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!

201. Chapter 201

Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia

Chapter 201:

Zach sat in an abandoned room on the fourth floor of a building of Musutafu. He stared out the windows into the dark of the early morning following the worst defeat heroes in Japan had suffered in years. No one had labeled what happened yet. Some information had come out showing the raid had been designated by Best Jeanist as Operation Atem, so most of the world just referred it to that so far. The failed Operation Atem. The trap set by Kaminari Denki, a.k.a. Raijin. The re-emergence of the League of Villains. It had been brutal to watch. With every screen hijacked across Japan, thousands of children had seen the raid as well. Millions watched as their heroes were massacred.

Villains won the day.

The only light in the room Zach was in came from his computer sitting open on the unused bed next to the chair he sat on. He stared out the window as in his peripheral vision news stories popped up every few minutes showing reports of villains emerging all over the world. His backpack rested against the wall next to the door of this dead man's bedroom. He wore all black and his hair was pushed down, his bangs getting long again though he felt no need for another haircut. He stared through eyes shadowed over by those bangs into a darkness that would only last another hour before the sun began to rise on a new day.

The eighteen year old sitting there closed his laptop and got up off the chair without a word or a shift in his expression. He walked towards his backpack and took out his extra clothes, tossed them into a corner, then he took off what he was wearing now that was the set he chose to keep so people would see him wearing the same things on occasion. The other sets of clothing that he just tossed aside he switched with two sets he grabbed out of the dead man's dressers. He put one of those sets on, and he put on a new hoodie too from the man's closet. Then he put on his stuffed backpack and headed out of the building down an unused staircase to a door that scraped the floor as he pushed it open.

He stepped out on the road, a road he was very familiar with. He had seen a villain incident on this road once back in middle school. The dark street looked more lit up to him as he recalled it, staring to his side and remembering the villain who charged at him and his cross country team. Zach pictured a third year at the time when he was only a second year get in the way of the villain while he just tried to get the others back, and then he remembered the hero who came and saved him and Nagiso from the villain. Best Jeanist faded from his mind, but Nagiso's voice echoed in his head even louder.

That's one more. Nagiso already suspected me though, most likely. In his head he imagined the call he received yesterday that had been making his phone beep during the first call he got from Nikko's office on the address of the incident. Nagiso yelled at him when he picked up. He got my number through Bikergang who got it for him from Roady he knew I worked with… the other day- I gave myself away on that call. Zach grimaced and started down the sidewalk that got dark again with not a car on it that early in the morning. That I couldn't bring her back. Even before I had gone there to "save" her myself, I knew I couldn't do it, and I know he knows that I already knew after he heard what I said afterwards on camera. Even though it took me so long to get there, everyone knew it was within my time limit. And it's my own fault. Everyone knows, that I denied the press conference with Nikko. There was no official back-channel between us for me to use. One that I could have created! But, I made sure it didn't exist myself.

I don't know if Nikko denied me solely because of this antagonistic relationship the media's made us out to have. Or maybe he didn't ignore me at all and was just trying other pros? Maybe he's actually begun to regret letting me out, or- or what? I don't know, because I didn't want to know. I didn't want to take part in politics or use my popularity from back when I was released from prison, and now the country's turned against me. First they lose faith in me. Then in the rest of the heroes who failed- heroes can't fail. They're supposed to always win. Heroes always do, and yet this time they failed. They failed to no benefits. Nothing of value, at least.

Zach flew into the air and rose up a pair of wireless headphones he put in while he shot away. Endeavor stepped down too. Some people think it was because of what happened here, but it was probably just his own failure. Two in one day. Zach's red eyes narrowed into the distant sky as he flew through gray morning skies. It looked like it was going to rain; appropriate for the sort of day Zach figured was ahead. Star-Spangled Man is now in charge of the ADTF. That speech he gave was harsh, using "terrorists" and "villains" over and over. Nothing like the man who once spoke of his gratitude after the LoS raid.

"Yes, every member of our team is still alive, but… I was killed during the raid. As were several of our comrades, both in the ADTF and in the Army of Death." Zach heard what Star-Spangled Man once said in gratitude towards him, then what he heard the evening before televised across the world. "…Hypocrites who use terror to condemn weapons' testing while using those very same weapons themselves… Terrorists who force their way into government buildings to threaten heads of state and officials, ignoring national borders, breaking every law known to man under the guise of vigilantism. Murderers, thieves… Make no mistake, there is only one way to define the Army of Death."

"Villains."

Now that Star-Spangled Man has revealed how Death escaped, nations are able to use concern about those weapons to make their own. Leaders worried about the weapons the ADTF claim that Death used in order to get himself out of there, firing missiles at heroes! Zach frowned deeply and then shook his black head around with a few wisps coming off it as he did it so fast. It was necessary, I'm sure. Death's narrow escape though is a hero's failure, or so the world is calling it. Especially when he goes out and calls out the AoD for being so bad- why do that when you just failed? Endeavor's resignation seems to be to take responsibility for it. Maybe…

Endeavor's resignation satisfies everyone though. Shows he takes responsibility for failing to capture even a single member of the Army of Death despite carrying out such a big operation. Shows the people of Japan he plans to stay here and protect them from the League and to make up for not being here when he was needed most. Hawks showed up at the scene while I failed bringing back Fantasma too, looking at me like a fraud that I had even tried to revive her when he knows I knew I couldn't. I could barely keep a convincing tone to Tokoyami that I think Death must have saved her before… That's 4 of the top 10 down. Wash and Best Jeanist, Miruko and Fantasma. Not to mention Yoroi Musha in the Nara Raid, along with Floodgate who was in the low teens of the rankings too, yet Intanzo got her that day…

Zach stopped flying for a moment and he closed his red eyes while floating there in the sky with black flames coming out below him to keep him in place. I knew the heroes of Japan were top class, but the villains here are monsters. I- I can't do anything that will get me arrested though. He continued flying through the air again. Nothing exceeding the rules, or I can't get my license. I can't stay in school. I can't stay as Zach Sazaki. Go to Yutapu General after arriving. It's not a chore, it's a necessity. Don't forget. This is illegal. Even just this, Zach ground his teeth behind the black veil over his face but then calmed himself down and nodded his head in acceptance. I need to stay here to be me, even though there's more I can do. Everywhere. For everyone.

The ADTF just faced the AoD without Death, and the AoD didn't need him to escape! Even with the ADTF as powerful as they've apparently become. His lack of presence, no Death Quirk at all out there, Zach's expression darkened more under the darkness and with it shifting too. I know they're putting it together, if they don't know already. Endeavor probably knows. Time's running out. The League's making their move. Heroes are falling one by one. The next top 10 need to stand tall in the face of villains. Who will they be? Will they speed up the time of the next billboard rankings, in order to reassure the public? Or wait until after graduation to allow Class A to hit that list? Is that too long? Can we survive another two months before a ranking chart? Raijin's speech sparked the villains who went into hiding. He wasn't afraid of the strongest heroes in the strongest country. He showed pure evil incarnate, defeating all the forces of good who stood against him.

He's unraveling everything! And I- I'm just wasting my time! No- Zach ground his teeth, as his attempt to start arguing with himself there failed to draw any real meaning behind it. That day I spent with Roady wasn't- It wasn't! It wasn't! He yelled it again a third time in his head to no more a convincing feeling than the first two times. He dropped down into the city below, a few blocks from the hospital though giving him room to walk there and clear his mind first. It wasn't a waste. I saved people those villains could have killed in the future. Just as much as I'm saving these people in the morgue in a few minutes. And I-

Zach turned his head after stepping out of the alley and walking down a sidewalk two blocks from Yutapu General. He looked to his side from under his hood and watched a car driving by early in the morning still before dawn, darker down on the street than it was higher up in the sky where he had seen the first rays of light in the east. He had been above the clouds on the flight too, so he knew it would be even longer with the dark clouds above him blacker in Yutapu than they were in Musutafu. Zach looked through the front windows at the driver in a suit heading past, a man who glanced his way but focused on the road ahead instead of making eye contact with the early morning passerby.

The car Zach watched drive past started changing in his mind to look more ancient and blacker than the silver of the businessman's model. He saw himself in the driver's seat with Roady next to him, as they drove towards Xilovic's estate together. Something he had pushed from his head at the time echoed through his mind again as he remembered Roady telling him to 'Shut it' during their car ride. As that car drove past and he saw himself in the driver's seat, he saw the version of him in that seat turning his head a little more to look behind Roady and into the back seats…

12 Months Ago…

"Go go go!"

"Shut the doors- it's still open- Still Open!" Access yelled behind him from the passenger seat of the black SUV speeding away despite the blinking red light and beeping alarm noise the vehicle made to tell its passengers that a door was ajar.

"I'm, trying-" Shang opened it a bit again, but the SUV bumped and the door came back to a close too softly again to lock.

Grabble leaned over the side of the Chinese man who had jumped into the car last right after him, pushed out hard, and slammed it shut even harder to lock it and get the alarm to stop. He and Shang fell backwards across the backseats, and Xia pushed back into the men as she was shoved into her door during the turn the driver of the vehicle made the next second. "Can't you take it easy up there, Death?"

"Yeah, I'll slow down now," Zach replied, taking his foot off the gas a bit and relaxing. The seventeen year old turned down an alleyway off the side road already lacking in many vehicles, so it was already unlikely anyone had seen where they had come from. He drove carefully down the alley so as not to scratch the side mirrors, though Access gave him a few more inches on the right side by opening his window and folding the mirror closer to their vehicle. Zach moved down the narrow alley and pulled out onto another side road that connected to a main one after only five seconds of them being on it. As they waited at the light to turn onto the main road, cop cars with their sirens blaring sped across the intersection with other vehicles pulling aside to make way.

Zach lowered his head a little, keeping his dark bangs shadowing over his face as he had taken off his helmet after he got in the driver's seat. Grabble and Shang ducked down in the back and popped off their own helmets too, with Grabble twisting his whole body even more to do so and making Xia pull back far into her seat as she reached for her seatbelt. She pulled her head back as his right pincer neared her face, then she shoved it away when Grabble unclasped his helmet he did not lift up like the others. He instead opened it up and then clasped it back shut before clipping his custom gear to his belt.

"We're good," Access said, and Zach glanced to his right before looking forward as the stoplight turned green for him. When he glanced to the side he had seen Access with a computer on his lap he had pulled out from under the seat, and the Access Panel he had on the back of it had him locked in on the authorities' communications. He picked up their signals, and the translation feeds were reading on his screen in English while the voices in Portuguese yelled out of his computer. "They don't have anything on our vehicle. No one saw us escape, or they haven't reported it in yet at least."

"By the time they do, we will be very far from here," Xia said, and she smiled a little more with a deeper breath of air releasing as she saw the sign for their exit to the highway coming up. Zach put on his blinker and moved at the speed limit towards the exit lane, and he slowed down for a speedy driver trying to get in ahead of him instead of challenging the guy to try and get in first. The Brazilian speeding past turned and smirked back through the windshield as he was passing around the left side of the vehicle.

The SUV did not have windows tinted too darkly that would make it stick out, so the Brazilian man who had two attractive women in the car with him turned and saw through the driver's side window the figure on the other side of it. Zach rose his head and turned it to the left for a moment as the man was moving past him. Although he had slowed down to let the guy go ahead in a calm way so as not to draw any attention, the man smirked at him in a way looking too similar to some of the villains he had been fighting. He stared out at that man from the driver's seat of a large black SUV, wearing black gloves he had on the wheel at 2 and 10 perfectly, and in tight black sleeves on a day much too hot for them.

The car passing Zach sped up even more after pulling in front of him, shooting up the ramp for the highway and skidding as it pulled out. That was dumb. If he draws attention in fear and we're nearby, it's still bringing attention near me-

"Yeah, send the extraction to Rendezvous Alpha. No complications on exit," Access said, speaking to Raylei on a channel for just the support team. "Alright. Yeah. I'll tell him."

Access nodded and looked to Zach on his left as they continued onto the highway that was risen off the ground as it headed out of the coastal city. The highway leveled out ahead of them with the land around it as they drove to the higher elevated country just off the coast, though there were also exit ramps before then that headed down to other outer-city slums existing all the way to the cliffs and then even up them a bit. Their highway went over some of the poorer neighborhoods down below, where they had spent a couple of hours that morning on quieter operations. There had been nothing quiet about the final push on the gangster's nicer house he had all his gang bangers pull back to in order to protect him though, as one of the upper-echelon guys they had captured before the final raid had told them about the booby traps, fortress-like defenses, and amount of cocaine and Quirk-enhancing drugs stored in the house.

The Quirk-enhancers were enough to be worried about especially in a house that had strong defenses, but the copious amount of cocaine was an additional reason they had to treat the final fight as more dangerous. Not many villains would risk all-out battles with the Army of Death, rather taking to tunnels to escape or finding some other way to get out of there. The idea that Ranchito Loco was preparing for them instead of running meant he had dipped into his blow heavy for all that confidence. So the Army of Death blew holes in half of his walls, filled the house with gas to smoke out the gangsters, and then barred all exits other than the walls they had blown open themselves. They went in through exits villains were rushing towards already and eliminated their threats, then retreated leaving the unconscious and few dead gang members scattered throughout the house that the cops and heroes would be rushing to considering the amount of explosives that went off and gunshots that were fired in a three minute period.

Access spoke softly to the group in the car with him as they got farther outside of the city, "Ranchito Loco's mansion is filling with cops right now. Man, the amount of stuff they'll see in there they never would've got a warrant to find."

"Let us hope the others we let go through the day pass on our message to others who would attempt to take his shoes," Xia added.

"Bolivar's gone, but there's no power gap," Shang said with more of a grin than his sister had. "We're in charge now. Get with it. Yo."

"Chinatown taking over Brazil," Access said, laughing again about what one of the low-level gangsters they had dragged down an alley of an outer slum earlier thought was happening. They had not been in costume back then, all five of them in disguises with Xia, Shang, and Zach being the ones to interrogate him in that alley. "Surprised he didn't know you were Japanese," Access mentioned, as he had not earlier since they had been rushing through mission to mission all morning under Death's direct lead.

Grabble chuckled along with Access, but he did not laugh much with his friend in the passenger seat who Zach gave a small nod at before looking back forward through the windshield. I should get to Darling up in Panama. She, Exodus, and Cluster found the Beavers hidden inside the canal's locks. We could stop inter-ocean black market trade through the canal by tonight. Make it a lot more difficult for top American villains on both continents to move product. They'll have to shift more to land routes we can follow better, though they won't know for a few days as long as we keep the Beavers in the Cloak's brig through a few trades they should currently have scheduled. Should be able to take down several groups trying to get through the pass and hopefully get info from those crews on the villains sending them. I'll jump back over here for those as we sweep across Africa and Asia the next three days. Keep weakening all the strongest groups across the other continents, then hit Europe hard and fast. King's allies won't be willing to send reinforcements when they think the Army of Death is still in their area, and we'll corner him by next weekend. Soon as he's gone the Capos will take full control of Wampajawa… likely bringing in a lot more people. I still need to wait until 150 though. That was the number I chose, and until we hit it I won't risk going in without the resources-

"Damn Death, you don't have to do him like that," Shang started.

He and his sister had just looked across the middle of the back seats and snickered at each other, and Xia continued as Shang stopped, "You could at least roll back the sunroof. This is just cruel," Xia shook her head, smirking more while Zach looked into the rearview mirror and then turned his head to the side to look half-apologetically at Grabble.

"I've been here longer than both of you," Grabble grumbled, annoyed as the Chinese twins were poking fun of his Pincers that he had to stop from pushing against the ceiling by keeping his head bowed. He had slouched into the seat at first after getting his helmet off, but he had been uncomfortable and sat more straight up, only to bow his head and dart several looks to Zach while shifting his Pincers towards the sunroof. Death had nodded at Access before though and just seemed to focus back on the road in front of him, though when he just glanced in the rearview mirror he stared straight at Grabble's Pincers, only to look back ahead of the car as if he did not notice at all.

Zach had really been too focused on his own thoughts to notice the uncomfortable look, only looking in the mirror as a subconscious action of driving the car and as a look out for cops who could be tracking them. Access mentioned after Grabble got poked fun of like that though, "You know the car with Sagitus…" He looked over his shoulder back at the three behind him with a small smirk as he added quieter, "They needed to get a specialized car-seat for him."

Don't know if he's trying to help Grabble or what, Zach thought while rolling back the sunroof himself. But, "It's not Sagitus' fault cars aren't made with people like him in mind. We don't have the excess funds to spend on a customized car just to make it easier for him too, or I would-"

"It's all good, Death," Grabble assured their leader who was getting a bit too defensive here. He smiled too, relaxing and elbowing out with both arms into the shoulders of the shorter two on his sides. "We all know we're just messing around with each other."

Shang and Xia nodded with looks into the rearview mirror and Zach's eyes they saw looking back at them too. Shang leaned forward and smacked Zach on the right arm too after seeing the look his way as if wondering if they really were just messing around. He smirked and added, "It's not much better being worthless in a fight if you don't have your big sister holding your hand? Right?"

"Not much better having to drag your little brother with you everywhere," Xia corrected in agreement from the other side of the back.

Access put his hands behind his head and leaned back into the passenger seat smugly. "I guess my Quirk is the one with no drawbacks here-"

"Your Quirk is the worst," Shang said.

"Rather have Pincers," Xia agreed.

"Yet somehow you're the worst fighter, even with that best Quirk," Grabble remarked.

"Shouldn't dish out what you can't take yourself," Zach said barely a second after the others while Access was still reeling from how fast all of them had their comebacks ready for him. The other three in the back laughed most at Death's comment though, and though he said for them to 'Shut it,' Access grinned himself too after a second. He shrugged uncaringly about their taunts to show he could take it, and because he did not actually care as getting that grin out of Death was the real win here.

Present

Zach's head turned more and he watched the red lights on the back of that car fading then disappearing around a corner a couple of blocks down. He turned back forward and continued towards the hospital he had decided to visit already, but he thought darkly as he walked that way, I can still have times like what I had with Roady but out there. While still doing huge things impacting millions of people at a time, instead of solving one murder. Good, but important times.

But Death doesn't need me. They evaded the heroes' big plan without losing anyone, without harming the heroes, it's perfect. I'm needed here much more. Aren't I?

Yet as a hero can I… I can still stop them. I have to, as a hero. It only matters if heroes stop the villains here. Especially now. Especially after they failed. Heroes need to recover. And I can't be another loss for heroes. I won't be…

---

Guess I should get up. Sero sat up on his bed and checked his phone again, though he did not suspect much time had passed since the last time he looked. He got off his bed and threw on a pair of sweats and a shirt, did a few stretches, then he headed downstairs to wash up. He opened his phone and turned off his alarms for the morning since he did not want the first one to go off in the pile of his clothes while he showered. He walked past the common room and glanced towards a few classmates sitting on the couches, Hagakure with her head leaned to the side on Ojiro's left shoulder, seeming asleep. The blond whose thick tail was partially wrapped around her was not sleeping like his girlfriend, and neither were the other two on the couches who were looking wiped though.

As Sero headed for the bathrooms, Yaoyorozu glanced to her classmate and then out the windows into their courtyard as she saw it was lighting up outside. It's going to rain today, she thought, then turned back to Sero and gave him a nod. She glanced down at the cups she was holding and moved one of the ones in her right hand to her left so she could extend a mug in her right to Sero, but he shook his head at her since he could see she had poured four for the four of them awake in their shared living room. Doubt any of them got any sleep, Sero thought after she nodded and then headed away, neither of them saying a word in that conversation.

The showers were already on in both bathrooms from what Sero could hear as he approached them. He moved towards the boys' side wondering who else was in there already, though he just did his own thing and started brushing his teeth before he would hop in. Not far from the sink he brushed his teeth in and behind one of the curtains separating the showers from the rest of the bathroom, Todoroki had his right hand out on the shower wall in front of him with his head bowed, water dripping off his red and white bangs down in front of his face in a steady stream. The way he had his head tilted made the water dripping down his face miss his eyes, so he was able to glare down below the knobs for hot and cold at a single spot his eyes bored into for no reason. "I will not stop you from pursuing a future with the ADTF, Shoto. I will no longer assist you, however…"

He knows. A fight with the Army of Death, and Zach wasn't there, and he knows! Todoroki's hand shook on the wall, and as much as he tried to keep his focus on one thing, he saw Bakugo's face again as his classmate walked away. And Bakugo knew Zach couldn't save her. We all told him not to worry, that at least she'd… Then Zach got on and said- Todoroki clenched his teeth. Of course he did! He has to stick to the lie, but, but he should have told everyone immediately. Going there and pretending to bring her back like that? Pretending like he was actually trying?!

How many of our classmates were able to sleep last night? Yaoyorozu wondered while sipping from her coffee. "Drink," she encouraged over at Aoyama who had just lowered his mug after she handed it to him, staring in a depressed way at the news they had been watching nonstop.

They used the excuse that they were heroes in training and needed to be ready, but Yuga did not know why he was still there watching this anymore. He had bags under his eyes, he looked exhausted, and he glanced towards the girl who nodded at him showing she was concerned about how their performance in class that day if they did not drink. Aoyama lifted his mug and took a sip of the hot coffee, immediately shaking him a bit out of his silent and dark stupor he had been in for several hours since silence fell on their dorm. Frolick-san, Aoyama thought of a hero who had worked with a pro he had interned under once before, a pro who had complimented him on his "dazzling" costume. It was the first time any hero had called him "dazzling" without him first asking them how dazzling he looked.

"You know the Boxing Hero…" Midoriya jogged around campus in a heavy green tracksuit, sweating pretty badly considering how long he had been out there even if it was chilly that morning. "…I've been watching the free self-defense courses he puts online for years. In most of the newer videos the past couple of years he repeats stuff he's already taught, but even when he does he always brings new experiences from fighting villains…" Zach.

"Yeah I'm going back! So what?! …I do hate them. Annoying bitches… but, they're less annoying than the rest…" Kacchan.

Sero glanced down a couple of mirrors in the boys' bathroom, but he headed off for a shower without saying anything. I don't know what to say to him.

Bakugo glared at himself in the mirror while brushing his teeth as violently as ever. His eyes glared right back at him, so hatefully. Those eyes shifted up though and at his spiky hair that he suddenly saw smoothed down and gelled to be more professional. He brushed his teeth harder at the sight of the annoying hairstyle Best Jeanist had forced on him, and at the sounds of the laughs of the other sidekicks in Best Jeanist's agency… and of Kaminari's laughs, at the hairstyle that had gotten stuck and he saw- The toothbrush Bakugo was using broke, the front of it snapping off and Bakugo's fist curling even harder on the handle as it failed. He prevented from cutting his gums on the sharp broken brush, but he was done brushing apparently so he ducked his head and gargled some water to spit out the toothpaste.

As he kept gurgling more and more water, he reached his hands into the sink and splashed some onto his face and then did that a few more times. He shook his head around and stood up straight, then darted a look towards the door of the bathroom where Kirishima was standing. "Hey Bakugo," Kirishima started, walking into the bathroom and not treating him like some fragile person to walk up and talk to. "You doing alright?" He just wondered while going to a mirror next to the one Bakugo finished at.

"Peachy," Bakugo grumbled back, and he turned and headed off to take a much needed shower.

Kirishima nodded and watched him walk that way, then he turned and looked into the sink where Bakugo had left both halves of his toothbrush. He turned his head back with wider eyes but Bakugo closed a curtain and turned on his shower. Kirishima's fists curled down at his sides and he turned back to look himself in the mirror again. I- I don't understand it. Everyone else knows what it feels like, and I don't want to know! It's not like that but, but how am I supposed to do anything, again?! I didn't do it right before though. What's he feeling like though? I, I wish I understood… just so I could help you man.

Bakugo scrubbed his right cheek first thing after getting in the shower. Damn it. His scrubbing hand curled in and he dug his nails in for a second before dropping his hand hard and curling it into a fist. He punched it forward but stopped before slamming it into the tiles below the shower faucet he knew his classmates would hear. I'm going to murder him. For once, the thought was not hyperbolical. I'll kill him. Blow him apart. She was right, that wasn't an explosion. I'll show him an explosion. I'LL KILL THEM!

In one of the faculty dorm buildings, Ectoplasm sat in a meditative stance with his breathing calmed and his eyes finally opening as an alarm warned him to get ready for work. The League is moving. He stood up, and he walked over to his hero uniform he put on with intense focus and emotions pushed aside. They could come for U.A. again. I will not fail these students. Not again.

Not all the teachers were able to focus solely on the present and future now. All Might sat at his desk, staring at a picture he had in a picture frame alongside many others but that sat in front of them all now and right in front of his slouched form with his elbows down on his work desk. "Would you mind taking a picture with me, All Might?" "Thanks. And, thanks a lot. Your teaching here, and just the hero I saw growing up, it molded me into the hero I am today." Her confident look as she smiled at him, and the bow of her head in real gratitude that told him she meant every word of that. He knew it was not something that girl would have said to all of her teachers, and she didn't say it to all of them, but, She always spoke her mind. Said what she believed, and- All Might had to raise an arm again and rub it over his eyes, then he reached it out and touched the frame again with that picture in it of him and Indago back at graduation.

She was so strong. One of the few… All Might moved his hand from the photo and leaned back in his chair. Who I believed could truly stop Raijin.

In one of the dorms for the first years of U.A., Kimikaro Hone continued doing handstand push-ups in front of the full-length mirror he had in his room. The sixteen year old with long white hair glared through pitch black eyes that had tiny blue pupils into his mirror, and he started up another set of push-ups while upside-down like that. Blood was rushing to his head, but it strained him more to work out like this so he did so ignoring the head rush he was getting. After another thirty reps though, his muscles strained and when he heard a clicking noise in his right elbow he dropped fast down to his hands and knees. The teen reached out to his right and grabbed a gallon of milk he popped open with his thumb and then started chugging.

Kimikaro had challenged Bakugo Katsuki at the start of the year for his upperclassman's attitude, calling him out for being too cocky just because he was a Class A when he had been kidnapped by villains twice. It had gotten him in some heat with other students, but he never stopped darting his senpai those looks through the year whenever they would pass each other, even if Bakugo had had more restraint than Kimikaro thought he would to hold back from fighting. The younger teen actually had wanted the fight and thought Bakugo would be the only Class A to accept and fight him for real like that if provoked. He lowered his gallon of milk and rubbed his light-skinned arm across his lips to get rid of the milk mustache. It fucking sucks, to be in Class A, Kimikaro pushed the milk jug to the side and rolled onto his back to start with sit-ups.

The white-haired boy was the first to pass the hero licensing exam of all the prospects across every school at his testing site, and the shirtless first year pumped out his sit-ups again for another set through a sleepless night. It sucks, being a hero, his grit his teeth at the thought but had to pump out his sit-ups even faster. All those strong heroes. All of them! Killed so, so brutally- And they made everyone watch. Like they were showing us, what's coming. What they're going to bring for every hero- His lips trembled and no matter how strong he was making himself, on the next sit-up Kimikaro could not hide his fear from himself as he looked in the mirror.

Unlike her classmate, Zeira Eleinie's expression was calm. Despite being one of the last of her class to pass the licensing exam, and despite Kimikaro placing second in the Sports Festival at the start of the year while she never made it to that tournament in the first place, Zeira trained in a less frantic way. She felt that fear inside her too, but the girl with brown-fur and stag antlers sticking out of her head just slashed the sword down in front of her body again. She wore a white tank top, and she was sweating through her light coat of fur as she brought the sword back up high and then slammed it down again straight ahead of her where she stopped it.

Her muscles tensed, her body yelling at her to just drop the blade that weighed too much to do this a two hundredth time at the same rhythm without stopping. She just moved to the 201st swing though, growling, "Ten more-" The 202nd make her clench her teeth in pain, and her hands made an involuntary twitch that had the hilt of her blade fall out of her grasp. Zeira stared down at her sword, then she turned her head and glanced towards her buzzing phone that silently let her know she had to shower and get ready for class. Going to school, the day after? Public schools took off today. Day of mourning across the country. We don't take breaks though. Not us.

Zeira turned her head and looked towards a poster of Lifebringer on her wall. She stared at her scarred-up idol who was not smiling in the picture she had blown up of him. It was not a poster sold anywhere, but one she had created herself because it was the look he had in this image that motivated her. Zeira stared at that image for a few seconds, then she turned and walked to her desk where she opened up her computer and looked something up. She reached to her side and turned on her printer, then she printed her computer screen and picked up the paper that came out of her printer.

She stood back up and grabbed a towel off the end of her bed, but she stopped in front of the poster. Zeira lifted the paper and the stapler she had grabbed off her desk with it, and she stapled the image she had frozen of Fantasma right in the middle of that fight which was not hard to find online in full HD. The look of that bloodied hero smiling despite her hopeless situation with all those older pros dead around her, in a flaming building, fighting such a monster… The picture of Fantasma was just the size of a normal printer piece, but she put it right on level with the middle of her Lifebringer poster so it even overlapped over the side a bit. Zeira tossed her stapler over on her bed and nodded at the pictures on her wall, then she headed out to take a shower.

"Snn, sn," Ashido sniffled and shook her head in 3-A's dorm showers. Her long wavy pink hair flipped around the sides of her head and some strands stuck to her face as she took her scalding hot shower. She did not raise her hands to move those hairs out of the way, she just clenched her eyes tighter shut. "She was, so close," Ashido whispered. She gasped it out, then her fists balled in rage. "Kami-nari," she hissed it out, her voice cracking as she said the name of her old friend.

Jirou shook her head with a glance to the divider between her and Mina's shower. Then she looked back forward and grabbed her soap to continue cleaning herself, It's Raijin.

Midoriya Inko lay awake on her bed as she had through the entire night. Despite the phone call she had with her son, who had called her because he knew how worried she must have been for him after watching something so horrible, his reassurances to her only made her more afraid at how heroic he was sounding. All of those heroes were so strong. You say you're strong, but that isn't enough! What if- What if… Tears spilled out Deku's mother's eyes freely in fear for her young son. You aren't ready for this, Izuku!

Hundreds of miles from Inko, someone who felt very differently than her finally fell asleep on his couch. The woman with long green hair who had her arm around Kota's head curled her hand down from his shoulder over his chest so she felt his slowed heartbeat and the fact that he was actually asleep now. Ragdoll let out a quiet sigh, then the woman in her pajamas watching tv with her eight year old adopted son, (officially as of the new year), leaned her head back while being careful not to stir the boy beside her. She turned back on the news using her left hand farther from him, as she had put on cartoons to watch with Kota though those mainly stayed in the background as they had just talked through the night.

Ragdoll watched as the picture of the boy she was thinking about appeared on the screen, along with another dozen photos of Class A boys who were all in discussion. "…Friends of Raijin!" Ragdoll turned down the volume on the already quiet tv so it was almost at nothing, and she just turned on the subtitles instead. "If any of them had realized sooner, none of this would have happened. We talk about Deku on here like he might have the power of All Might, but these heroes of Class A never noticed something was up with Kaminari Denki? I've never seen someone so clearly evil in my life!"

He believes in you, Deku, Ragdoll thought with a look back down to her right and the boy she kept holding. Don't listen to them. We know you can do it.

In Tokyo, Gran Torino returned to his place after a long night of small villain incidents that occurred at higher frequencies than they had for months. He walked through his living room and into his kitchen, but he looked down the hallway breaking off it leading to the bedrooms. He glanced that way and saw a small girl walking out of the bathroom. The nine year old looked his way, and she frowned in so upset a way at the old man before spinning and walking into her room. The old-young man sighed in a way much more tired than his face could show as youthful as it was, but he shook his head thinking on the argument the two had had the day before. I will not let you open that Pandora's Box. The second you bring back the dead with your Quirk, is the second your life will end. I won't let you walk his path.

"It's just more collapsed tunnel. And behind that, more nothing," Hawks said to the other heroes standing in front of him near the burnt carcass of a forest estate. Some of the surrounding forest had burnt too, though only Backdraft was still there of the heroes with water-type Quirks who had come. More strength-types were there along with the top heroes and heroes who could destroy the rubble rather than just move it away in the underground tunnel that led away from the villains' hideout.

Hawks gave his report on no progress then headed back towards the site of the dig. "Tsukuyomi," he started, and his intern looked back at him. "I told your principal you'd be back by the time school started. It's time to go."

Tokoyami was taking a short break and still sitting down sipping from a water bottle. His Dark Shadow had been useful at clearing debris, especially considering they thought Raijin may have left traps in the tunnel for if they broke through. The heroes behind Tokoyami had lights on to keep Dark Shadow from being too powerful or out of control through the night, though they were ready to cut all those lights to allow him to go full strength at any sign of trap setting off that Tsukuyomi claimed he could manage.

"A little longer," Tokoyami said, looking back in the direction of the others he had been working with through the long night.

"Wish you could," Hawks said, and he meant it but shook his head at the teen who frowned at him but sighed after a second and nodded in acceptance.

I'm not going to be the one to stop Kaminari, Tokoyami thought. We are badly matched. He knows my weakness well, and his Quirk can easily defeat me. I do want to be the one… But all of us do. As much as I know Bakugo must want this fight for himself now though, there is only one way I see this ending.

I've heard word on Lifebringer since the incident, Hawks thought, seeing a look on Tokoyami's face that made him think of the kid who was always there in the back of his mind anyway. He's still around. Thought for sure he would have disappeared. Gone for blood. He's holding back though. Maybe he's really lost that desire, if he ever had it… "He's a demon! You don't understand!" Hawks thought of a man he had gone to speak with who was in a Gorrani insane asylum, who he had decided was too insane to listen to at the time. "I saw him, Hawks! We set a trap for him- and- Haha, Hahahaha! HE'S EVIL! I can hear him- LAUGHING! As he- Ahhhahaha- AAAHA-HAHHHHHH!"

We might need some of the old Lifebringer, if you can pull that out of you, Hawks thought. He thought of the heroes he had worked closely with in the past who had died in the burnt building next to him both he and Tokoyami turned to stare at again. Though I'm pretty sure I'll regret hoping for that, someday.

Midoriya and Zach watched the same news story as they walked to different schools in their school uniforms underneath slightly warmer clothes. They each looked into the sky, and Midoriya put his hood up while Zach just lowered back down his head that already had a hood over it as the skies opened up over Japan. The two of them continued to watch their phones they held out in front of their chests though with their heads partially bowed over them to keep the rain from hitting the screens.

"…And if the Army of Death could beat that many top heroes, in an ambush set by the heroes, then maybe those kinds of weapons are needed. Don't you think?"

"Clearly, Quirks and heroes aren't enough to take down the Army of Death. They are an Army, after all. Maybe we need to consider something other than a Task Force made up of heroes to take them down. In that case though, I admit, we would need to authorize the use and production of better weapons to match the kinds of weapons the AoD have. Rockets like what they fired…"

I hate this. Zach glared at the reporters on his screen who seemed to be in agreement about this. I hate you. I hate that they're using the AoD as an excuse. I hate what's happening in the world. Why does any single incident have so much of an effect? Why were all those villains who have acted in the past 16 hours right on the edge? Just waiting for an opportunity. Just WAITING for an excuse, for a reason! Is there really no way to stop them all- NO! No? What did they die for if not- It wasn't for this.

I hate that my forces got in an actual fight with heroes- They're not my forces anymore! Zach's eyes narrowed more at his screen, and then he rose that dark look up towards the high school he was approaching. Not that my friends will care about that. To them, it's just as much my actions as ever.

He created an Army that is now fighting heroes openly, Midoriya curled his fingers around his phone tighter. Didn't he say they don't fight heroes? Isn't that their rule?! So what's his excuse? They fired missiles at heroes! They- they missed, and I'm sure that was intentional, but they took that risk. They could have killed someone- innocents, and heroes! Just so they could escape. None of them were caught, but someone has to take responsibility. It doesn't deserve to be Endeavor either…

"Tell me, Endeavor," Lemillion said over the phone with the older pro who was quiet as he paused. "Did you see Death out there? Any sign of him?"

"No."

"What do you think, sir?" Crack wondered to the new leader of the ADTF who stood in front of a good four dozen heroes. They all stared at the leader of the ADTF and past him at the video showing Lifebringer taking on the Subspace Devils through the obscuring black flames he had set between him and the cameras. Next to that video was another video they had showing Death using his Quirk on a similarly huge group of enemies in a desert. "We didn't see Death's Quirk down there. It's most likely him."

"Most likely," Star-Spangled Man agreed. Loud murmurs started through the room as the top American hero just agreed to that. "But we need proof," he continued in a lower voice. "Something concrete, before we can arrest him."

Zach walked towards his high school and ignored looks from other students heading through the gates around him. People stopped and watched as Lifebringer entered, They think I would have left. To hunt him down. Nikko's office contacted me. The ability to leave the country again, but for "emergencies only." He has to show people that he's trying to give me more freedom… Why didn't he contact me? Does he not trust me? Does anyone? Zach walked into the school, But he stopped me from saving Fantasma, Miruko, Best Jeanist, all the others! Anger bubbled inside him as he pictured all those sidekicks of Best Jeanist from the licensing exam he stopped from attacking the other applicants.

And he remembered fighting alongside Miruko and Fantasma before. Zach felt the pain of bringing Fantasma back to life, and he heard her voice after that, "If you ever see Bakugo again, don't tell him I let myself get killed so easily. I'll never live it down…" He felt worse than he had in hours, his expression getting visibly sick as he took off his hoodie at the lockers. I know how Bakugo has to be feeling. He doesn't deserve that. No one does. Fuck. FUCK! We're heroes. We have to keep it together at times like these most of all. We're supposed to be the ones people can look to right now and recover quicker because they see how we're handling it, but what about our feelings?! What about us? I- I can't keep myself calm.

Kerushi, Flugeru, and Kameko stood around Dendo's desk looking down at the phone he had out streaming a news station with the volume up. Dendo held his phone at an angle so his classmates around his desk could watch it, and the hosts went from talking about the flawless escape of the ADTF to Lifebringer. "…I read in the book on his story of what he did that year, that he told Oda in Tartaros that he supported the Army of Death. It said something in there about how Lifebringer went as far as to mention that he had considered joining them himself!"

"Yes, but that was back right after Mongoloid, before he left the world-"

"Yeah, I'm sure that's what really happened too. But leaving that for later, what about saving Fantasma?" The skeptical host asked harshly. "He came out and said that he was unable to revive her even though he got to the scene of the incident only an hour after her death, at most!"

"That's not his fault though! It's the heroes, and the heroes' process in general that it took them that long to tell Lifebringer! Nikko's office released that he was restrained by the rules too, that he could not send an unqualified teen with only a provisional license to the scene of the fight."

"He should have been the first one told. Against Raijin especially-"

"We only have to wait another month for him to graduate, then it will all be…" Dendo turned down the volume of his phone. The others around his desk glanced at him then to the door where Zach just walked into the classroom.

Things won't just suddenly get better. The day I graduate will be the worst day, ever, Zach kept his mouth shut as he walked over towards his seat. I've been trying to act like everything's fine. Like I have enough time not to worry about post-graduation until it comes. Wasting these final days. My last days, free.

School started in a few places around the country. At those schools though, they still had moments of silence to start the day after short messages by the principals. Nezu and Memuria mentioned specifically their own alumni first, and the schools fell silent as everyone thought about those lost. All over the country, a special silence was held for Fantasma as the last one fighting even after all the others had fallen. The hero who had almost saved them, even if she didn't. The nineteen year old girl who gave everything she had including her life. The way she died was so horrible too, having to watch all the heroes she was trying to protect get killed first too, and yet in her final moments she did not despair.

She believed in us, Kirishima thought during the silence, imagining the final words out of their senpai's mouth. It was more than that though.

She put it on us. Sato looked towards the windows in the silence and hardened his expression from the sad one he had. Indago knew everyone was watching, and she knew we were too. She needed- she needed everyone not to lose hope!

Asui bowed her head harder. She clenched her eyes shut thinking of the most inspiring speech she had heard in her entire life, which had been at the previous year's graduation. Indago's speech as the top of her class had gained a standing ovation from the crowd watching in the destroyed Sports Festival stadium that would become a memorial for the SFI. The speech about heroes, and villains, and about society as a whole changing around them. She told us how a few days after graduation, she would be going around the world to fight villains in the parts of the world where crime is worst. She went places that Zach was, fighting with him and dying out there…

Asui heard her upperclassman's voice echoing over that stadium, "We heroes have to work together to bring peace to a chaotic world. It doesn't matter how strong each individual hero is. We're a team. We're all a team fighting for the same side. I am honored and grateful to U.A. for giving me the opportunity to do my part, to join that team, and to be able to take the fight to them!" Indago-senpai. Asui's hands curled into fists under her desk and she rose them over it with an intense expression spreading across her face. We won't let you down.

All Might stared around at the class who he could see were taking Indago's final words to heart without being told to. They know the hero she was. They saw how amazing Fantasma was yesterday, and she told the people of Japan and the world that you would stop the ones she couldn't. They haven't lost hope because of that. Raijin tried to silence her, but she said enough. He tried to make everyone think about the bad of U.A. and Class A in those final moments, but the people listened to her more than they will him. They know the Class A Fantasma was talking about, and it was not you, Raijin. It is the nineteen students in this room…

And maybe, one more.

In Shiketsu High, the students of Class 1 tried to focus on their lessons for the day which were just as they were scheduled to be as if it were a normal school day. There was a teacher who changed her lesson plan though. Enorma came into the class, and she wasted no time projecting her lesson plan on a villain she had not spent a whole lesson on before. She had done lessons on both Shigaraki and All For One, but she did those lessons on the same day and did not spent as much time on them as she did the current worst villain groups in the country like the Radians and Jazz, or individual unaffiliated villains like Splodo.

"Kaminari Denki. Raijin. The killer of Fantasma," Enorma said that harshly and in a stern tone telling none of her students to get upset at her for saying it like that. Her expression was not in mourning but scolding the students who looked at her in mourning like they did not want to talk about that yet. It was not too soon though, and Enorma started, "The League of Villains are already in the middle of some sort of plan that this kicked off. We're not going to sit around for a few days before getting to work on figuring out what it is. Unfortunately, since we have nothing on what they've been up to or where they have been for almost two years now, there's not much to go on."

Enorma turned to Zach Sazaki. "If you've got anything to tell us about Raijin, then stand up and tell the class." Everyone looked to Zach who faced his teacher and saw the intense look asking this of him seriously. Zach pushed back in his chair and stood up, giving Enorma a serious nod right back with colder eyes than the teacher had. "What do you know?" She asked him, and she stepped in front of her desk and leaned back on it as she got ready to hear this.

Dendo nodded his head and focused in on Zach, glad Enorma said this as he wanted to ask Zach questions himself about Raijin after what happened yesterday.

He's known Raijin was the most dangerous.

He said the League were still the worst.

All of Class A knew it, back at the joint training, Reika thought darkly. She remembered how the U.A. students were acting, like the League were so much worse than anyone else knew and they in Class 1 were being foolish for not taking them seriously enough.

"I don't know what the League's plan is," Zach began. His voice had a different tone in it than usual. No one had spoken to him so far in the day, and everyone looked at him in serious ways but with a few of them looking uneasy as he spoke in a cold and deep voice. "Kaminari… he's unpredictable. He knows I'm trying to predict him too, so he's even more cautious than he was before. And before, he spent a year and a half at U.A. under watch of top pro heroes who suspected there was a spy in our midst and never thought he could be it. He blocked the calls we tried to send out at USJ to tell people about the villains attacking. He gave the villains our location in the training forest of my first year at U.A. He helped free Himiko Toga when she invaded U.A. in an attempt to steal our blood, after I defeated her…"

The students of Class 1 stared at Zach with bigger eyes at what he just said that none of them had heard before. "And then when we were gathered to figure out who had betrayed us and freed her, he nearly got away with framing Hagakure Toru. That plan failed however, so he paralyzed all of Class A and all the teachers, police, and Kamui Woods in a single instant. His personality that we had known and been friends with completely switched. He paralyzed us all and then killed Class A students one by one with us unable to do a thing as our friends were killed."

Enorma's eyes grew huge and shook at the words that just came out of her student's mouth. Everyone in the room stared with dropped jaws at Zach, as all they knew were vague accounts that Raijin had betrayed U.A., killed Iida Tenya, and escaped killing two others who were not revived unlike Iida was by Zach Sazaki. They knew Zach had passed out that day which was the reasoning U.A. gave for why he was unable to bring anyone else back, as he had been unconscious through his time limit. "Zapping them, killing them," Zach continued. "All the while taunting us on how he had managed to get around every defense we had by splitting his own neurons and forcing neurotransmitters across synapses with what he believes to be full control of his mind."

"He can't…" Porrolo started in disbelief.

The spiky-white-haired eighteen year old froze though as Zach just gave him a look that simply said 'he can.' Dendo looked at Zach oddly there too though as he thought about the wording at the end of what his classmate just said. Zach continued to look to his side instead of at the front of the room now, as he went on, "He called himself Raijin, after the God of Thunder, while in a completely different personality than who we knew at U.A., so nothing I picked up in all that time together could give me the slightest hint as to Raijin's plans. I do know, that Raijin considers us to be in the middle of a fight though." Zach said that with his tone getting more personal and yet he was still speaking as if this was a fact that would be useful for his classmates to know.

"A fight he plans to win this time, since the score is 1 to 1. Kaminari had never lost before, and I beat him by killing Kurogiri, after he had beaten me…" Zach did not describe how it was Kaminari had beaten him. Imino, Reika, Dendo, and a few others recalled it though. The remembered what Zach said so late at night before they put out the fire at the joint training. "If not for him, I wouldn't have recovered after my torture at the hands of the League. I don't know if I ever would have trusted anyone again. And, well, he got past me because of those things… And when he betrayed me, he killed a lot people I cared about. He'd, manipulated my life, put me in all those situations I thought I had come across by pure chance, or fate. Kaminari tortured my family to death, killed people I loved, and he almost broke me."

Reika could picture something else she had seen that night that she just ignored at the time. Yet she remembered when Asui Tsuyu was talking about Raijin, and how Mineta had put a hand over hers on that log in such a soft and un-perverted way. That bastard killed more of them? Iida's death became public a while after it, and he owned up to it, but I guess their school kept it quiet about anyone else… And I had the fucking nerve to treat him like a second-rate villain.

Zach shook his head and continued in a darker voice, "By humbling him with the defeat of the Lifebringer Incident, I've also made Kaminari more dangerous, and I knew it that night which is why I didn't stop with Kurogiri…" Others stared at Zach with bulging eyes as he said in a deep voice, "But kept going to try and kill Kaminari too, though I failed." He paused and looked to question if he believed what he just said himself. He rose his gaze up though and said to the others in his class, "I'm telling you this so you don't underestimate him. Really," Zach finished. "If you ever face Kaminari you should contact my with your location and try to stall him as long as possible. It's unlikely you'll be able to reach me with his ability to block communications, but try anything to get me there. Not because I want to be the one to stop him," Zach assured with his look getting darker at the few he could see may have just thought that themselves. "But because there are very few who could k- stop Kaminari as he is now."

"Even Fantasma, his natural enemy, did not expect the Quirk-Destroying Drug. And why would she have? There had not been a single reported case of it in over two years." Zach paused and then said with a slow shake of his head, "But with him you have to expect everything. His Quirk is so strong, and his intellect is peak. He's planned everything out for years in advance, and his brutality makes it so there is no limit to what he is capable of. No limit to what he could and will do to win."

He stopped, and he sat back down without another word. He's being patient. He knows I can't last. That's what he thinks. I've shown my weakness on tv as I've been recorded too often. He can see me slipping. He knew the ADTF would figure out Death was no longer there sooner or later. He knew I'd be charged with more crimes even if I got freed from prison early! And he acted now to try and draw me out, make me act sloppy, break the law, and get sent back! One less obstacle in his way. The biggest obstacle! I can't let myself get thrown in jail. I can't let myself get arrested, and let everyone see that it's not just Kaminari who's a massive failure of U.A. and Class A!

Zach calmed down his inner voice as he felt a soft infiltration that almost got past him with how emotional he was despite his steady expression. Not now. Zach felt Himazuri leave his head, and he took in a deep breath and calmed himself down a bit while the room was still quiet around him. Enorma finally cleared her throat and thanked him, for 'all… that' Then she got to talking about what the public knew about him and his upbringing, specifics of his Quirk and what his maximum speed seemed to be based on what the cameras yesterday caught of his and Fantasma's pivotal fight.

At lunch, students around the country got on their phones to see that the fact that they were in school today was a huge news story. Stations were talking them up, and talking about the messages their schools had given out as official statements. There was no time to waste. 'The new ranks of heroes were preparing to get out there and stop the villains who thought they could stir chaos in a world that will not tolerate them.' 'The third years are determined to train harder than ever, and although in mourning for their fellow heroes, they know the importance of keeping cool heads and focusing on their schoolwork now more than ever.' Quotes of the kind were given out to the public who saw their nation's youngest heroes were not taking a second to push through this tragedy and stand up in front of it.

Zach hummed and nodded as he listened to the responses of the hero schools, and of top heroes who lamented the fact that they were too late to assist their fallen heroes, but how they would carry on for them and make sure their deaths were not in vain. Not in vain, huh? Zach wondered while eating in silence. No one ever dies in vain. Grappler. Samurai. Linebacker. Big Supreme. The four of you trained me before I could even use my Quirk. Watching you die, is a motivator for me. Most people wouldn't consider that a reason why you didn't die in vain. I'll do it for you though. And if I do it for you, then your deaths had that much more meaning. If they push me, if they push anyone to do more, they've motivated us so your actions have made you martyrs. Killed because of your beliefs. Killed because you stood against villains and evil.

Zach's motivational thoughts at himself faded as the news talked about the heroes he was thinking of. And not one of your bodies is still there for me to bring back. I doubt Raijin dragged your corpses away either. I hope he didn't. With the amount of villains there he needed to drag away though- yet, he probably zapped a couple into consciousness and got them to drag away the injured others. The news continued as he listened patiently, "…Only a few of the villains' bodies were recovered from the flames along with Fantasma's that was undamaged other than her neck that Raijin had cut open. All of the other heroes who were declared "Missing" by the first responders to the raid, can we just report here that they're all dead? I don't think it's fair to pretend like we, as the news, don't know what happened to them."

"Raijin threw their bodies into Meta's Magma to prevent Lifebringer from reviving them," the fellow news host agreed, nodding his head and then rubbing his brow as he did not know if it was okay for him to say that on the news. He frowned though at the idea that he could not do that, and he just continued after a moment, "The lack of bodies for most of the villains we thought were defeated at the scene is also disheartening. I wish the heroes had decided to use lethal force earlier on in the fight, as so many got away through that underground tunnel that heroes have yet to clear to find any trace of where Raijin and the other League of Villains' members went."

"Shooter is one notable villain whose body was recovered," the female host continued. "Along with one Marx and Chronic- who were villains captured before with Diamondfist, two other unknown villains, and another Tartaros escapee: GoldenArm. However, high-profile villains like Diamondfist and The German, Raijin, and both Sonic and Meta who were the targets of the raid are all suspected to have survived the incident."

"So six villains," the white-haired man said in a grim voice. "For the trade-off of thirty-eight heroes? And I don't mean to diminish the efforts of any of the other heroes, but among those 38 were four of Japan's top ten heroes." His voice became less grim and started getting angrier, more accusatory, "While several Tartaros escapees escaped. A leader of the League of Villains too! There is public outcry today, as people demand to know where Hawks was during this fight. Why was Endeavor overseas, again? And he took Ryukyu, Suneater, other heroes who could have been there to help!"

"And what about Lemillion? He was here, so why was he so late? Lifebringer too-"

"Well, I have seen a video of Lifebringer during the incident. He was recorded, shouting into his phone." The man who seemed pretty harsh against the other heroes kept his harsh look but his tone was not directed at Zach who was watching him speak with his headphones in at his lunch table. "And in that call he was having at the time I heard him offer to hold a press conference with Prime Minister Nikko, if they would give him the address of the incident-"

"Did Nikko hold back the location because of his tense relationship with Lifebringer?"

"That's clearly what Lifebringer seemed to think, though the Prime Minister's office has given a different reason…"

I shouldn't have done that, Zach thought darkly as he watched the news start discussing conspiracy theories. I knew people were watching, but I wasn't careful enough in the moment. I said something presumptuous, which will only do to exacerbate our relationship more. I isolated myself. I denied the private channel in fear it would make me look corrupt. I needed people to see a perfect example of a hero when I came back here. I've almost kept to that too, and admittedly that video will do more to better my public image than anything as of late. It is bad though. I practically accused Prime Minister Nikko of corruption, no not "practically." I made it out like he chose to let them die because of something so petty, when I knew it was because of the rules. I can show up places, and ask for forgiveness afterwards or come up with excuses for why it wasn't illegal. Asking for permission beforehand? Demanding an address of a raid? That's not how I've operated so far. They didn't know how to respond. And I expected them to just do what I said.

I expected too much of the legal system.

"…And why was it that Lifebringer could not revive Fantasma?" The younger woman on screen wondered to her older male counterpart. They were speaking on 'what-if's' and things that seemed suspicious to them despite public statements, and this was one that had really caught her attention. "He said after arriving that it was within his time limit, so the fact that he could not revive her meant she had died before. Likely Death brought her back while she was fighting overseas, and she kept it a secret, or so he claimed. And then he also claimed that Kaminari knew that already somehow and intentionally left her body so as to give us all some hope he could tear away again!"

"He did a good job at it," the older man said in a lower voice. "Fantasma was the most heroic, and so strong… and she still died like that. It wasn't fair."

"That the villains have a drug that can take Quirks away?" The younger woman started softly and in a more nervous tone again. "Gran Torino claimed when he was interviewed on the scene that he knows for a fact that there are not many doses of the drug out there. He was famous for losing his Quirk to the same drug, only to get it back somehow-"

"Along with what looks like 50 years," the other host added suspiciously. "He's a young man again, and he gives no explanation as to how that is! Gran Torino still wouldn't give up the secret that turned him young again, though I know the drug did not just run its course and he got his Quirk back. If it was that simple he would have said it. We don't think the Quirk-Destroying Drug has a time limit though…"

"Hey Zach. Zach," Imino rose his voice a little. Zach lifted his head and then took out his headphones as there were others at his table looking at him too.

He brought his expression up a bit, showing he was trying to be somewhat positive though that he was as much in mourning and serious as the rest of them. He nodded at Imino motioning him to ask the question that seemed to be on the tip of his tongue. "It's just," Imino started. "Why didn't you revive the villains?" Others looked at Zach closer, though a couple looked Imino's way wondering why he would want something like that. They understood though with their eyes going wider as Imino continued, "As you could have brought back someone like Shooter, and found out what the League's plans are, no? Shooter was around for a long time, so…"

Zach shook his head and looked down at his food. "It wouldn't have mattered," he started. Not that I didn't try.

His expression got much darker as he stared down at his food. His last attempt at keeping it looking like the mood he tried to always keep at school and had been forcing since he let Himazuri find out, ended just as quickly as he started it. Others saw the version of Zach who was not trying so hard to be positive with them or even just hiding the slightest bit of how dark he really was. Zach glared at his food, You don't understand, Imino. I did offer to the heroes there to do just that. Tokoyami heard me too. He looked at me like… Of course he would. The way I said it. How I said that if I did it, then I had to do it on my own somewhere else. That I would bring Shooter back to them after an hour.

No one accepted, and they tried to force me to save them anyway, Zach ground his teeth for a moment. Was it the right call, ignoring them? I got so pissed that they wouldn't let me interrogate, that I made it so no one could. But it wouldn't have mattered! I could have- That was just what he wanted! Me to drag one away, torture him, and then he'd get me out of his way! So I told them, that just as it's against the rules for them to let me drag Shooter away like that, it's also illegal for them to force me to use my Quirk there. So I let them stay dead. And there was nothing any of them could say to make me do it. "I wanted to, Imino," Zach started again with a glance up at his friend with the pointy ears.

He shook his head though, "But I wouldn't have been able to interrogate anyone. No one trusts me enough to let me get some alone time with the villains-"

"That's not what I was suggesting-"

"And that's not what I'm saying I would have done," Zach countered right back at the boy getting too defensive over not having told Zach to torture. Imino's eyes opened wider, as did some of the others who realized what Zach just called Imino out on suspecting he had wanted to do. "But just as the heroes were scared of me doing that, I'm sure any of those villains would have been too. Just waking up somewhere alone with me, it would have been enough to get them to tell me everything they knew. None of the heroes believed that though. Every one of them took one look at me, in Nightmare form, and they all thought I was going to torture it out of Shooter."

Others at the table grimaced, with Imino's eyes staying wide as Zach said the exact name he had just used as an example. "And they wouldn't have told anyone else but me," Zach continued too. "But, admittedly, it's not like I tried very hard either." He admitted it and got back to eating his food. "It's not like Kaminari would have left their bodies if they knew enough about his plans that my bringing them back could change anything. He had the time to throw all the heroes' bodies into that Magma, so leaving the corpses of his own guys was solely to tempt me into dragging one away and reviving him. Or it was to show people how heroes had killed six villains. Murdered them. Heroes who aren't Lifebringer, killing villains on camera in front of the people who believe in their ability to win without needing to do that. Everything. Everything that happened was planned out by him. Every negative outcome of this," Zach glared at his mashed potatoes and stabbed his fork into them with a pissed off slam of it down. "He planned it all."

---

"And I want all of you to know, we are here. Heroes are here. In this stadium they tried to destroy. In a stadium that represents our whole society right now. Because look who stands in that stadium now, heads as high as ever. The villains who attacked this place are in jail. And yes, some villains escaped Tartaros that day. The ones who freed them will be sent back there too, just as over 70 percent of the villains who were freed that day have already been recaptured! We won't settle for 70 percent though. I won't settle, for anything less than every last one of them. None of your heroes will. We enter the world of pros now, as we feel the hope of a return to normalcy. A return to relative peace. We make that change though. We all have to fight for it. We can't ever, give up…"

Midoriya watched the recording he had seen first hand as it was played on the news he was watching at his lunch table. He had felt inspiration that day as he believed every hero felt when they saw it. She uplifted us. Indago-senpai, Fantasma, was the strongest of us. Lemillion joked he was worried she would pass him on the leaderboards, and then she breached the top 10 so quickly. Not as fast as he had, but she didn't start her own agency. She didn't get a building or hire any sidekicks. No support… Just her and Miruko. Fighting so often. Reporting to every incident they could, until one was finally too much. Yet in a single year, Fantasma took down famous villains both in Japan and abroad. Fought alongside Miruko and some of the best heroes from America, Germany, Egypt, China, and here. They don't have a lack of things to say about her, Midoriya frowned in a sadder way as he could imagine those accolades and how well-deserved they were with every word he heard Indago say on the day of graduation.

I'm expected to make a speech like this? Indago went into her third year and the Sports Festival Invasion happened. She was already out there as an intern, fighting so much- But we're no different! How was she my age when she said this? She's, she made a huge impact with this speech alone. She did that, all on her own. Just because she knew she could. I'm sure she knew the pressure and felt the weight of her words here. I don't think she ever thought they'd be played out so soon though, as a way to remember her. As something for us to remember her by!

Iida looked up across the table at Midoriya. Todoroki sat next to him on his left, and Uraraka was sitting across from Todoroki at the end of the table on Midoriya's right. The tallest boy in Class A frowned at Midoriya's saddened look still of mourning. His serious expression lowered down a bit again, and he stared at his own phone that he pulled out to check the new headline which had popped up on his screen. Dozens of countries Indago-senpai had visited are in mourning over her death, and the deaths of the other heroes. It's the single largest loss of hero life in one incident since the CHAF Bombing last year… Even Zach would admit the numbers lost were high, though I wonder if the Villain Summit… "…There weren't even a hundred of us…" "We took heavy casualties."

"The Army of Death fired missiles upon the Anti-Death Task Force during an attempted capture of the terrorist organization yesterday. The missiles are believed to be short-range low-yield tactical missiles, but heroes of the ADTF and several UN officials also suspect the Army of Death may have more powerful weapons with farther ranges as well…" Iida shook his head as he recalled the news report which finally gave them all the reason why Endeavor had not been around to stop Raijin. They had to make them out as villains somehow. His group managed to escape that huge force of heroes without harming a single one of them. That's what I see. If I look below the story we are hearing. If I look for the truth, instead of just condemn him for this… Still, what gives them the right to have those weapons and no one else? Why should the Army of Death be the strongest force in the world? And after what we saw this weekend, they most likely are.

…In control of everywhere, except for Japan. Iida corrected his thoughts in a darker way after a hesitation there.

Uraraka got up from her lunch table, turning her head and watching as a boy with spiky bleached-blond hair walked out of the cafeteria early. The others watched as she headed out after Bakugo, then Midoriya, Iida, and Todoroki looked back down at each other. There was a small gap on their other sides as the end of the table, separating the three who gained serious expressions and took out headphones with their shared looks meeting. "So they're back," Todoroki said in a low voice.

Midoriya shook his head right away at how his friend started. "No. Not back. They've been here. They've just been…"

'Waiting' did not seem like a good enough word. Iida finished for his classmate who cut himself off though, "Preparing." Midoriya and Todoroki each hesitated and then nodded in agreement with that.

Midoriya started again, "Kaminari reminded us all who's really in control. Who's always been in control." His eyebrows narrowed down frustratedly, but the smug look on Raijin's face was so vivid in his mind. He knows we have no idea what he's up to, and he loves every second of it.

"The only one who's ever beaten him," Todoroki started. "Was Zach."

"He wanted to be out there," Midoriya said, his voice getting softer as he thought about the video he had watched too. And he caused more problems shouting that stuff, even knowing there were people recording him. But I could see it in that video. All he cared about was getting to those heroes fast enough. Grappler, Fantasma, Best Jeanist… With Fantasma though, he knew from the start that he had to get there before she died. "For Zach, people think it's not about him being too late." Iida and Todoroki looked to their curlier-haired friend who grit his teeth for a moment before saying in frustration, "But there are times when even Zach can't do anything after the fact. When his time limit doesn't mean, anything."

Admittedly, that will probably help him, Todoroki thought, though he could not say it aloud and give a single positive for the incident that happened yesterday. It's shown people that he can't do anything, at least. Though the fact that he wasn't told the location keeps everyone from coming to that realization, as some will argue that it's only because of that that he couldn't do anything… And maybe they're right too. Could Zach have beaten him? Or, were the rest of the League in hiding somewhere nearby waiting for him to show up? There had to be others in order to get all those unconscious League members through that tunnel before the first reinforcements showed up. Tokoyami texted that he arrived while the flames were raging, but there was no sign of any of the surviving villains other than the collapsed tunnel in the deep basement.

"He claimed the title of Class A," Iida said in a low and intense voice. "But he does not represent us-"

Whatever Iida was trying to say, Midoriya cut him off with a raise of his head, "But he was Class A." The other two looked at him and Iida paused with a darker look on his face at what Midoriya just said. Midoriya grimaced too in pain as he thought about Iida yelling at Kaminari in that basement of the betrayal. He shook his head though and started so as to explain what he meant, "He was taught by All Might, just like us. He was at every major incident that made our class famous."

"He caused those incidents," Todoroki countered.

"But he was a part of Class A for all of it. Here, right next to us," Midoriya looked down the table to where he had had many conversations with Kaminari on this very bench. He looked back at his friends and said lower, "And everyone remembers that. We remember most of all, but the rest of the country was just reminded of it."

"And Fantasma also reminded them that we're going to stop him," Todoroki said firmly, using their senpai's hero name instead of the name most of them knew her by.

Midoriya nodded his head at that too. "Defeating Raijin is more than just beating one of the League of Villains' leaders though," he started softly to his classmates but in a completely serious voice showing how deeply he believed this. "Class A means nothing if he beats us. U.A. as a whole will become solely the institution that helped train Raijin." His friends gained just as serious looks at these things Midoriya was saying that hit them hard. "If he becomes bigger than us, inside the symbols that people are looking to right now," Midoriya shook his head at the aspect of that happening. "All of us who called him friend, the teachers who called him their student, the institutions that raised him to be this powerful will be more than just put into question. People will lose faith in them, and in us, and he's started that all in a day."

"You think that's his plan?" Iida wondered intensely at his classmate who seemed to have figured all that out already.

"I think it's part of it," Midoriya replied, though he was shaking his head as he did. "But that's still just part of it. What Raijin's planning is massive. And although I don't think Shigaraki's pulling his strings, Shigaraki has his plans too. They're working together, along with a large number of villains who we did not see yesterday too…"

"We all know how dangerous they are," Todoroki assured Midoriya, as he was not the only one concerned about these things. Among those others we didn't see yesterday…

"And we won't let Kaminari succeed," Iida agreed. "We'll stop all of the League of Villains." Is this why I'm more supportive of Zach today than ever? Iida questioned himself after what he just said, because there was one person he was including in that "We" who was not always included when he was speaking about his friends and fellow heroes. I don't know, but I know this…

"Then waiting until graduation isn't good enough," Midoriya said to his friends who stared at him in slight confusion wondering what he was getting at there. I know Zach won't. I saw how ready he is to fight them right now, and we have to be that ready too! I can't still question myself. I can't question whether or not I can inspire people like Fantasma could! There's no more time for that. I need to be ready, now. Because if Zach finds the League, I can't let him go after them alone. He revived Shigaraki. Raijin's been planning for him for years. And even if Zach somehow manages to beat them all, if he goes at it all on his own… He'll slaughter them all.

---

"You kids there, get back…" Zach sat in class with Kimona sensei explaining how the presentations would be working, though they all already knew since they had to be done by today anyway and prepared to present. It was not Zach's day to present his report though, so although he looked focused and ready to take notes on his classmates' presentations, his thoughts wandered all over the place. He saved us that day in middle school. Zach saw Best Jeanist, a hero he had known for years and had watched all over the place in awe of his ability and skill. Part of the team to rescue me and Bakugo from Camino Ward. He got maimed for it, and he went on. He came to help stop Dandy… and he helped take down the League of Shadows.

He was there to storm the HQ, and we fought alongside each other that day. I can still see it as I spun to the left on my way to Zolo, the holographic wall that those three came flying out of ready to kill me while I still hadn't seen them. And when I turned, all three hit the ground unable to move, and Best Jeanist was back behind me with the save. Zach tried to push that feeling to nostalgia, but all it made him feel was sick as he imagined the man's head rolling across the living room. He could picture Kaminari picking it up and tossing it into the pit of Magma, Or maybe just kicking it, like a fucking soccer ball! Zach felt a surge of Death explode out of a tiny black ball condensed in his gut, and he pulled it back in from inside his arms where it almost seeped out of his fingers.

And how did I last face him? I made myself look tired after fighting his agency, so as to trick Best Jeanist into thinking I was weaker than I… I fucking hate this. Why was that our last interaction? So insincere…

Zach felt Himazuri read his mind, and he trailed his thoughts off before thinking in his head, What's up?

Her voice came out quiet but got clearer after a couple seconds, "How are you? I saw, that you tried to get to that incident… I'm sorry, you didn't get there in time."

"…Yeah, it sucked." Zach relaxed a bit as he stopped being so tense and just said that in his head to the girl there was no real need to push away anymore. He was feeling like shit too after what he had watched the day before, so helpless like everyone else Raijin forced to watch as he traumatized them. "I couldn't save any of them. Kaminari leaving me Fantasma hurts the most though. Like a slap in the face. Or a kick in the heart. Both, really."

"Well I'm glad you came in today. I was worried you would go after them on your own, and you know you need a pro license before you can do that."

"I know…"

As Trabo started presenting his report which he had done on his own Quirk and its odd nature, Himazuri and Zach conversed telepathically through the mental link she had created between them. It was training for Himazuri, which Zach had suggested to her in their first training she should do often with him whenever she could as there were no other people she could currently practice with. She also was glad to be able to use that as an excuse though to see how he was doing, and she heard him speaking in a way his expression had been showing him feeling all day.

"I'm sure a lot of heroes feel the same way right now. What's important is finding them now," Himazuri thought at him. "And we all have to pool our resources in order to do that. So, while you were out there, in the rest of the world… Did you hear anything about the League of Villains?"

"Bits and pieces. Small things, and rumors about Shigaraki's plans that were mainly conjecture. All For One's disappearance was big, just because so much of the world and guys as high as the Shadow Bosses held him in high esteem. It was actually Bolivar who gave me the first hint that he had left Japan… Not that I got any more specific clues on where he was." Zach fell quiet in his own head for a few seconds and just watched Trabo as he flipped to the next slide in his presentation showing a video taken of him sparring with a clone of himself while Trabo X was recording, which they could tell when Trabo X flipped the camera and smirked at it and made funny faces for a few seconds that got laughs out of some of the others in class. Trabo went more into those actions by Trabo X than the fighting he had been doing with his other more identical Triplet, and Zach continued to Himazuri at the same time, "I did see a League member while I was gone though. One villain, I remembered from my time with the League years ago."

"Who was it?" Himazuri wondered back at him after focusing on Trabo for a second there but managing to keep her mental link open, something she was happy to have succeeded in doing.

"Art. Some American guy who Twice liked for some reason and Shigaraki let in after Giran vouched for him. I never thought much about him, never thought he was much of a threat, and yet I recognized him out there… Sitting on one of the chairs, highest up in the bleachers." Zach's mental tone was getting darker, his expression staying the same though appearing intense to Trabo who tried to ignore it as just Zach's normal scary appearance. Himazuri held her breath though to the notice of Reika on her side who gave the brunette a strange look as nothing Trabo just said was especially shocking.

"Sitting not far from Umbuju. Trying to talk to him, seeming somewhat frantic." Zach paused again and then added, "I recognized him after the fight. As he was on his feet telling Umbuju something in panic. I think he wanted me dead. It was probably his mission to see if the rumor was true and I was there in the Pit. I doubt the League, or probably Raijin, believed that I had been captured. That Umbuju was probably boasting about a fake Lifebringer to draw in bigger crowds… Art knew it was me though. I think had I remained there for a few more days, even if I had survived more Royales, the League would have come to finish me while they had the chance."

"Did you find out anything about them, afterwards?"

"I didn't think any of the Pit Crew would have known anything about the League of Villains. I doubted Art would know anything too important anyway… I wasn't in the right mind to care about that at the time though. Afterwards I didn't think of how useful Umbuju could be with all the contacts he knew in the underworld." Zach paused, and he knew Himazuri had seen what he had done to Umbuju, though he tried to keep that out of his head this time so she would not see it again. He continued to the girl as he focused his thoughts back from how the Pit ended and more on the day he saw Art, "I know why Art wanted me dead right then though. Why he wasn't satisfied with the Pit being my resting place. I forgot about him up there. That day, it was brutal. Savage. We all…"

"There was only one match I fought in the Colosseum- The Pit, where I did not pity my enemies," Zach started this with a tone of recollection as much as he was telling it as a story. He could see it in his own head, and he told the girl realizing this in shock, "I remember how I had pushed it all to the back of my mind when I woke up on the table I had died on. Where my friends had revived me. I couldn't think of the innocent people I had killed in there, so I just shoved all that happened in the Pit aside so that I could continue to lead without breaking down. Now that I think on it though, on that day in particular, I recall the match that had the strongest enemies in it."

"They were men who so easily killed the other two in the arena with us. Men, who I could tell something was different about from the start. From when I was heading out there and trying to convince everyone not to move, again…" Zach winced, but he regained his composure and continued watching Trabo without letting what just hurt him show on his face. "I think they were there to kill me," Zach thought, as he recalled his own memory of that day. Memories that had been so far pushed down for so long that they were hazy as he tried to bring them back up. "Whether they were just strong villains who knew of my capture and wanted to make names for themselves, making a deal with Umbuju to enter the Battle Royale with risk of death if it meant they could kill me. Or, maybe they could have just been captured on purpose by men they knew would sell them to Umbuju. Assassins who would go to those lengths to kill me, not just let me rot and get killed by someone else."

Himazuri gulped and tried not to dart her eyes over to Zach's head as she saw Reika giving her strange looks from the sides. Try as she might though, it was impossible to keep her face stoic at what Zach was telling her right now. He was speaking to her and yet also to himself as he theorized what had happened that day, for what she could hear was the first time he ever pondered it. "…And yet these two had something to prove too, and they fought me so savagely. First there were the weapons. The rapier one used was thin and made of sharp steel, and the other had a war hammer he snagged and used masterfully which made me think more along the lines of those weapons having been dropped for the two intentionally, though maybe they were just masters of all weaponry. They were definitely masters of their craft though. Their craft being murder. Monsters who could kill easily, and who killed the others while looking my way. Into my eyes, as they used their bare hands on the others."

"I faced these two men and the fight was easier than the rest, as much as it was the hardest." He said a seemingly contradictory thing and then explained to the girl he said that to, "It was the easiest because I didn't feel bad for the men I was going to kill, because in that moment I knew they were there for me. At a moment where I could not use my Quirk, when I had no weapons on me, with hundreds cheering down at them to kill me. While I was already injured from the last Royales, and just on the walk out there a wound under a dirty rag had already opened up. And, I made it out like I knew I was defeated, though like I would go down fighting. I acted like I knew it was the end, then made it through the tight gap between my attacking enemies. I managed to reach one of the dead competitors, one who had picked up a sword before getting his neck snapped from the man who snuck up behind him without him noticing."

"I used the sword to parry rapier thrusts, and to misdirect the hammer slams, though the guy with the hammer who put all his weight into it still lifted a knee as he was taken aside by the momentum. He kicked me back across the arena, and when I came out of the roll the other man was coming down with the rapier slamming forward already so all I could do was shift my body into a slightly better position," Zach was speaking mentally faster to the girl who was trying to keep up with his real-time recollection of the fast-paced Battle Royale. Her jaw dropped though as Zach went on just as fast, "I moved so the rapier would impale me in a non-vital area. Then as the villain shoved the sword through me all the way to the base with nothing stopping his momentum, I stood as firm as I could and snapped my head forward past the hilt to the man's neck that my enemy did not pull away from my jaw in time. With a sword impaling me through the upper left side of my chest, I tore that man's throat out with my teeth."

"I remember the audience who had started cheering as I was impaled fell silent in that moment. My enemy fell in a heap in front of me, his hands that started to move towards his neck falling limp with his legs after only a second, as I had taken a huge chunk with the bite. I spat half that man's neck onto the floor in front of me, jugular and esophagus, vocal cords and trachea all ripped apart in the flesh. And I smirked a mouthful of blood at the other man who lowered his head and stared at the crumpled body of the one competing with him to see who would kill me…" Zach's fast-paced train of thought slowed down, and he pictured the face in front of him in that arena as it became a one-on-one fight. He hesitated while speaking mentally to Himazuri, and he continued slower, "I saw in the moment, that the two had known each other."

"They had not been fighting together, but more like they were having a friendly competition to see who would win… maybe in preparation for their final fight against each other in the finals, or maybe they were going to escape from there together once I was dead." He closed his eyes for a second slowly and blinked them back open so as not to draw attention. "I don't know. I would not have the chance to ask the other who charged at me. Lifting my left arm became very hard and painful, leaving me crippled against the best fighting I ever faced in the Pit. One of the best fighters in the world. And yet those cheering in the stands realized something as they watched me fight, for the very first time, with the desire to fight and kill the man in front of me."

"I was always holding back in the Pit. Life and death battles against people trying to kill me, armed to the teeth, but I did everything I could to try and save them. I begged them not to fight me. I tried to stand still and do nothing, until my body moved in defense of itself, my own fear and desire to live winning out over my morality." Zach's teeth clenched behind his lips he had to purse shut to keep them hidden, but Himazuri heard the tone shift in his head too. "The ones who enslaved me, put me in chains, they made the worst mistake as they gave me a taste of slavery. I understood what that felt like, that hopelessness and helplessness, trapped under someone else's whim… So to see these men come in there voluntarily? To see them come to this place where so many had been killed, enslaved- watching them come and compete like it was a GAME?!"

"The guy with the hammer came at me, enraged but also fighting calmly and strategically, though I could see in his eyes as his attitude gradually shifted. That man thinking I had caught the other one off guard, realized that I was not an easy target. I fought harder, despite my wounds. I got angrier, much angrier than my enemy's rage could compete with. The audience cheering for my enemies found themselves silent. I had always seen Umbuju smirking down at me, whenever I was being hurt, cheered against or for, or when I was killing people. I caught a brief glimpse of Umbuju as I fought that day though. Not a long look, but enough to see even Umbuju in a moment of fear towards me. I don't know who those two men were. All I know is what it felt like to kill them."

"I never enjoy killing anyone… but it was easier to kill them." Zach admitted it darkly and without remorse in his telepathic tone. "Easier than it had ever been to kill someone before. I almost considered not counting them towards my kill count," Himazuri got confused, wondering for a second why Zach wouldn't count two like that. He finished though, "Because I only kept count in order to feel guilt for them all. To make sure I never forget the value of human life… But I didn't feel guilty for killing those two."

"I don't feel guilty about it at all."

---

In Class A's kitchen after school was over for the day, Midoriya stood with his back to the sink and faced the girl with brown hair tied back into a short ponytail in front of him. It was a new hairstyle that Midoriya considered mentioning, but this was not much a day for small talk. Earlier they had others at the lunch table with them so it had been harder, and in class people sat around their desks during all the breaks so he never had a chance with her alone until now.

"Last night," Midoriya started to his good friend who lifted her head to look up in his eyes. "I, saw you go into Bakugo's room… I was in the hall myself, to talk," he added, explaining how he had seen her. She nodded at him, her look staying sad but getting a different level of sad as he brought this up. "How is Kacchan doing?" Midoriya whispered.

Uraraka shook her head as she thought back on the night before too where she had gone and knocked on Bakugo's door until he let her in. "He knew," she started, but she closed her mouth and pursed her lips after just those two words. It was something she desperately needed to talk to someone about, something that had been weighing down on her all day and she wanted to share while at the same time not knowing if sharing broke Bakugo's trust. She just shook her head though and started to Deku in front of her, "He knew Indago-senpai had died before…"

Midoriya lowered his gaze to the floor. I thought that, was probably what happened

"I've never seen him so angry," Uraraka continued. Midoriya rose his eyes back up and listened as Uraraka said with concern in her voice, "Real anger, not just… Bakugo being Bakugo."

She whispered the last part which MIdoriya nodded his head with in agreement and understanding at what she meant. He opened his mouth to say something about it, but then he and Uraraka turned and looked across the first floor to the front of the building where the door just opened with a swing inwards. Kirishima stepped inside, wearing his blue gym clothes that he had just changed into from his costume, so they were not messed up. The redhead himself looked very beat up though, and the two in the kitchen started over to him in some worry at his appearance.

"Kirishima," Uraraka began. "Are you-"

"Fine," Kirishima muttered, closing the door behind him and then taking off his shoes. He shook his head and bit down hard again with his sharp teeth as he thought about what just happened.

"What happened?" Midoriya asked softly, though he suspected where Kirishima had been.

"I tried talking to Bakugo while training together, figured he needed to blow off steam, or something," Kirishima muttered it in a dark way, pausing a few times as he was still panting. "He's going all out though, training harder than ever before." And while super pissed. He shook his head darkly, "I'm mad about this too, but I can see it in Bakugo. He's all over himself on this one." Kirishima turned and he grit his teeth harder, though he then added under his breath, "Zach's got to be beating himself up too…"

Both of my-

Kirishima's teeth chomped down hard and he narrowed his eyes as he started marching towards the stairs to go to his room. Damn! Why did I, start thinking that like- Kirishima stormed off in a way angry at himself too, though for different reasons than the two he was just thinking about were.

Midoriya and Uraraka watched him go. They looked back at each other, and Uraraka shook her head after a second and then walked away herself. Deku watched her go then looked at the door in front of him. Kacchan. His expression hardened, Kirishima may not be able to take you blowing off steam at full. Midoriya reached forward and grabbed the doorknob. But I can.

---

"You're a fucking bastard," Diamondfist snarled towards the blond teenager walking his way. He put his hands down on the armrests at his sides at pushed out of the recliner he had passed out on.

"I'll ignore that," Raijin said as he continued forward, though he gave Diamondfist a dangerous look warning the tan-skinned man with light blue hair from overstepping.

Diamondfist gave fuck all about the dark look Raijin gave him though, stomping forward in a bright underground base with dozens of people in it moving around and about. He stepped in front of the kid while others nearby sitting in the same infirmary-type area gave him varying looks of unease at his balls. A few just watched in amusement wondering if Diamondfist was about to die, but Todo Viscucci glared into Raijin's eyes without fear of that and growled at the teen before him, "Marx and Chronic were my boys. You got them killed."

Raijin stared right back into Diamondfist's face and shifted his gaze over to the side at other guys who had been part of Diamondfist's group that had stuck together during their time in Tartaros and afterwards. As small-time as some of those guys were, they were glaring his way as Diamondfist started like that to him. Raijin refocused solely on Diamondfist though who continued darkly down at him, "Shooter, GoldenArm, the noobs too."

Rabbit lifted his head and pulled his right arm from the doctor on that side of him. The twenty year old's expression got angrier and his eyes narrowed with what Diamondfist just said, and despite not being a part of his crew his expression more matched those guys' than it did Meta or Sonic's. "Lighten up, all of you," Raijin said. He said it at Diamondfist but then moved to the man's left side and walked around him without the muscular man reaching out to stop him. "You survived! Which means," he continued with a raise of his tone suggesting something good. "You're all allowed in on the plan now."

The German's widening eyes narrowed again quickly, and Raijin looked towards the man whose forehead was wrapped in white bandages and who had to lay on his stomach as one of the doctors with them had ordered. "Not enough for you?" Raijin wondered at the foreigner who frowned deeper then just lowered his head straight back to the floor so as to straighten his back that felt like it had been broken, and one of the doctors told him it nearly had.

"The whole reason you were in that forest hideout for so long was for what we did yesterday, after all," Raijin started up again with a look around the eight guys who made it out who did not know the plan beforehand.

"And why'd you tell them, and not me?" Diamondfist growled, motioning with a nod of his head to where Meta and Sonic were each sitting on chairs of their own. Neither of the two seemed to care much about this anymore as Diamondfist did not try to stop Raijin from walking around him which would have been the moment a fight would have broken out. "You kept us in the dark and it nearly killed us-"

"I needed to keep most everyone in the dark for it to work," Raijin replied, shrugging his shoulders but looking to Diamondfist and getting a more serious look on his face too. It showed he understood the reason for his comrade's anger, though he continued speaking like his plan was not to be questioned, "And it did work. And now you're one of the famous villains who killed Miruko, Best Jeanist, Fantasma, and Wash." Raijin smirked around at the other villains in front of him, "I bet we all get on the top 10 most wanted in the country."

"It's just been updated," Sonic mentioned, and the others all looked to the man with long dark-blue hair who sat forward in his chair, shrugging off the doctor working on sealing up some of his wounds he got from smashing through walls at the end of the fight. Sonic frowned at the rankings, and Meta leaned over the armrest of his buddy then grinned at his friend who just ignored the look as he spoke to everyone. "Intanzo's still number 1, but Shigaraki's second, Raijin 3, Meta 4, I'm 5." Sonic said it and humphed, though he hummed in some acceptance as he added, "Pinoko got 6, Dabi's 7, then Toga, Iscariot… and you made it too, somehow." Sonic finished with a glance up towards Diamondfist who grunted in acknowledgement though did not seem very satisfied with just that.

"We took the top 5 spots," Raijin said with a chuckle. "Not that we didn't already have all those spots anyway."

This time, Diamondfist froze and he turned in confusion to the blond on his left. "What about the Jazz?" He wondered it, and Kaminari looked out the corners of his eyes with the right corner of his lip closer to Viscucci rising up. "And Splodo?" Diamondfist added, raising his eyebrows more to just a continued smirk from Raijin.

"It'll take longer for the heroes to adjust their own leaderboards than it takes them to edit ours. They'll wait for the official billboard rankings. They take so long with everything, after all," Raijin said in a taunting way. A couple of the doctors working on the injured villains lifted nervous gazes at the eighteen year old whose tone was getting seriously scary here. Rabbit gulped and he lowered his gaze down when Raijin looked his way too, only to rise it back up as Raijin said in a low tone, "It's not just the Radians under us now. It's all of them. And yesterday was just the start…"

Although Raijin was speaking to the others in a way fully confident and with intentions of making them all feel a certain way moving forward and into the future, his thoughts were split in focus. A weak start. Zach was kept in the dark. I knew Endeavor wasn't around, and the AoD was busy too. Not that I'm afraid of either on their own, but with Fantasma in the field of play I needed to get rid of the other big players before I faced her. Admittedly, I didn't think I would face her yesterday either as I had been unable to account for her and Miruko's whereabouts beforehand, but I was hoping I'd get her out of the way. A good chance to test how strong I had become even without my gear… And yet I needed the backup plan with Toga, then the second contingency with taking her Quirk. I kept it looking planned though. "It was the perfect start. To scare them, and weaken them, and to remind them what U.A. created."

Others around Raijin looked at him with more uncertain looks or ones getting more excited too. Diamondfist felt better about letting Raijin just walk around him, as the teen continued with a deadly smirk, "What was a part of Class A for so long without any of those new top heroes realizing. Reminding them of my existence. Of the League of Villains' existence." His voice rose louder, and he smirked towards each of the men giving them looks showing they shared in the victory he was talking about and all it caused. "Of the Sports Festival Invasion, USJ, and the Age of Villains they had all hoped was over even though their worst nightmares were never captured. They wanted to believe we had just faded away, and now they're afraid. And people in fear tend to do rash things. Trust people easily. Fear who they're told to fear, attack who they're told to attack, and small-time villains will rise in this period of fear."

"They'll keep the attention of all the Japanese heroes now going to focus solely inwards…" Raijin continued, touching on the speeches given by the top heroes who had tried to encourage and reassure their people today. His eyes narrowed under the blond bangs that fell over his forehead, and he continued menacingly, "Keeping them busy for the next month. And by the end of this next month, 30 days, they'll all be dead. And they'll never see it coming." His smirk curled up both sides of his cheeks in a terrifying way to most of the people staring at him. Diamondfist stared with his eyes growing huge, This kid seriously believes he's about to shatter all of hero society… And I believe him!

Diamondfist's face relaxed and a smirk crossed it too, though he only chuckled after a couple seconds and stopped when Raijin looked back at him. He looked to his own guys, some who were not so ambitious and who were more upset about their friends getting killed in the chaos of the day before. Raijin smirked as he saw the predicament Diamondfist was in though, and he put two fingers inside his bottom lip and whistled. "I figure a more material reward is well-deserved here as well though. So enjoy, you monsters. The whole nation hates you…"

Behind Kaminari, a couple of League members came around a corner of the base and held their arms out motioning into the room where the group who just survived Operation Atem looked their way. Even Meta and Sonic looked surprised like they had not been told about this, but neither of them complained as two lines of strippers rushed into the room towards them. "Uh, be careful-" one of the doctors started, only to just shut his mouth and back off from the injured villains who no longer seemed to care if their wounds were exacerbated.

Raijin turned away from the valuable forces behind him. He started walking away and thought to himself, Luckily only had to find women. Pinoko, has slightly more Toga-ish tastes. The two of them should be satisfied with their own rewards though.

Enjoy your victory for today. Starting tomorrow, we move nonstop for the end. For one, final, win.

---

A/N Thanks for reading! Aftermath of the battle makes for a pretty dark chapter. Our heroes are in mourning but trying to reassure the public, while the villains prepare their next moves in the shadows. The heroes know the villains will not wait and that this is only the beginning, but can they keep up with Raijin and the united front of villains going against them? Can Zach hold on as more and more people find out and come for him? The timeframe drops. And with it, I'll drop this too... This story ends at the end of this school year. Here it comes... XD Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Leave a review below telling me what you think, predictions, comments, and/or questions for the story!

QuestingforBitches chapter 200 . Nov 13

Well...shit.

Yep. That pretty much sums up the last chapter.

Darkmagic0703 chapter 200 . Nov 13

Like deadass bro your to fucking good of an Author like you had me screaming and my heart racing fam like wtf. You cold asf fam!

Thanks a lot man! XD Glad I got y'all so excited.

GrayReader chapter 200 . Nov 13

Holy fucking shit, this chapter was amazing. I can't wait for Zach to beat the hell out of the prime minister, he's way too smart to fall for this trick. If this doesn't make the AoD come to Japan, then nothing will, Zach might not go back to the AoD but there's no way he's playing with the red tape of bureaucracy anymore. Can't wait for the next one! Cheers!

Thanks for the review! Glad you really liked the chapter. Lot of you saying stuff about Zach beating up Nikko in the comments, but it's not so easy for someone who doesn't have this all-knowing view over everything that you readers have to link not being given the location to Nikko definitely working with Raijin. Lots of other reasons people gave this chapter for why Nikko/ Nikko's office couldn't/didn't give Lifebringer the location until it was too late. Some blamed hero society and rules/laws, others blamed the tense relationship believed to exist between Lifebringer and Nikko, and Zach blamed himself for not creating a more direct link to speak to Nikko, as he only reached his receptionist during the incident. He convinces himself not to disappear into the shadows as a lot of others thought he would have too, telling himself that to do that would be another loss for heroes after already such a big one. Hope that's understandable to you as you were pretty sure otherwise in this review. Hope you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless!

someguy1011 chapter 200 . Nov 14

Hey there it's been a while since I last posted a review, So ill just say that you have been hitting it out of the park lately and you're doing an incredible job. The fact you always come back to zach's mental state and other people's perception of him just brings this world to life. But rn im losing my shit with Kaminari returning and enemies closing in on Zach from all fronts, but im still holding out hope that he will come out of this alive.

Thank you! Glad you're still enjoying it and all the different angles I'm hitting the story from. Enemies are def moving in hard on Zach right now, every front seeming to close in on him at once... We'll see if he can handle it. XD Thanks for the review!

GuestP chapter 200 . Nov 13

Oh yeah, and HAPPYYY 200TH CHAPTER YOU GUYS
WOOOOOOOOOO~~~~
You've come so far, tmb, be proud of this!

200 Chapters in. Nearing on 3 million words. I'm excited, and thanks for the shoutout for this 'cause it's a pretty exciting mark to hit. Can't wait for the next chapters. Hope you all enjoy them too! Thanks for reading and reviewing, to you GuestP and to everyone!