Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia
Chapter 183:
"As third years, each of you will have to decide before graduation what it is you plan to do afterwards." Enorma stood in front of the students of Class 1 next to the screen that had lowered in front of their blackboard. She had a remote in her hand and pressed a button on it that made an image appear up on that screen. Two more pictures faded in on either side of the center rectangle that had a vertical picture taken of a man every student in the class recognized. "However, whether you choose to start your own agency, or you join an agency as a partner or sidekick, all of you will potentially face this man. It would be irresponsible to send you out into the world without a specific course to inform you on the most dangerous villains out in our society today. And so today, we will begin discussing the Radians. Japan's number 1 most wanted villain group, and in particular, this man."
Reika's eyes narrowed at the face of the figure on the screen who despite his body being turned to the side had his head looking back so it was fully caught by the camera. The picture snapped from him angled a little down showing the picture was taken from above, and the glass the image was zoomed through showed the person taking it was hiding behind their window at the time the picture was taken. "His real name is as of yet, unidentified. He goes only by his villain name, Intanzo."
Feeling much better today. Still wasn't totally into it first day I came back. Managed to keep anyone from noticing though. Even Kotsumura seemed genuinely convinced this time that everything was fine. Don't know how I messed up enough for him to tell both Sero and Muoko, which resulted in a rough weekend with Momo. Had it's nice moments though, as embarrassing as throwing up in front of her- and she fucking cleaned up my- Zach kept staring towards the front of the room and kept his expression steady, though he felt gross and wanted to frown so badly as he imagined how clean his place was when he was finally up and moving around it again. She kept telling me it was no problem, but… No, knowing Momo, she really meant it.
Still, I fucked up. I told her so much, but I spent so much time on all those good things I did without providing the context. I just wanted to feel better. She just wanted me to feel better and I just wanted her to think that I was by actually getting better. So she really did make me say all that, though we both, it was my decision. I was sick though! She knew I was, and she got me to say all- don't use that bs excuse. I wanted to tell her. I wanted her to think I was doing all that great stuff, as much as I was admitting how shit of a hero I've been… She said I was wrong though. My definition of a hero, it is so far from what I am. What I've done. Yet, I have such a strict view- as strict as Midoriya's! I know heroes have to be better than what I was. She only told me I was a good hero, because I told her one half of the story. Why am I so focused on this? Listen to Enorma sensei. Intanzo is a threat.
Zach's eyes actually locked on the images of Intanzo that had been captured over the past year. The tan-skinned man had his face partially hidden or fully blocked by a mask most of the time, though his muscular arms did stick out of his sleeves in one clear picture of his back taken in the summer. He had a mask on that day covering his face and neck completely, but one of the other pictures that had part of his arms from the elbows down exposed revealed matching scars and the bottom of a tattoo that the picture capturing him from behind also showed. His face on the main picture Enorma had up was intense even with the smirk on the bottom of it. His eyes were partially shadowed over but had a low green shade in them that seemed to glow through the man's black bangs.
Intanzo's black hair spiked up four times over his head, two big spikes on the left side, one smaller one on the right pointed farther out to the side, and one farther back on top of his skull over the rest of the short black hair that covered his scalp. His bangs were messy like the hair that fell around the sides of his head and behind it, and the man was clean-shaven otherwise with his face lacking any facial hair. Other than the thin scars on his right and left wrists though going nearly up to his elbows, scars Enorma was explaining to her class appeared to be self-inflicted, Intanzo did not have any other scars to speak of to show damage from previous fights against heroes.
Enorma continued speaking to her class, and she pressed a button on her remote with her own expression getting much darker. A list started on the right side of the screen, each hero's name appearing individually before the next one appeared below it. Students narrowed their eyes and glared at the man even harder as they saw these names, names they had known for much of their lives for most of them. A few of the names were more obscure but had become famous heroes after their deaths, while some like Floodgate, had already been world-class heroes who many idolized. When 'Floodgate' appeared on the list, Reika ground her teeth and she curled her hands into the sides of her desk thinking about the news of the Nara Raid she had watched that day in complete shock.
The teacher paused for a moment after showing the list of heroes who Intanzo had killed to her students. "In this course we will focus on the thr-" she almost cursed herself as she stopped short right there. "The two major villain groups in Japan that have been the most active over the past year. Each of the known members, their Quirks, their histories, past encounters heroes have had with them, everything you may need to know if there comes a time when you are facing one of these people."
"She almost forgot you took out the Subspace Devils," Kotsumura whispered to his side with a hand cupped to his mouth.
Zach rolled his eyes at the mention though he had noticed Enorma almost mention the 'three' villain groups to focus on. Wish she had said 'three.' Only talking about the Radians and the Jazz? Are you an idiot? It's not just her, and the other staff here though. People have forgotten. No, not forgotten. Others have just taken the spotlight. Still, for Overlord and Potaru to be removed from the top 5 most wanted, and no one from the LoV move up? It's ridiculous. The Jazz are still so active though. They acted after I returned, and they only really quieted down after I fucked up the SD's. But instead of Kaminari or Shigaraki, they put another Radian exec at 2 and an unaffiliated at 5. Splodo is only that low because of the fact that he's so far unaffiliated with any villain group, but that Blastoff Quirk of his could be and is super fucking dangerous in hands. Escaping Endeavor alone is a massive feat for a single man, even if he was losing that fight.
Intanzo, then Iscariot, the former hero known as Thunderclap. Third is the Jazz's leader, Duke Dread. Dread's got the biggest gang supposedly, but none of his other members have really made names for themselves. The numbers alone though are supposedly anywhere between 2,000 and 5,000. Dread's willing to take any and all villains, which is why it's easier for heroes to track down their bases too. Despite that trade-off though, they recruit faster than heroes are finding them. It's hard to get an experienced plant into any major crime group, and once they've used an agent once they can't put the same guy back in there. If only Changeling was still alive. Fucking Cultists. His would have been a great Quirk to combat the Jazz, but then again their methods would likely be different with a hero like Changeling still in play around here.
Alright, then fourth, is another fucking Radian, Zach frowned at the front of the room harder as he saw the fourth-ranked most wanted villain in the country appear on the screen. Bitchess 'n Cream. They really have her- damn it. She is dangerous. Not as bad as the guy below her though, or any of the League execs! Focus! Zach's forehead wrinkled but he tried to focus on the woman who appeared in an image with Intanzo caught in the corner of the picture too. The photo was not one that Enorma had shown earlier when talking about Intanzo, but the students figured it was him based off the black and red clothing that Intanzo had been wearing in all the other photos. It was not a single costume or anything, just the color scheme the villain always seemed to go with. "Bitchess 'n Cream," Enorma said. "On the news referred to more often by her real name, Manika Esiri."
"Manika was diagnosed with dual personality disorder at the age of six, which at first was considered uncorrelated to her Quirk, Cream-Filled. Unlike most multiple personality disorders, the second persona that appeared at age six was far more powerful than the personality her parents describe as the initial Manika. However, from medical files released to heroes first and then leaked online after her notoriety rose, we know that the doctors who observed Manika over her time at a hospital where she was receiving treatment claimed that Manika and her second personality had a camaraderie between them that emerged from what was at first an antagonistic relationship. Bitchess, the name the second personality gave itself, is unable to access Manika's Quirk without her knowledge or approval. Yet as Manika grew older, and what her doctors described as a symbiotic relationship blossomed, Bitchess was granted full use of their Quirk."
"Enorma sensei," Bibi started, lifting a hand and getting the teacher to stop for a moment. The woman whose long brown hair was tied in a ponytail behind her back nodded at the student to go ahead with her question. Bibi lowered her hand hesitantly, but she started in an unsure way, "Is the- is Manika-"
Enorma held up a palm for the gray haired girl to stop. "Manika is as much a villain as Bitchess. They are the same person, and if you run into her you cannot allow this information we have on her beforehand come between you and your duty as a hero. Rover and Rex made the same mistake, eyewitnesses reported, when they failed to capture her." The students in the class got darker looks on their faces thinking about another hero team who had been killed in a later attack on the Radians than the Nara Raid.
"Manika and Bitchess grew more similar over time. In their teenage years, the girls were still visiting the hospital for weekly checkups though they were no longer closely watched, as the friendly relationship between the two seemed to mark progress from when she was a child. Bitchess was initially very aggressive and violent, but she became more docile and appeared less often despite having been considered the stronger of the two personalities. Likewise, as Manika regained more of a sense of her own individuality, and earned half the time of the use of her own body, she became a more outgoing, then combative, then ruthless kind of person. The doctors claimed that the trade-off for Manika being allowed to use her body was giving Bitchess control over their Quirk. Bitchess had to accept less time in control of their body, while also being granted power that fascinated her far more than her counterpart."
The teacher speaking to Class 1 pulled up medical reports on the screen and testimony from doctors who had been watching over her for years. Heroes had questioned them extensively after Bitchess 'n Cream's villain debut, and people had gotten outraged at the doctors for not informing heroes earlier of the signs these reports showed they knew about. Enorma continued after pulling up these reports and some pictures of Manika in her late teens, "Before joining the Radians, Manika had racked up a litany of juvenile and seemingly petty crimes. They required her to visit the hospital more often, and it was in these visits in her late teens where the doctors began to worry about the 'healed' state of Manika Esiri. Her dual existence was something she had lived with for a decade and gotten used to, and both Manika and Bitchess were considered by the doctors as unique individuals, while at the same time acting more and more like one another in their personalities each day. 'It is to be expected,'" Enorma started, zooming in on the report on the screen to a single highlighted line for the students to read easier. She continued quoting the doctor, "'That Manika and Bitchess would exhibit similar personalities after living with one another for ten years now. However, her recent incidents have led me to conclude that this is no longer to be considered progress. The kind girl we once knew has grown into more than just a rebellious teenager. The kinds of looks she gives after doing something mischievous, the glee she seems to feel after stealing a pen or a piece of paper even that our cameras have caught recording of, we can no longer tell if it is Bitchess or Manika who carries out these actions and makes those expressions.'"
Enorma paused for a second and then continued in a lower voice, "'We know that the kinder Manika is still in there. In the coming weeks we hope to pull her out more and push back the negative influence that Bitchess has had on her. The two of them have become like sisters. Even twins would not be as close as the two of them however, as they have shared the same body and mind for a decade… We will begin with a new treatment plan to try and make Manika stronger than her dual personality first. Then, once Manika can keep control by force, we will attempt to show her that the criminal actions Bitchess has been making are…' The report continues there, but the doctor's plans didn't work out well for them." The teacher flipped to the next slide where there were several photos taken from an incident report at the hospital that had not been reported at the time to heroes, though Manika had been admitted as a patient there where she would remain for several years.
"Whether it was Bitchess catching on to the doctors' plans, or both girls acting together, Manika attacked her doctors and tried to escape the hospital. She attacked anyone and everyone in her path, and caused minor injury to eight people, while also causing critical injury to one of her doctors before she was sedated. If this was taken more seriously, she may have been arrested at that time and then tried as an adult considering her priors. However, her doctor who she hurt the worst chose not to press charges, instead going to Esiri's parents. The Manikas admitted their daughter into the psych ward full-time, where she would stay until she was twenty years old. Manika's personality had grown to take over 80 percent of her time awake, her personalities had both pacified, and it was considered a success story at the time Manika was finally released from the hospital." Enorma paused and then finished while looking back to her class, "Manika's whereabouts became unknown a short time later to everyone, even though she was meant to check in with the doctors and had made them promises to do so with an 'innocent smile on her face.' Her parents could not locate her, and it was five years later, last year, when she first revealed herself again as a member of the Radians alongside Camoflora and Intanzo."
Himazuri had a notebook out and finished writing down the key points she thought were most important to remember here. She looked back down at her paper for a moment and then lowered her pencil back down and circled, 'BITCHESS FASCINATED BY QUIRK!' "Enorma sensei, what do we know about Cream-Filled's ability set?" Himazuri questioned, looking up after circling what worried her the most through the psychological history report Enorma gave them right there. If she was the more powerful of the two personalities, could she have gotten friendlier with Manika solely to get control of their Quirk? So that she could train it? Make it more powerful? So that she- they could become a better villain? Bitchess must have even tricked the doctors in the years after their first failed escape, in order to be released without anyone any wiser.
"Cream-Filled is a Quirk which sounds much less powerful than you should really treat it. At one point it was believed that Manika was just full of a whitish-yellow cream like that inside a cannoli. Her skin would cut, and cream filling came out instead of blood." Enorma continued with a shake of her head as the students already knew that could not be all, considering the pictures they saw of the halls of that hospital. Enorma explained what they were thinking of, "During her first attempted breakout though, it became clear that she could expel the cream from openings on her body. When she was sixteen, that only meant her mouth, nose, eyes… privates," Enorma added with a tilt of her head to the side.
Her students attempted to keep professional though it suddenly felt awkward in the classroom. Enorma continued quickly though which got that feeling to subside, "However, during her public reveal as a villain, she used her Quirk from various other parts of her body without issue." She flipped the screen to show Manika in a half dark pink costume that was also half pitch-black. The halves were not split vertically, but instead there were dark swirls of pink over a black background, while in other areas it looked like the black swirls overlapping the pink background. Her costume was thin around her arms, leaving a lot of light skin exposed with thin sheets of fabric curving the lines of her bones to her hands and the thin gloves she had there too. "We believe that either this costume she is wearing here opens up small slits on her skin that she expels the cream from, or that she has mastered the Quirk to a level that she can expel it from pores in her skin and this costume's thin nature is so her Cream-Filling can fire uninhibited at enemies…"
This is really the fourth most wanted person in this country? Zach thought in frustration, his eyes darkening more as Enorma kept going for another minute about this same villain. I bet most of the people in this room could take her on. The only reason she was able to kill two heroes is because she abused the news about her dual personalities and how it made it out like Manika was a hostage at first. Those eye witnesses you're about to talk about said she pretended to be Manika taking control and begging to just be killed, and when those two heroes tried to help instead, Bitchess got the drop on them. As Zach thought, Enorma got back to talking about Bitchess 'n Cream's villain reveal and then the incident she was more known for when she had killed two heroes and evaded the authorities.
This is so dumb. Zach lowered his pencil down, deciding against even pretending to be taking notes on all this. Do they not know what Kaminari did, or everyone just forgot? What he did was a thousand times more impressive, and evil, and fucked up! He's not just gone either. Just because I killed Kurogiri doesn't mean Kaminari and Shigaraki just gave up! Dabi's not finished with this society yet, and Toga's still in play doing who knows what for them?! Fucking All For One might even come back and help them out. Intanzo's a real threat who we could spent a class period talking about, but the way this class is going it seems like this is the first of many days we're going to spent on them, and she wants to drag Bitchess 'n Cream's file across this whole period? I was looking forward to Splodo's. He's new at least, so maybe there's some information you have that we don't and I could actually use.
But you don't even have Shigaraki up there. He can disintegrate people with a single touch. I bet his Quirk could level a city block by now. I've heard the rumors of All For One's successor. As much as I heard about the rumors of AFO, more often actually, I've heard what the villains around the world who know about Shigaraki Tomura had to say about him. They feared Intanzo and how crazy the Radians seemed with a nutjob like him and with Bitchess 'n Cream getting so much attention. No one wanted to get involved with Japan because of it. And yet, the real big shots, the ones who knew they needed to avoid Japan, they didn't just do it for Intanzo and the heroes here. That was top level. Outer layer. But it went deeper than that. The idea that it was Death's homeland… and the fact that All For One was missing, and so was his successor. No one wants to interfere with their plans. No one wants to get in the way of them, because they could be trampled by that fucking fight. Death, Lifebringer, Zach fucking Sazaki against All For One, Kaminari, Shigaraki fucking Tomura! And I can't even hurt Shigaraki, after I brought him back to life! FUCK! They killed Jenny anyway! THEY MURDERED HER WHOLE FAMILY AND I STILL BROUGHT HIM BACK!
Zach sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth that he forced to be silent after he started it. He did not want to make any noise, but he was not too focused on that. His eyes were still pointed at Enorma but his mind was so far from what she was talking about now. I can't even think about that. It was so long ago, and I still can't look at myself in the mirror. How could I think about everything that happened last year? Admittedly, the more I talk about it the better I'm getting. I know it. As shitty as it feels. As much as I hate it, and it pisses me off, and I know it shows in public what I'm thinking about, my mental state will improve the more I think about that shit! The better I am, the safer everyone else is, I know that! But it feels fucking horrible. And I don't even need to do it, since I'm still able to think of things on a global level while including the past without problem. Thinking about why villains avoided Japan, doesn't lead me to thinking about any specifics because it was a general feeling.
The Whisperer, now she gave perspective to a lot. Wisdom, as evil as she was, she had wisdom. Spoke all those rumors to try and save herself, because, I was… Zach closed his eyes for a second as he saw that old woman's wrinkled face pulling back from him with a terrified expression over it. I almost gave her a heart attack. She died in jail before long anyway. Bitch deserved it, but- fuck! She was a person. A villain. She just helped villains- which made her a villain herself. She was paid for information. Used her Quirk to assist villains against heroes, against the public, helped them hurt innocents. And I stopped her, fucked her right up-
"AHHHHH!"
Himazuri Hikari fell out of her chair and the desk knocked over. The other students around her all spun and stared towards their brunette classmate who just interrupted the teacher with that scream as she fell out of her seat. Himazuri was grabbing her head by the temples with her fingers curled into her skull in agony, "AHh, ahhhhh!" Her voice got quieter but she curled her legs up under her chest as her head pounded and the pain faded ever so slowly from her mind.
"Himazuri!"
"Hikari-chan!"
Himazuri's eyes squinted open at the floor below her that shook and was hazy with the corners of her vision so blackened. Her head started to lift, and she stared up at her friends around her who were looking down and staring at her in worry and panic. Dendo had run up to her left side, and he was bent down next to her while Reika stood on her right and was asking questions down at her in a loud voice but somehow impossible for Himazuri to hear. Reika moved out of the way though as Enorma-sensei came over, looking at her student concernedly but also questioningly as Himazuri's head was lifted now and there did not seem to be anything wrong with her.
Kotsumura had jumped out of his seat after a couple of seconds, as his initial confusion at Himazuri suddenly yelling out like that was replaced with the concern for his classmate who looked seriously like she was in pain. He turned to his left and back behind him at the black-haired boy who had jumped out of his seat first, right at the sound of that scream. Zach was staring past Kotsumura with wide eyes and had stepped forward in the aisle between his desk and Kotsumura's, and he looked back at the blond for a moment before turning Himazuri's way again just as Kotsumura did. "What just happened?" Kotsumura wondered.
"Are you alright?"
"What happened, Himazuri?"
Enorma leaned down and grabbed Himazuri under one armpit as the girl looked to be trying to stand. She's weak. "Reika," Enorma started to the girl next to her. "Take Himazuri to the nurse's office."
"Y-Yeah, you got it," Reika replied, nodding as that sounded serious. She stepped forward and took Himazuri's other arm from Dendo, not even joking as she just said that she had it. She put Himazuri's left arm over her shoulders and then put her right arm around Himazuri's back to help her walk towards the door. "Hey, hey you hear me? You alright?"
Himazuri's eyes focused more, and she turned her head back to the left after staring down there for several seconds still in panic and shock. Something had happened that had never happened to her before in her life. She turned to the left and looked at Reika, and she kept her eyes locked on her classmate's while trying desperately not to look past her and at the person in her peripherals who was looking her way in similar confused concern as the rest of her classmates. He told me, to stay out of his head, Himazuri thought, her head turning back forward with a scared and pained look still over it. He gave me one warning. "One warning." He told me!
Himazuri's eyes filled with water after Reika got her through the door, and the blonde girl helping her walk stared at her right side with her eyes opening even wider in shock at the sight of those tears filling her friend's eyes. What the hell just happened?! Reika thought, and she started speeding up to get Himazuri to the nurse's office faster.
I didn't know, Zach! I didn't know what you meant by a warning. "Ah, ahha," Himazuri sniffled and tried to hold back sobs. She felt the lingering pain in her head, but worse was the feeling in her chest right now as she knew what just happened was intentional. I didn't know you would- I didn't think, you'd attack- I didn't think you could! How did- how could- Himazuri clenched her watery eyes shut and the tears spilled out, rolling down her cheeks.
Back in Class 1, Enorma had all the students get back in their seats while assuring them that she would contact the nurse in a couple minutes and see if Himazuri was alright. She doubted she could get the students to refocus on their current lesson, so instead she started earlier on giving them homework which consisted of a lot of pre-research on their future enemies that she would build on in tomorrow's lesson.
Zach pulled out a notebook and wrote down the names of the villains Enorma wanted them researching what they could online alone that night. As he wrote the names of those villains down on his page, his eyes were dark and cold, and he thought, I told you, to stay out of my fucking head.
Ousuno Kanami stood at the entrance of an undiscovered cave in the Hida Mountains to the northwest of Tokyo. The cave had never been publicly explored, would not appear on any maps of the area, and it was far from any nature trail so there was low possibility of anyone ever stumbling upon it. Though the top of the mountain the cave was on did not have any foliage because of the high altitude, trees started almost at the top of the mountain and went all the way down to the valley between it and the others in the range. Those trees kept the cave entrance hidden, as did the large fake branches covered in foliage that were currently resting to the side of the cave mouth but would be used to cover it back up later.
Ousuno, otherwise known as Iscariot, or by his former hero name Thunderclap, stood at six and a half feet tall with broad shoulders and a bulky body over two hundred and sixty pounds. He wore his former hero costume, though covered partially by a crimson cape with a black 'X' over the whole back of it. His helmet was now black too, thicker on the sides over his ears, though his gloves were still white like much of his actual costume over his torso and legs. On the palms and fingers of his gloves there was also a hard acrylic plastic that when hit against itself would make a loud noise, amplifying his Quirk, Clap. The thirty-two year old man watched silently over the forest ahead of him, and he frowned deeply when he heard someone coming from a good deal away.
"He is here," Iscariot lifted his right wrist and reported into a watch on it. His eyes narrowed off the flat ledge ahead of him and down the steeper slope of the forest that was hard to traverse and climb. All around them were impassable routes up the mountain: protruding rocks with no way to climb up, steep slants one could slip on and roll for fifty meters before stopping, probably hitting a bunch of trees on the way, and dense thicket that had been untrimmed and unmanaged so as not to leave any markings of this place existing. "And he is making a lot of noise," Iscariot added before lowering his hand.
"Bitchess is with him," the voice replied out of his watch, though Iscariot also heard footsteps when that low toned, but higher-pitched voice than his own spoke. "She won't let him-"
"I can hear them cutting through the brush." Iscariot cut off the voice on the other end of the line. "And I heard Bitchess shout at one of them, there is a lot of shouting actually."
Iscariot stopped talking as he heard the footsteps behind him, coming down the hallway with loud clanks on each step that disappeared after a couple of seconds of getting louder. Those footsteps got much quieter and then got louder again only sounding like someone walking on rock and dirt instead of a steel floor. Iscariot kept looking forward and down off the ledge stoically, while a man with darker skin stepped out of the cave mouth and then glared down off the ledge with a small smirk and lifted eyebrows.
Intanzo wore a tight black-and-red costume under an all black cloak that was open down the middle showing off some of the costume. Over the center of his chest and down past his abs to his waist was all red but in a thick line that had black on the outsides also visible before the cloak's edges covered him up. Intanzo shrugged his shoulders though to push more of the cloak behind his back, freeing up his arms and rolling his neck around as he glared towards the new arrivals. The man with big spikes of black hair over his head narrowed his dark green eyes that started to glow as he stared down towards a group of close to 70 people. "That's more than we were told were coming," Iscariot mentioned on his side, counting quickly while Intanzo was also examining just how far back that group seemed to go.
"I told you to be quiet- and where are all these fuckers coming from?!" Bitchess snapped.
Not far from the woman who just yelled that, Furuki Keymar glared off into the trees to his right where a group of five people were moving up the mountain with him. "I think they want to fight," he said with a dark look and a growing smirk. The man with a burn scar over the bottom right half of his face that extended around the side of his skull and down to his neck was a new member of the Radians, a man that the Jazz villains appearing inside the group noticed and felt unnerved at the sight of.
"Splodo joined them?" Varrenzo muttered, slowing down with the four guys behind him hesitating as well. He looked past Splodo though and over towards Bitchess and Duke Dread who were exceedingly close to one another as they continued up the mountain towards the cave mouth. Varrenzo's expression darkened and four spikes sticking out of his lower back started to glow red hot under the baggy green fireproof shirt he was wearing.
"Duke Dread!" Intanzo called down, and the noise subsided a little as the Duke stopped slamming down on the drum strapped in front of his waist. He spun around the wooden drum sticks for the snare in a masterful way and then slid them down into a holder on the right side of the drum he flipped up to his chest. The drumsticks stayed in the pouch and went past his right side, revealing on the bottom of that pouch was a holster that now rested just above his waist and under his right arm. The bottom of the drum also had a thicker black material over it that now covered much of Duke Dread's torso, a similar material there as was inside the Duke's dark blue uniform highlighted in black at his shoulders, waist, and on the rim of his hat.
Duke Dread threw his arms out to the sides after popping his drum up like that, and he called out, "Intanzo!" He called it in a similar tone as Intanzo just used, friendly, and yet with a clear show of how hostile their relationship was.
"You brought more men than we thought you would," Intanzo remarked, moving towards the edge of the ledge outside the cave mouth. "What's wrong? Are you nervous being around me without such a huge escort?"
Iscariot's eyes stayed locked down on his enemies, though his attention shifted to what Intanzo just said for a moment. He's not making it out as a threat. Just as if Dread was taking extra precautions.
"Can never tell with you Radians," Duke Dread replied back, his tone confident and his eyes narrowed back towards Intanzo's slightly glowing dark green ones. "What if you were calling me into a trap?"
"What need would I have for trapping you?" Intanzo questioned, as Duke Dread continued to walk straight up the steep slope towards him without slowing down. "If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't invite you to my house for a meal first and then stab you in the back. I'd walk right into yours and rip your throat out through your asshole, but while looking you in the eyes."
The air around the mountain got a few degrees colder. Trees started to shake, and Duke Dread stopped climbing as he stared up at Intanzo's eyes that glowed brighter though still a dark shade of green. The Radians inside the huge group of Jazz villains moved quicker up the slope of the mountain. A few of them stayed where they were though, with Bitchess 'n Cream in particular just turning her head to the side and smirking at Duke Dread from only a couple of feet away.
Splodo's knees started to crouch, his eyes focused on the men isolated from the rest of the Jazz as they were coming in from his right side after not having been in the group when they started towards the base. The villains in the Jazz who were told to follow their boss and converge only when they were about to arrive were already prepared for a fight though, and it may have been against one of the most wanted villains in the country, but Splodo could see all five of the villains he looked towards were ready for a fight and not backing down. Varrenzo's dark red fur started to stand on end and sharpen all over his body, his sharp teeth baring right back towards Splodo as they glared into each other's eyes.
He brought all his best men, Intanzo thought, his smirk staying cocky as he examined the group Dread had brought with him.
"Well I feel much better, knowing that," Duke Dread responded, and he continued walking up the slope towards Intanzo again.
Iscariot relaxed his arms that were tensing up and ready to raise up and clap at the drop of a pin. Dozens of others relaxed and continued up the slope, while a few dozen still remained high on alert in case this still turned into a fight.
Fucking Radians. They're all insane!
Jazz bastards think they're hot shit.
Saw Pie-Face back there about to lose his mind on the guys next to him. Good thing Dread didn't start something.
The Duke is cockier than ever it seems.
That's what being the leader of the second most powerful villain group takes. But remember, you're still second, you stupid fucker.
Intanzo knows it now. We're ready to be number one if he shows even a shred of weakness.
Duke Dread walked right up to the ledge but did not climb onto that last level yet. Intanzo was standing right near the edge of it, and he looked down into Duke Dread's eyes to see what the man in front of him would do. Duke Dread bowed his head a little though in a respectful greeting before climbing that last step up to get on even level with Intanzo. It was not much, but without the nod it was a certainty that Intanzo would have attempted to murder him, as he could see by the way Intanzo had looked down at him a moment before he did it.
"See you've got some new blood," the Duke mentioned as he walked right up on Intanzo's side. He was a few inches shorter, and leaner with his shoulders not as broad as the leader of the Radians'. On Duke Dread's shoulders were epaulettes that had dark blue and black adorning them, though also thick lines of gold crossing over them. There were four lines on the epaulette on his right shoulder, and two on the one on his left, each one of them with a name embroidered in black. The names of the six heroes Duke Dread had killed did not impress the man next to him who would have needed a lot more space to list off all the heroes who had fallen by his hands.
"You as well," Intanzo mentioned while walking back into the cave with Duke Dread at his right side. "I recognize the leaders of the Grouch Gang and the Bushido Dansei back there."
"Those gangs don't exist anymore," Dread replied without a look to his side like it was any impressive feat. He just continued casually, "Fully incorporated into the Jazz now. The heroes would have you believe I've only got five thousand guys, max." He said it as if it could be a joke, humphing afterwards as he scoffed at the notion that he had so few.
Iscariot followed closely behind the two villain group leaders on the left-back side of Intanzo. Dread brought leaders of gangs he took over, along with the strongest of their villains. I recognized faces from all parts of Japan. Hokkaido to Okinawa- no, I saw the Sea Dragon back there. He's still on the run after his killing spree across the Yaeyama Islands, southernmost of the Ryukyu even below Okinawa. Killed an old classmate of mine who was working down there at the time. Nambo- Nendo? Tarisawa-san. Fuck if I remember his first name. "Hey Kanami! Want to work on a project-" Iscariot's eyes filled with confusion for a moment, and then his mind cleared and he refocused on the conversation between Intanzo and Duke Dread. It does seem like they have gotten stronger, and the Duke feels confident he can beat us because of it.
Bitchess walked behind the leaders of the group but also a little farther back now, standing side by side with Splodo who had come with her to summon the Jazz's leader. He was a newer member than a lot of the other Radians who had come with Bitchess, but Splodo was too big a personality to just sit in the background while stuff happened around him. The man had a burn scar across much of his face that he showed off with pride as everyone knew the man he had escaped from who gave him such a scar. It was one of Endeavor's most humiliating defeats of the last few years, to have let such a powerful and deadly villain as Splodo escape from his justice.
"This tunnel's getting a bit cramped, if you ask me," Splodo mentioned to his side at Bitchess, though he smirked at the men behind him too after saying it. The light from the end of the tunnel behind them illuminated Splodo's face a little with nothing but darkness behind him, and Splodo continued walking which engulfed him more in darkness for those villains to follow him into. The Jazz members continued to follow after their boss though without slowing down, and Splodo hummed while turning back forward with a grin.
"So, where are you taking us?" Duke Dread wondered to the man next to him, as this tunnel was going on longer than he thought it would. "And what's up with this place?" He added, as he looked down and noticed they were walking on a steel floor now instead of a rocky and natural surface.
Intanzo looked to his side, and Iscariot rose his hands and clapped. Dread darted his eyes to the left quickly at the sight of it even in what was almost pitch darkness. That darkness went away a second later though, as Iscariot was not using his Quirk but turning on the lights with two claps. Iscariot lowered his arms without using his Quirk and kept walking, his face pointed forward as he ignored Duke Dread's dark look at him for doing that.
"Whoa."
"Is this your base?" One of the Jazz wondered at a Radian walking at his side. The woman who was questioned glared to her side at a different villain who only a few minutes ago had been ready to cut her throat when their bosses confronted each other. That Jazz villain had a sword over his back, a headband over his forehead with a metal piece in the middle that had a horizontal slash through the middle of it. The most powerful of Ramurai's Bushido Dansei, Kimmatsu Shi, smiled at the woman next to him with a bright and genuinely friendly smile. The twenty-three year old motioned an arm around at the metal hallway the two of them just stepped into near the middle-back of the crowd of villains. "Is this where you live?"
The woman eased up her expression after a couple of seconds and humphed at his unnaturally friendly but somewhat endearing demeanor. "Never been here myself," she responded. Kimmatsu Shi's eyebrows lifted up under his headband, then he looked around and noticed a few of the other Radians were also looking around in some interest at the place they had entered.
Splodo kept his eyes forward and walked confidently with all the others, but he wondered as he saw the end of the tunnel, Is that, an elevator?
"Is it big enough for all of us?" Duke Dread asked, not sounding surprised by the sight of the crack at the end of the hall looking to lead into an elevator.
"Unfortunately, it's only big enough for about fifty normal-sized people," Intanzo replied.
The Duke looked a little surprised there, as he was expecting the number to be a lot smaller. He thought deeper on what Intanzo just mentioned though and his eyes narrowed while shifting back to the elevators himself. What has to fit through those doors? He only noticed now that they were closer too, but the tunnel was actually quite wide for any natural cave in a mountain that was just taken over by a villain group. "We going down, or up?"
"Although the base does go higher and lower," Intanzo started. He smirked with his head turning a bit to the side this time, "We're heading down. All the way down."
"Fine by me," Duke Dread replied.
Of course it is. I didn't give you a choice. Intanzo nodded at the man next to him who kept walking and then stopped to look back into Intanzo's dark green eyes. I summoned you here and you obeyed, because I am the Kingpin and that is what you lower villains know to do. It's a nice feeling. The way you look at me, like this. Duke Dread turned the rest of the way around, then he just glanced to his side at Intanzo, "I'll bring forty of my guys down with me."
"Forty, will you?" Intanzo wondered. He hummed like he was thinking it over, even though Duke Dread had not worded it as a question. "That leaves me to bring eight of my guys down. I'll need Iscariot with me. Then, I guess I'll leave Bitchess, Elipser, and Olly up here to watch the rest of your men."
Splodo's expression became even more interested as he looked behind him to a pair of Radians he noticed had not looked all that interested or surprised by what they were seeing. They already knew, Keymar thought to himself. Bitchess I knew already had an idea, but I guess those two are more veteran higher-ups than I realized. Or at least, Intanzo trusted them with whatever's here- what is here? What is this fucking place? We have the means to empty out an entire mountain and turn it into a base? Then why the hell have I been staying in the back of that fucking bar for the past-
The elevator doors suddenly started opening, and the villains in the hallway looked through the doors with their eyes opening wide even though Intanzo had already told them how many people could fit inside. Past the doors really was just an elevator though, with the ceiling of it as high as the long hallway's if not a few feet taller. The elevator was much wider, and it was as wide as it was long so it had a good amount of room for people to go inside. Intanzo stepped to the side instead of going in, and Duke Dread did the same only to the other side of the hallway. The Duke realized it that if the doors down below opened on the same side as these ones that he would want to be the last one on the elevator to be the first one off. He could also pick who was going with him better this way.
"Just walk by and I'll count you off," Duke Dread called out at his men who were hesitating behind him wondering if their boss had an order he was going to call them in or anything. Other Jazz members farther back in the tunnel started pushing to try and get ahead, in more ways than one. No one wanted to be left out, and some initial shoves were turning into grabs and pushes.
The Duke had to yell back at his guys to cool it, but Intanzo and the other Radians already saw what they needed to see and what Intanzo wanted to point out to his rival across the hall from him. He had ordered three of his villains to stay put up there without any retorts or back-sass or problems. Even after Duke Dread yelled at them to cut it out, Jazz members were still speed-walking forward, trying to shove in front and sneak by other people ahead of them.
Iscariot stepped into the elevator himself before anyone else and stared out of it at the scene unfolding in the hallway. From all parts of the country. Speaking in different dialects. Some from gangs that were previously more ideological, and not in the same way Duke Dread is. He prides himself in his numbers, and it is quite organized for such huge numbers to be fair. But greater numbers will always mean these kinds of difficulties. Instead of bringing the strongest from all over, which was bound to cause trouble, you should have grabbed the single strongest faction to follow you here with only a few of your strongest and most loyal subordinates.
Fifty villains exactly stepped into the elevator that remained roomy even after its "maximum" capacity had been reached. A few of the Jazz left outside tried to argue about that fact, but Intanzo glared out at them after stepping in at the end and those villains backed off from the Kingpin's menacing glare. "Bring us down," Intanzo said, speaking over Duke Dread who was talking out to his remaining guys about keeping watch up there for heroes and guarding the elevator-
Duke Dread frowned and glared to his side at Intanzo once the dimly-lit elevator started to descend. His eyes lowered more though as their elevator continued to fall faster. The floor below him was dropping fast, and it was not slowing down in any fast way. "We in a rush?!" Varrenzo called out in frustration, trying to keep it together even as people were bumping into him and getting nervous and panicked at his sides.
"If we went any slower," Iscariot started from behind all the villains who mostly looked back at the former hero turned traitor. He continued in a deep and steady voice despite how fast they were descending, "Then it would take us several minutes to reach our destination."
"How deep does this go?" Duke Dread asked, looking back to his side at Intanzo after glancing behind him towards Iscariot for a moment.
Intanzo smirked back and rose his left eyebrow closer to the third most wanted man in the country. "Very, very deep," Intanzo replied in no exact terms. "This base is one of the larger ones," he added while facing straight ahead again, his expression relaxed and his boast casual like Duke Dread's about how many men he had earlier. The Duke was starting to feel more nervous about how he had bragged about those numbers though, as this was only "one of" the Radians' larger bases.
What the hell do they need bases this big for, unless they've got thousands of guys too?! I thought the Radians were supposed to just be small and crazy. Tight-nit, powerful… how resourceful are they? Intanzo always comes to us. And when we ask to meet him, it's always in a random place that's never been one of their actual bases. This is a good opportunity at the least, Dread told himself. The way he said it before, he really would come to us if he wanted us dead. So he's got something else in mind. Whatever it is, I know where this base is now. When I'm the Kingpin, I think I might just move in… No seriously, how deep does this fucking-
The elevator finally started slowing down, and everyone inside it quieted down as they neared their destination. Not many of them knew what they were about to see. Only Iscariot and Intanzo had been down there before of the Radians in the elevator, and the Jazz villains could see the Radian men and women with them looking as uncertain as the rest of them. The elevator doors opened up, into an eight-way intersection of a huge cave thirty feet tall and a hundred feet wide. Some of the passageways off of the intersection led to small dark corridors, others into small illuminated rooms, though there were two longer and wider halls than the rest going straight to the right and to the left from the middle of the underground crossroads.
There were not any villains down in that deep basement though, but when Intanzo stepped out of the elevator the artificial lights on the ceiling turned on. The automatic lights clicked on in a line from the elevator across the arrival room in that deep basement below the mountain. The lights turned on to the other side of that room where there was a huge set of steel doors as tall as the room itself unlike the other halls and cut-offs from that room which were all more normal-human sized. Intanzo started walking towards those steel doors though, unnerving a lot of the people behind him who were starting to wonder what the need for these height requirements was.
"Nice place you've got down here," Duke Dread started as he followed Intanzo out of the elevator. "Stop slacking and get up here!" He shouted too, and Jazz members rushed out of the elevator and came up behind their leader.
"What is this place?" The European wondered while stepping up to Splodo's side. A fellow Radian, The European hoped Splodo would know even if he was a more recent recruit.
"An evil lair, obviously," Splodo replied to the blond-haired Caucasian man speaking perfect Japanese next to him. "Our evil lair apparently," he corrected himself.
Varrenzo and Ramurai walked up on either side of Duke Dread who stopped ten feet behind Intanzo while he was still walking towards those huge steel doors. "What are we doing here, Intanzo?" Duke Dread asked. His tone rose and he stopped where he was before asking it, and Intanzo paused near those huge doors at the tone he heard come from Duke Dread. Intanzo stopped and the aura of bloodlust came from him without him needing to turn his head. Duke Dread just continued at that feeling he felt from Intanzo stopping like that, "The acoustics down here are sure to be great. So why don't you tell me why you've brought me here?"
"How about you follow me through one last door, then ask all the questions you'd like?" Intanzo wondered back. He did not turn around to face Duke Dread. The way he worded it and the way he was not turning around made it seem like Intanzo was daring Duke Dread to force him to turn around.
"So my answer is right through there?" Duke Dread questioned. "And you really don't have any knives hidden away, that you're planning to shove in my back?" Duke Dread's voice got accusatory, dark, and he looked to his left and right with a glance back at the men behind him who all knew to be on the lookout for that order. "Because this is a new move for you, Intanzo. Something's up," he turned back straight forward and looked into Intanzo's glowing dark green eyes that were aimed back towards him with Intanzo's head turned to the right. Intanzo turned the rest of his body and stared back at Duke Dread whose right hand opened up and then gripped the black flute that slid out of his sleeve in that moment.
"Hey. Enough of that."
Clunk. Clunk. Everyone in the room just off of the elevator looked past Intanzo. The thick tension did not just get cut by that single voice coming seemingly out of nowhere. The voice was a man's higher-pitched than Iscariot's, but slower and less cocky and menacing as Intanzo's. "Open the doors for our new arrivals," the same voice announced.
"Open" them?
Is someone-
Duke Dread stepped back. The Jazz stayed on guard, while the confused Radians moved away from the men and women who had been about to attack them right there. Everyone was still ready for a fight, but they all stared towards the tall steel doors that after clunking to show the locks being removed. Intanzo turned his back to the Jazz behind him who did not try anything as those doors started opening up. There was something on the other side of them, standing four times as tall as normal people and still looking like he was hunched over in that blue-tinted room on the other side. The hulking form stepped back with his arms reached forward and gripping the handles of the door that were as big as a person each and at a level only he would be able to grab.
The giant on the other side of the doors opened them and then nodded once at the man on the other side who smirked up at him. Then the giant form turned his head and walked off to the side into the darkness. "Follow me," Intanzo said, and he walked into the room on the other side seemingly forgetting how Duke Dread had just been speaking to him, or just not caring enough to address how things had almost turned violent.
The Jazz followed after Duke Dread when he headed towards the room and inside after Intanzo. Dread looked off to the right in the darker shadows of the huge room with a ceiling fifty feet tall and walls each a hundred long in a room that was perfectly box-shaped. The beast of a man watching from the shadows did not greet anyone, but his heavy breathing was enough to show everyone that he was there. His bulky silhouette was hard to see because he was so far from the blue glow that came from the opposite wall to the left of the entrance and in the middle of that wall. There was a large round table in the middle of the room that only had one chair at it, though that chair was unoccupied at the moment. The whole room looked unoccupied other than that beastly figure that had been waiting in there, but everyone knew there had to be someone else down here considering that voice they heard giving the beast orders.
Splodo stepped into the dark room only illuminated in that low blue glow, and he felt strange as he looked ahead towards Intanzo again and saw that man head to the table but stand on one side of it opposite from the glowing blue screen. He's not sitting in the chair, Splodo thought, his palms getting sweaty as he turned towards that screen again. Then he shifted his eyes back to that hulking monster he had never seen before, then around him until he saw Iscariot taking up the rear of the group and stepping inside those huge doors. Iscariot turned towards the beast in the corner and nodded, and that giant form started back to the heavy double doors that no one else was strong enough to open by the looks of them.
"Do not be alarmed."
Jazz members had turned with uneasy and anxious looks towards the figure stepping back for the doors he was clearly going to close. A few of the Radians were even looking towards their own leader in unsure ways, though they were mainly wondering what this was all about. That voice echoing around the place originated from the screen on the wall though, and everyone in the room took their attentions off of Intanzo and to the screen instead. Duke Dread's eyes snapped to it and he growled, "And why not? You're locking us in-"
The empty blue screen vanished and replacing it was a camera angle of a man sitting on a chair in front of them. His bluish-gray hair fell long around his head down over his shoulders and behind his back. He had no hands covering his body like most villains in that room associated with him, but no one struggled to figure out his identity after a single look at the slender, smiling man on the other side of the screen. Duke Dread closed his mouth, paused for a moment, and then his own lips curled up at the corners again as he said, "Shigaraki, Tomura. In the flesh. Well, kind of."
"What's he doing here?" Varrenzo asked, his head turning to the right and his eyes narrowing towards Intanzo. "Did you really call us for some-"
Duke Dread held up his right hand, and Varrenzo looked back and closed his mouth. He still looked annoyed, though some of the people in the room were darting that man nervous looks at how daring he was to be saying all that right there. "You have some business with us, Shigaraki?" Duke Dread asked, stepping forward from the crowd of fifty people behind him. He ignored the loud clanks of the huge doors closing, and he kept his eyes locked on Shigaraki's as he came close to the wall the leader of the League of Villains was projected on. "What do you need, from the two strongest villain groups in this country?"
"You seriously don't get it yet?" Intanzo wondered over, laughing as Duke Dread turned his head and looked back towards him. Intanzo put his hands down on the table and then leaned forward and stared straight at the Duke in a way telling him to figure it out himself.
"You're already, working together…" Duke Dread started. He stopped himself though at the look on Intanzo's face and how that man started shaking his head. The Kingpin of Japan, Japan's most wanted man, shook his head while smirking at the idea of them 'working together.' "You're, working for… since when?" Duke Dread asked, his face twisting in frustration and anger and confusion as this was a turn of events he did not see coming from a mile away.
"Since when? Now that's a weird question," Intanzo remarked with a laugh. The other Radians in the room started walking towards their leader, looks of shock on their faces too as none of them had known about this until now with the exception of Iscariot. "How about, when Shigaraki asked me to go with Camoflora?" He offered it up and smirked so much more as Duke Dread's eyes grew huge while still locked with his own. Intanzo leaned more over the table and said to the leader of the Jazz in a cocky tone, "From before you all named me the 'Kingpin.' From the very beginning."
"We're working for the League of Villains?" The European wondered in shock, looking towards his true leader on the wall ahead of him.
Splodo stepped in front of most of the others and looked to the man on the screen who faced him as well. "Hello there, Shigaraki Tomura."
"Splodo. I am glad you chose to join us," Shigaraki said, and he sounded truly grateful that Splodo had decided to join the fold instead of staying out on his own. "How would you like another shot at Endeavor? With, a slight edge this time," Shigaraki added at the end, and Splodo had no idea what he was talking about but his lips twisted up at the corners.
"Hold on," Duke Dread shook his head around and glared towards Splodo for a second. That younger man just glared back towards him though with a dangerous look in his eyes, and the Duke ground his teeth but glared back at Shigaraki. "You've been missing for years. You haven't done anything-"
"Everything I've done," Intanzo started from behind the man who snapped his head around to look back again. "Every move I've made, was the public move of the Radians and the private move of the League of Villains. We are the same. We Radians, are just one appendage of the League. The most visible, yes, but that was my purpose," Intanzo started walking around the table and towards Duke Dread who stared at him and then back at Shigaraki with wide eyes. He looked back at the man closer with his body tensing up though as Intanzo continued, "I am and always have been loyal to All For One's successor."
"RRrrgggg," a loud growl of agreement filled the room from over at the doors. Villains looked over and saw the beast of a man with giant spiky hair growling through a mouth baring razor sharp teeth that could shred them in an instant if Gigantomachia so chose.
"And now it's your turn," Intanzo started to the man he stepped up behind, between Duke Dread and the rest of his men. The leader of the Jazz suddenly realized he was isolated from everyone else after having stepped this far forward. Splodo realized it too, and he turned to Intanzo for a moment before smirking past at Shigaraki, then he turned and looked at the men in the Jazz closest behind him who might try to come to Duke Dread's aid. Intanzo looked into Dread's eyes without threatening him or acknowledging the thickest tension so far that just filled the whole room.
"I'd like to extend an invitation," Shigaraki said, his image on the screen looking down at the back of Duke Dread's head while that man continued to face Intanzo from feet away. "For you to submit and join us."
They were deep underground, inside a sealed room, with the man they had thought up until a minute ago was the most powerful villain in the country. They knew nothing of the layout of the place, nor how many other villains could possibly be there, nor the true power of that monster that had opened and closed those doors. The Radians were all looking exhilarated and hyped up though by the turn of events. Splodo was ready for action, and other Radians turned on the people around them that looked more nervous than they had all day.
Duke Dread could see his men behind Intanzo. His expression stayed steady, despite the feeling swelling inside him, and the thought he knew to be true. If they kill me, they'd still recruit all my men. They'd have to kill a few others but, not many would fight once I kick it. If I kill Intanzo the fight's only just started. Saying no will get them to kill me and extend the invitation to the next one up. "I know when I'm beat," Duke Dread admitted, shrugging his shoulders and grinning even as he spoke in that defeated tone.
The Jazz stared towards their leader in shock, as earlier that same day he was making bold claims about how he would soon be taking the position of Kingpin. Their leader looked interested though, excited even as he smirked at at smirking Intanzo, then turned to look back at the screen Shigaraki was still sitting in the same position on. "So here we are, the Jazz, the Radians, and the League of Villains all together. What do we call it, a 'United Villains League' sounds-"
"We already have a name with League in it," a voice started from back in the room, across the table and the darkness to the opposite wall where there was actually an open door that was just hard to see in the darkness. The voice that spoke was a young man's, though there was a woman walking with him through that doorway and towards the middle of the room. The man who called that out made Duke Dread turn his head slowly and with his lips curled down, though his eyes widened more as the blue tint on that approaching man's face got brighter and brighter. It did not make sense for there to still be a blue tint over there anyway with the screen that had Shigaraki on it dim and showing that the room Shigaraki was in was dark.
The man who came into the room stopped with his right hand risen with blue flames ignited on it. Behind him on his right was a taller woman with long white hair falling all the way down to her waist. She stood six foot one, and she had on all white from her shoulders down to her feet that were also covered by the long robe she was wearing and that dragged behind her too. She turned her head and looked across all the villains in the room and back towards the huge steel doors for a moment, and she chuckled under her breath before looking back forward at the leaders of the Radians and Jazz standing together.
Dabi put out the blue flame over his hand, but he kept walking to the table in the middle of the room and tapped a hand down on it twice. A rim illuminated white around the outside of the round table, filling more of the room than any light had until that moment. "And we're going to stick with that name for now," Dabi remarked at the man dressed like he was in a marching band. Puts the names of the heroes he's killed on himself? What a loser.
"And the League of Villains is back," the white-haired woman who walked up on Dabi's right said.
"You made a good choice, Dread," Shigaraki said to the man who glanced back towards him for a moment, then turned his whole body at the way Shigaraki Tomura was looking at him. "And because of that voluntary choice you are now an executive of this organization. As for the men you brought, I assume you did not bring any spies to my base?"
"None of them could be," Duke Dread assured his new leader. He felt so uneasy in this situation where powerful villains were appearing out of nowhere and lurking in the shadows around him. The idea of becoming an executive of the League of Villains even interested him despite how high his aspirations had been just earlier that same day. The biggest problem was that none of his men were speaking up. They weren't acting out or acting big anymore. In any other setting, with any other villains or heroes, things may have been different. Shigaraki's been here the whole time. He's been the Kingpin the whole time, and we all made jokes about him. I made jokes- people heard-
A lump slid up and down in Duke Dread's throat but not because of the last question Shigaraki asked him. "What is that name anyway? Duke Dread?" Splodo taunted, and Duke Dread turned his head with his eyes darkening a lot as he glared at the younger man with short orange hair. "What are you, royalty?"
"Royalty?!"
"Ignore him," Duke Dread called out, turning his head and looking back into his group of villains. One of them was storming forward but stopped, while everyone else in the room looked towards him in confusion at his sudden outburst. "He's just upset he wasn't made into an executive. A sore loser, crybaby even-" Duke Dread had his flute up to his mouth before Splodo finished his step. FweeweeeEE A slash ripped open Splodo's left cheek, his body spinning out as blood splashed out of the side of his face.
"Enough."
Splodo snapped his head back forward and his whole back was glowing bright red, but he froze and his eyes darted to the right to the screen where Shigaraki was staring their way. "I can't let that stand-" Splodo started.
"I suppose you'll have to die then," Intanzo remarked. Splodo turned his head with his eyes opening wide as the man he thought was his boss until a minute ago said that to him. "Do you think you can deny our leader without-"
"Apologies," Splodo said. As much as his pride screamed at him to continue fighting what just happened, he could see in his peripherals all these villains looking at him ready to kill and no one was going to get his back. He seethed through his teeth back towards Duke Dread who he turned to face, "I hope we can work, nicely, together. Your lord-ship." Splodo made a half bow as a finishing taunt, but Duke Dread was not going to say anything else considering Shigaraki's 'enough' he was smart enough to listen to.
The Duke was hoping that even that much would still get Splodo killed by someone, but Dabi started speaking instead and just left that conversation behind. "It was about time you joined us."
"And why is that?" Duke Dread wondered, speaking for himself and all the others who realized they were being let in on this plan right now. Duke Dread shifted his eyes back to Shigaraki and continued in a lower voice with his lips in a small grin, "What's your plan? It must have been made years in advance," Duke Dread was genuinely impressed, as he was caught totally off guard here and knew others would be too. No one's even expecting a League comeback.
"You have now joined the fold, so you are now as much a part of our plan as anyone," Shigaraki replied while holding his right arm out in front of him closer to the camera transmitting his image to that base. His hand opened with all his fingers curled upwards as if gripping some invisible something in the air before him. "We hold all the pieces to carry out our goal. There is only one thing left we are waiting for. The keystone of the entire plan. And it's almost here." Shigaraki paused and he pulled his hand back and interlocked his fingers in front of him with his elbows down on his recliner chair's armrests. "It's all about hope."
"Hope?" Splodo muttered confusedly, and he rose an arm and rubbed off some of the blood coming down his left cheek. The hell does that mean?
"Raising hope is the quickest path to despair," Shigaraki continued, his expression cold and evil behind his interlocked fingers. His tone sent shivers down the weaker-willed villains' spines, and what he was saying sounded as evil as anything they'd ever heard before. "Once the people of this world believe so strongly that things will be alright, their society will crumble with ease when that hope is dashed. The moment they think the dawn has come, that the darkest time is over, they are dropped into a darkness like they have never seen before."
How do we do something like that?
Would that really…
This is crazy!
Why?
Holy shit, now these are villains.
"That moment comes before the current third years become heroes," Shigaraki continued. Everyone stared at him with wider eyes still, and Shigaraki went on to the villains suddenly realizing just how soon he was talking here. "Those heroes-to-be that everyone considers the strongest class in decades. With the potential to fill the holes in the top 10 made during the 'Age of Villains' with such powerful replacements… and who will need to replace even more holes by the time the plan commences." His tone shifted even darker and sent chills down Duke Dread's spine at that ominous statement. "People will be desperate for that class to graduate, for those kids they've put all their hope in to finally join the pros as the protectors of this nation. They're already low on heroes, but if it's this class then they know they can overcome the deficit and thrive in a world free from us. A world 'safe' under the protection of their heroes."
Shigaraki's lips twisted up at the corners, his dried pale skin at those corners wrinkling up and his long bangs casting shadows over his eyes. With a horrifyingly menacing look on his face he continued in an ominous voice, "The fall of Japan will be a domino that will topple all of hero society in the world. Other heroes won't be able to come to Japan's aid while their own countries' villains rise up again. Others will follow our lead and incite the destruction of the heroes of this world. We will show them that heroes are fallible, that they all can fall. It will be the spark to ignite… revolution."
"Haha, hahaha…"
"Oh man. Fucking chills."
Duke Dread turned his head and looked back, seeing leaders of villains gangs he had absorbed into the Jazz looking riled up. They appeared excited instead of just afraid as they had been when he came to subdue them. An actual plan. A goal. A single mission. Duke Dread could see hesitation on a lot of faces too though, and he agreed more with those looks than the looks from the guys getting too easily excited. An insane mission. Something no one's ever done before. In a world where heroes are looking much stronger than villains again. It's not just that the "dawn" is coming. It's already here.
Varrenzo's expression was dark and he felt hesitant about saying anything, but the words of enthusiasm from his comrades behind him brought him only more frustration. In a plan like this we'll just wind up as casualties of his insane aspirations. "And All For One?" Varrenzo asked. He looked towards Shigaraki and stepped forward even after the League of Villains' leader looked to him straight in his eyes and lowered his lips flat. "Where is he?" Varrenzo questioned, his tone raising and his eyebrows high as he hoped there was a good answer to this.
"Sensei left everything to me," Shigaraki responded. "And now we are ten thousand strong. Now, the heroes are getting complacent. The public feels safety and security creeping up on them."
"They let their guards down starting at the last Sports Festival," the woman with long white her mentioned, a smug tone in her voice at the thought of how protected the Sports Festival was last year. "Nothing happened then, and they've come to believe that it is over."
"But we have weapons they haven't seen before," Iscariot added in a deep voice from back near the doors.
"An army they aren't prepared for," Intanzo said while grinning wider with a look back towards Shigaraki, who nodded at him showing he did a good job with the motion.
"And what about Lifebringer?" Duke Dread asked.
The room fell silent in an instant. The League members talking up their plan and the Radians and Jazz feeling excited by it all hesitated, in the ways the others who had never got excited were already hesitating because they had not forgotten what Duke Dread finally asked. Dark looks formed on several faces, some of those looks directed at Duke Dread for bringing him up. Shigaraki's dark look only lasted a moment though, but as he spoke calmly his hatred was laced thick in his voice, "He won't survive much longer considering who's hunting him."
"Who?" Varrenzo questioned, confused as he did not know there was a single person out there trying to kill Lifebringer.
Shigaraki did not say the name of the man though. He just continued on, "And even if they should fail, I have acquired a contingency of my own to get him out of the way. Sazaki won't be a problem for much longer."
"I wonder if Overlord felt the same way?" Duke Dread wondered darkly.
"Heh, Overlord," Shigaraki's voice was taunting and he leaned back on his chair. "He was a simple-minded fool. I had wanted to bring the Subspace Devils into the fold as well, but Raijin had a better idea for what to do with them."
Duke Dread's eyes were huge and his jaw dropped. "You, what?" His voice was shocked as he was trying to put this together.
Inanzo smirked towards that former leader of the Jazz though, and he wondered at him, "Do you think Overlord tried something so daring without coming to me first to ask for permission? And thus, asking Shigaraki?"
"Overlord was impatient and rash, which were not signs that we were looking for in allies," Shigaraki continued. "So instead we used him to see what Lifebringer would do. And the result was as you saw, a nice display of Sazaki's powers. The strength he accumulated as Death."
"That's a sure thing then?" Duke Dread asked, his voice even darker though also hesitant of his own doubt. The confidence in which Shigaraki was speaking despite what he was saying about Lifebringer made him realize just how far above him this man really was.
"Oh yes," Shigaraki replied. "He was Death, but he is all alone now. Alone in the world against all the heroes and all the villains of this country and beyond. And even against the man who freed him," Shigaraki's lips twisted up more, and the villains in the room thinking of how the press had been treating Nikko and Sazaki's relationship started to feel Shigaraki was bringing it up for another reason. Shigaraki reached to his side and then lifted up a photograph he pushed towards the camera, and he continued with a smirk over his face as he pulled it back, "I have him under my thumb. And I'll prove it. Watch him on the news tonight, and listen for the phrase 'like a duck.' I told him to work it in somewhere. Hahaha…" Shigaraki laughed in a low, demented voice with his hands out curling in on the ends of his chair's armrests. "When you hear it you will know. It's my gift to you, you villains of this nation. A sign. Big things are coming."
A/N Thanks for reading. Villains! The Radians were only an extension of the League of Villains, and now the Jazz have joined as well. Gigantomachia makes his first appearance, same with Intanzo who's been mentioned a lot now, and a few other big introductions this chapter after the class period to start it... Himazuri tries to read Zach's mind again, which does not end well for her. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Heading into NYC for the night to have some fun, but I wanted to get this one posted before I caught the train. I'll put a couple review responses below, and leave me a review after this chapter telling me what you think, predictions, comments, or questions about the story!
Incarnus chapter 182 . Sep 26
"Momozaki back at work." Mina, the Voice of us fans.
XD haha I hoped you guys would get a kick out of it.
Gillian chapter 182 . Sep 26
Dude, you deserve more favs and follows than most of the FF of MHA. It's just that good, not only for his MC Zach Zasaki, but also for the way you have world builded MHA. I feel like this fic is a deconstruction and reconstruction of what a hero means.
Thanks a lot! I'm glad you really like the story and the world-building I've done in Death. Hope you enjoyed the new chapter and thanks for the review!
diddles321 chapter 182 . Sep 27
Thanks for the update! I have a feeling due to being influenced by Midoriya, Zach will hesitate on a critical moment, regret it, and go back to his old ways and an incident will occur where he kills publicly, and Midoriya fights Zach. At least, thats my guess on what may happen. Keep up the quality work!
Nice predictions! Won't say if they've got any merit but we'll see how things go... Thanks for reviewing!