Shigaraki reached down and tapped on the screen, and he pressed a button before lifting the tablet up near his face. He stared straight between the fingers of the hand over his face, looked Zach straight in the eyes, and he said, "Do it."

"What?!" Zach shouted, leaning forward to try and jump out of his seat.

"Stay! GO!" Twice shouted, though he was behind Zach's seat with a rope that he just threw over it to wrap over Zach's chest. He pulled it tight around the back of the chair and tied it up there, then he stood up and held the back of the chair steady since Zach started struggling against his own binds.

"What are you talking about?!" Zach shouted at Shigaraki who lowered his tablet and started chuckling at Zach's panicked expression. Shigaraki turned the device in his hand so the screen was facing Zach, and Zach watched as Kurogiri nodded and then lifted up a hand. "WAIT!" Zach yelled. "I'll- I'll do-" he cut himself off and ground his teeth, and then his eyes bulged and he gasped as a black portal opened up in the middle of the Akers' house, right in between their kitchen and the living room, blocking the front door. "I'll do whatever you want!" Zach screamed.

"Anything?" Shigaraki asked.

"ANYTHING!" Zach yelled as he started hearing the yells of panic coming from the tablet. Shigaraki turned up the volume on it, while pushing the screen closer to Zach. "I'll, I'll even kill other villains for you-" Shigaraki pulled the tablet back, and then Zach screamed as he saw Dabi stepping through the black portal into the Akers' house. "Heroes too! Whoever you want! I'll kill them! Please! PLEASE!"

"Hahaha," Shigaraki lowered the tablet and he kept laughing for a few seconds while Zach looked up into his eyes. Shigaraki was laughing in a victorious way, and Zach's horrified face started lifting up a bit, despite all he just promised to do. "I know you will," Shigaraki said, ending his laughter and just looking back down at Zach's face that lost the hope starting to rise on it. "But this, this isn't to make to do what I say. I don't need to do this for that," Shigaraki lifted the tablet again, and he moved it to the side a little so that he could watch while still showing it to Zach too. "Oh, that one's for Shooter," Shigaraki said.

He pointed at the screen in the kitchen where the woman inside it who had backed against the counter tried jumping over it to get out of there. The entire kitchen was full of blue flames though, and there was nowhere for her to run. Her screams came out of the tablet, and Zach started screaming at the screen. He was not yelling any words, he was just roaring at what he was watching. He snapped his rabid look from the device up to Shigaraki. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

"You can't!" Shigaraki yelled in such an amused way. "You just made it so," he reminded, before laughing harder and looking back at the tablet.

"Run Jenny!"

"MOM!"

"Ooh, he looks like a fighter! Good luck- kill him Dabi!" Twice cheered on from behind Zach.

Spinner stayed silent on Zach's left, but he did look on in more amusement as John Akers charged at Dabi, his body bulking up and his muscles tensing so much that they ripped through his clothes. He swung a heavy punch towards Dabi's head, and Dabi ducked down and lifted his right hand up in front of the man's chest.

Zach opened his mouth to scream at Mr. Akers to doge, only for a whimper to escape his throat instead at the sight of the huge explosion of blue flames to shoot out of the man's back. It filled up the rest of the main room behind him, as well as blocking off the path back to the bedrooms from where Jenny was stuck in the living room. Out from the black portal closer to the door, Kurogiri stepped out in a huge form with his yellow eyes narrowed down towards the girl who was screaming for her mom and dad.

Zach was full of despair. He could not do or say anything, but Jenny's voice was shaking him from his stupor. "Hey, hey hey," Zach started stammering and he spun to Shigaraki. "I promise. I'll never, I'll never betray you again. I'll do whatever you want. I swear!"

"That guy, was for Hydro," Shigaraki said. "I actually had some big plans for him. I really, wasn't expecting you to betray me. It hurt," Shigaraki said. "But, I guess you did get two of ours arrested, and we killed two of your family," Shigaraki sighed, and Zach's eyes widened with hope. "Oh wait," Shigaraki said, lifting his hand and hitting himself on the side of his head. "I forgot. About, Mr. Compress," he finished, looking down and glaring hard at Zach again. "I never really punished you for that, did I?"

Dabi walked through the flames towards the girl who was backed into a corner of her house. There was no escape, and there were blue flames all around her. Heroes will show up, Zach thought. Someone, has to show up! "Please," Zach whispered. He begged, his eyes filling with water as he stared into Shigaraki's eyes. "I, I'm sorry. You knew I was only here, to save people. It's what I told you from the start. How, this isn't fair- just, let her live. I swear, I swear on my life, I'll follow you for the rest of mine if you just let her live. I care more about her, than anything."

Shigaraki leaned back, then he turned the tablet and looked down at it. He looked to be considering it, then he heard a voice shout through the tablet, "Zach's going to come here!" Shigaraki's eyes widened, and he turned the tablet again so they could all watch this. The girl in the corner had a defiant look on her face, looking the bright blue color of terror that had Zach's heart tearing apart. He saw a color he had never seen on her face before, a color that must have been associated with pure, absolute fear. That color went away though, and Jenny narrowed her eyes to glare at Dabi while her fists tightened. "He's going to save me."

Zach's bottom lip lowered, and the tears started falling out of his eyes. "Please," he whispered, while he stared at the girl in the video. "Please, let me save her."

"He'll come here, and he'll bring back my parents. He's going to save me," Jenny said, while Dabi lifted up his hand again, and her face started turning blue once more. It turned bright blue, so bright blue that it started to whiten, and her face filled with horror, losing all the confidence she had on it as Dabi's hand burst into flames. "Zach!" Jenny screamed.

"You must really be her hero," Shigaraki said. "She really thinks you're going to come!"

"Please," Zach sobbed. "Don't do it, don't- STOP HIM!"

"NO!" Shigaraki yelled back at Zach.

"ZACH! HELP MEEE- NO! AHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHEEEE- EEEEAAAAHHHH!"