Coco: Hey, guys, I know it's been a while and I'm sorry about that. But I'm back with a new chapter. Things are heating up and soon it will be time for the final battle to begin.
This chapter is very League centric, but I do hope you enjoy it.
Royale looked up from their magazine as Chisaki, who was with Chrono and the girl, began walking by. He seemed to be in the middle of some kind of monologue, but Royale paid very little mind to it as they closed their magazine.
"It's time to start pulling your weight, Temps." Chisaki told them.
Toga, who was beside Royale, grinned widely as Twice was crouched across from them in the hall.
"Mmkay." Toga said as her grin widened.
"You can count on us, Overhaul." Twice added.
Royale said nothing as they carelessly tossed their magazine over their shoulders.
'Sebone, he's mobilizing us now,' Royale thought as they felt Rina's presence in the back of their mind. 'Does your sister know we're here?'
'No,' Rina replied. 'You'll manage to take her and her little friends by surprise. Hit hard as soon as you make contact. If she has the chance to respond, it won't end well for us.'
'Right,' Royale answered.
They then turned to their two idiot partners as they looked raring to go and fight some heroes.
"You two know what to do." Royale said. "Make sure to stay away from the telepathic brat. She's mine."
"Sure thing," Toga said. "As long as I can see my sweet Izuku I'll be happy."
"Whatever you say, Royale." Twice replied before scoffing. "As if! Let me handle that kid! Bet I can get to her first."
He then winced when Royale hit him over the head to shut him up. They then took the lead as they readied to face the heroes and the police.
'I'm really not happy about any of this,' Royale thought as they rolled their shoulders. 'But I didn't fight Shigaraki's orders on the matter either. I even helped advise him to make a decision.'
—FLASHBACK—
"You really want us to work with the Hassaikai?" Twice asked in disbelief as Royale and the others watched the conversation.
"Yeah, why do I have to keep repeating it?" Tomura asked.
Royale frowned not really wanting to join forces with them, but they weren't surprised either. They had a feeling from the start it'd come to this. After all, they had been with Tomura during negotiations as it hadn't been safe to send him by himself.
"Their plan has some serious potential." Tomura continued. "So, from today on, Toga, Twice, Royale, and…Rina will be Yakuza members."
He said Rina's name reluctantly and honestly, Royale was still surprised that Tomura agreed to let her go. Them too for that matter as they were the strongest member of the group quirk wise.
"I don't find this joke humorous." Twice said then laughed. "That's hilarious, Shigaraki!"
"He wanted Kurogiri too, but I held out." Tomura said as he started walking by Twice. "He's got his own job to do right now, so there's no way I can spare him. It's too important. There's an underground route you can—!"
Tomura was interrupted as Twice whirled around to grab him by his shoulder.
"What are you thinking with this crap?!" Twice demanded. "Stop pretending that everything is cool! Why are you letting this beak-faced loser give you orders?! He killed Big Sis Mag! And he could have taken Mr. Compress's arm if not for Sebone!"
Said woman looked up from her book while not seeming to care either way of what was decided. Not that Royale expected her to.
"Did you just forget?!" Twice questioned then partially lifted his mask to show his distraught face. "And it's all my fault! I brought him to meet with you. I may be a villain, but I'm human too! We all are, man! Come on, Toga, Royale, Sebone, don't you agree with me?"
Rina didn't make a comment as she returned to her book. Her silence answer enough that she would do as Shigaraki asked of her.
"The question I've got for you, Tomura, is what we mean to you," Toga said as she jumped down from the desk she had been on. "To me the League is the place where I feel at home. I joined you because of Mr. Stainy. To make the world a place where I can do whatever I want and live freely. It would be such a bummer to get distracted from my goal."
She then put a knife to Tomura's throat after spinning over to the man's side. The look in her eyes deadly.
"I guess what I'm wondering is, why should I do something I don't want to do with people I want to cut?" Toga inquired.
Tomura didn't answer at first as he reached up calmly to remove the hand away from his face. The action had Toga and Twice looking at him in shock.
"It's simple," Tomura said. "Because this is for all of us. They want to keep the League in check, so they'll try to win you four over little by little. I want you to infiltrate them. Flatter them, but never forget they're beneath us. Twice, you said they had to pay for what they did. We'll make sure they do. This will work. I believe in you guys."
Royale's brow quirked at his words as they pushed themselves off the wall they had been leaning on.
"I'd rather not rejoin a crime family." Royale said. "I left that life for a reason. However, if taking them down is on the agenda, I'm in, of course."
"No, we'll be doing more than taking them down," Rina finally spoke up. "We're going to crush them until they're on the brink and then just leave them there…dangling by a thread, so they can reflect and wallow in their mistakes."
Toga and Twice seemed pleased with this as they finally backed away from Tomura.
—END OF FLASHBACK—
And they were still going to go through with crushing these Yakuza idiots, but for now…they had to play nice. Like, Chisaki had said during their introduction to the Hassaikai, they needed to prove themselves.
'Sebone, things are probably going to get ugly soon,' Royale thought as they continued towards where the heroes and police were. 'Are you sure you want to stick around?'
Rina, who was in a separate location above ground, didn't reply at first to Royale's question.
'I'll leave once you all are clear,' Rina finally replied. 'Let's not forget our goal. I don't really care if we beat the heroes or not. Make sure Chisaki is crushed and learns that his place is beneath us.'
Royale smirked at the order as their fingers curled and uncurled into fists causing their bones to crack.
'Of course,' Royale replied. 'He'll learn his lesson and never forget it. No one messes with the League and gets away with it.'
Royale then looked up as their group of three reached the area that Irinaka was controlling. They could hear the panicking police and heroes and feel the ground shake underneath their feet.
"Oi, Irinaka," Royale called out. "Quit playing around and separate them. The boss wants them dealt with so send them to us."
Royale didn't have to be an empath to feel the man's anger and annoyances directed towards them. However, they didn't care as they waited for Irinaka to do as he was told.
Ayano frowned as the shaking and moving halls stopped. It would have been good news if she hadn't been separated from the other heroes.
'Is everyone alright?' She asked.
She didn't sense anything wrong with their minds, but she wanted to make sure.
'We're good on this side,' A police officer replied.
'At least we can hear each other,' Nighteye thought.
That didn't give Ayano too much comfort. She didn't like being separated. Usually when she's singled out, bad things are usually coming for her.
'I expect something nefarious is at play here,' Nighteye warned everyone. 'They have a plan. Stay alert. Prepare for anything!'
'Yeah, yeah, we heard you.' Rock Lock scoffed in return then seemed to gasp. 'What the—?!'
Ayano didn't hear the rest of his thoughts as the wall beside her suddenly opened up and she was hit hard in the side of the head with a fist. Ayano went stumbling to the side but managed to catch herself as she felt her connection to the others being cut. She narrowed her eyes while ignoring the blood running down the side of her head.
"Royale," Ayano said when seeing the villain.
Royale grinned at the teenage girl who looked a bit wobbly on her feet already.
"Ishida Ayano," Royale returned the greeting. "Long time, no see. Tell me, how have you and that explosive hedgehog been?"
Ayano didn't reply as her mind raced. If Royale was here in meant the League did get involved with the Hassaikai.
'Does that mean…Rina is nearby?' Ayano wondered. 'She has to be because I can't hear Royale's thoughts or pick up on anyone else from the League.'
"Yeah, you won't be getting inside here anytime soon," Royale said as they tapped their temple. "Sebone is going to make sure of that. Did you know you probably passed her on the top floor and didn't even notice it?"
Ayano grit her teeth at this news while not believing she hadn't been able to sense her sister.
'Is mindscape so powerful that not even Hive can sense it?' Ayano wondered.
'Hive apologies, Ishida Ayano,' Hive told her. 'Hive still cannot sense Sebone Rina.'
Ayano told Hive not to worry about it. There was no point in it now. All she could do was try to get through this obstacle and move to regroup with the others. Speaking of the others, she could hear Nighteye shouting for her through the wall. She didn't reply as she kept her eyes on Royale.
"Honestly, I have no real interest in you goody-goody heroes." Royale said. "But I have to play nice for now to keep up appearances, understand? At least until it's time for us to drop this façade as Yakuza members. I've done the whole gang thing and I'm over it."
They gave a dismissive wave of their hand as they spoke as Ayano narrowed her eyes. She then gagged when Royale, who had suddenly sprung forward, threw their fist into Ayano's gut. Ayano went flying backwards and hit the wall behind her, which caused another strike to her head.
'This isn't good,' Ayano thought as she was having trouble thinking straight. 'I can't go down this easily. Not after all the training I've done.'
She raised her hand with psionic orbs appearing in front of her. However, she paused.
'Brute force doesn't work on Royale,' Ayano reminded herself. 'And with my ringing head, I'm not sure I can use my telepathy.'
'Just stop their heart,' A dark thought traveled through her mind.
She froze with her eyes widening as she wondered where that thought came from. She then gasped as she put up a wall between her and Royale who threw another punch. The wall shook but remained strong as Ayano stretched it out into a cube around Royale who frowned.
"This box isn't going to hold me, kid." Royale said. "It's only a matter of time before I break it."
As if to prove their point, they started delivering rapid punches to the box trapping them. Ayano frowned as she already felt the walls weakening.
'They're right,' The dark voice inside her head agreed. 'Come on. It isn't that hard. Do it. Stop their heart. Do it. Or how about we just stop everything?'
Ayano shook her head as she felt her hand beginning to raise as if in a trance. Her eyes begin to glow, which brought Royale to a pause. They've only seen Sebone's eyes do that. And nothing good ever comes afterwards. Royale then stiffened with their eyes widening when their chest started to burn. They wanted to gasp for air but couldn't. They couldn't even move. It was like their entire body just stopped. In this state, the sound of their blood pumping was loud. However, they could hear it start to slow before becoming silent as well.
'What is this?' Royale thought almost panicked. 'It hurts…my heart…did she…did she stop it?'
Royale looked to Ayano as the girl's entire face was contorted into a sinister smirk. It was like they were looking at a completely different person.
'What the hell?' Royale thought as every nerve in their body was screaming in pain. 'I need air…I need…I…'
Everything was going black with Ayano's dark chuckle being the only thing they could hear.
'Royale, what's wrong?' Rina's voice came through. 'Ayano shouldn't have been able to get past my defenses. Royale?!'
Royale couldn't even muster thoughts anymore as they fell to the ground with a loud thud. As their body started to convulse, tears started flowing down Ayano's face.
'Ishida Ayano, snap out of it!' Hive shouted in her mind. 'Listen to Hive! Fight, Ishida Ayano!'
'Ayano!' Rina's voice suddenly cut in as well. 'Ayano, answer me! I can't hear your voice anymore. Ayano!'
Ayano suddenly gasped and jerked her hand down as she finally became aware of her surroundings once more. She stood their panting as she stared at the gasping Royale who was trying to get air back into their body.
'What…what did I just do?' Ayano thought. 'It's like I cut off all connection to their brain and body.'
It was like how she had stopped Shoto in the Sports Festival, but instead of blocking the subconscious part of their mind that told their body to move, Ayano blocked all subconscious functions that told Royale's body to breath and told their heart to beat to circulate blood flow. Ayano had basically forced their body into a shut down.
'I didn't even know I could do that,' Ayano thought as she looked down at her hands. 'Why did I do that...Hive? Rina?'
Neither one replied as Ayano tried to make sense of what happened. If they hadn't called out to her when they did, Ayano would have killed Royale. Speaking of which, Ayano's head snapped up to look at the villain who managed to roll over on their side. When their eyes met, Ayano's eyes began to water.
"I'm so sorry," Ayano said.
She then tossed Royale—cube prison and all—through the wall and far away from her. For their own protection. As she did that, the wall behind her broke away to reveal Izuku and the others.
"Ayano, are you okay?" Izuku asked sounding worried.
He then came to a halt when Ayano raised her hand with a frightened look on her face.
"Stay back." Ayano told him. "Something isn't right…with my quirk."
Izuku looked at her in concern as Nighteye's eyes widened. He hurried to her side despite her warning to crouch in front of her. He placed his hands on her shoulders to feel her trembling.
"Ayonic, what happened?" Aizawa questioned as he allowed the police to look after Rock Lock.
"My quirk started acting on its own…it…it…" Ayano never finished her as Irinaka's angry shout interrupted her.
The entire room opened up wider with large, spikey strands of stone shot around the room.
"That yell." Aizawa said. "You heard it, right?"
Ayano looked around the room trying to pinpoint the source along with everyone else as Nighteye kept her close. However, it was near impossible with the echo created by the shouting.
"If we don't stop this, we're going to be crushed." Tanaka said in worry.
'This isn't good,' Ayano thought. 'What caused this rampage?'
"You idiots," Royale, who was having to lean again Twice for support. "A little warning before you decide to piss of the guy with the short fuse."
"Sorry," Twice and Toga replied.
Royale growled knowing they weren't sorry in the slightest, but it wasn't like it mattered. Royale shook their head to try and regain their bearings.
'That was a close one,' Royale thought as Irinaka continued his war path. 'That brat almost killed me…but was it really her? She looked like a completely different person…Sebone, just what is going on with your sister?'
When Rina didn't reply, Royale frowned. If Rina didn't have an answer, whatever happened couldn't have been good. Royale then looked up with their annoyed expression deepening.
"Oi, Irinaka," Royale called out. "Quit with your whining already. Weak guys like you are always the loudest and your annoying voice is grating on my nerves. This is why I've always hated the old school gangs. They're filled with nothing but whining weaklings like you."
Toga smirked at Royale as their powerhouse was able to stand up on their own two feet once more. Royale rolled their shoulders as Irinaka's shouting only got louder. This was his mistake, however, as that Midoriya kid finally pinpointed him. As Midoriya kicked away the stone to reveal Irinaka, Aizawa managed to erase his quirk thus dropping the large man from the ceiling. As he was falling, the villains got to higher ground to watch.
"Sorry, Yakuza," Twice said. "I think we'll do what we want after all."
"Later~" He and Toga said as they waved at the falling man.
Royale just flipped him off as he went, which had Irinaka shouting in anger once more. Though he was silenced when Nighteye knocked him up by throwing some kind of object. As Izuku caught Irinaka, Royale looked down at Ayano to see the girl looking shaken and afraid.
'So…she hadn't meant for that to happen,' Royale thought. 'Just what could be happening with that quirk of hers? Sebone, is this the danger you once spoke of concerning her sister's power?'
Rina, who was hidden in one of the back rooms of the top level of the Hassaikai's headquarters, sat tensely with her hands clenching the arm of her wheelchair tightly. She's been using her quirk to remain undetected by the heroes and police searching the place. Though the nomu at her side has been becoming restless, so she wasn't sure how much longer they could hide here.
'I lost all sense of Ayano there for a second,' Rina thought. 'The presence that drowned her out felt familiar to me, but I can't…I can't pinpoint it. But I know I've felt it before.'
Her memory wasn't exactly reliable though these days. Ever since she started regaining her memories due to the Kamino incident, Rina's been having to try and sort out between what were her true memories and what were false. What All for One mostly messed with were her early childhood memories. Warping them to the point Rina hated her own little sister.
'She did used to go see Grandfather to deal with Hive,' Rina said. 'Not that she would remember. She was just a baby. Grandfather…Grandmother…I can't even remember what happened to them. How did I get separated from them? Were they alive now? Grandfather could probably help Ayano now like he had done before, but he's probably six feet under now.'
Their grandfather was strong telepath that could do more than just read minds. He could manipulate the mind to his will. He knew exactly what to poke and prod to get him the reactions he wanted. He was a master psionic manipulator. The quirks Ayano copied are just weaker versions of the abilities, their grandfather was born with. Though it would seem as if the abilities are getting stronger, which explains how Ayano was able to easily shut off particular parts to Royale's brain. Rina bit her lip as she moved her hands into her lap to clasp them together tightly to control her shaking.
'Whatever that presence was in her mind…it was very dark,' Rina thought. 'Almost darker than All for One. Makes my stomach churn just remembering how it gelt. Ayano, just what is it that you're carrying inside of you? Is this the darkness Nighteye had foreseen? Perhaps Hive wasn't the threat all along.'
She then snapped out of her thoughts when she could sense her comrades trying to speak with her.
'Sebone, are you there?' Twice asked. 'Listen, we have a new plan. So, can you wait on us a bit longer?'
Rina, who frowned in confusion, blinked wondering what this new plan could possibly be.
'What is it that you have in mind?' Rina asked.
She could practically see Toga's eager grin as she felt her and Twice's excitement. Even Royale seemed to be in good spirits.
'Nothing much,' Toga replied. 'Just making Chisaki pay like you said we would…by taking what's most important to him.'
Rina's brow quirked as the girl Eri and those quirk erasing bullets Chisaki's been working on. He planned to change the world with those things. It certainly would be a punch to the gut and then some if he were to lose the means to accomplish his dream.
'I'm listening,' Rina told them.
Besides, sticking around meant that Rina could keep monitoring Ayano. Rina picked her side that's true…but she still couldn't help but worry. Everything seemed back to normal now with her little sister's mind, but it didn't mean it'd stay that way.
Ayano hurried alongside of the others. It shouldn't be much longer now until they catch up to Mirio. Ayano was still shaken by what happened before. But there hadn't been time to discuss what she had done with the others. There were more important things to deal with right now. They couldn't be slowed down because of her. Though she had had made Aizawa promise that if her quirk acted up and put any of them in danger that she'd erase her ability to give someone enough time to knock her out.
—FLASHBACK—
"But why, Ayano?" Izuku asked.
Ayano just looked down at her own two hands as what she had done to Royale came to mind.
"There isn't any time to explain." Ayano said. "I don't want to be a danger to anyone and compromise the mission. But I don't want to be left behind either. I made a promise to Eri that we'd save her. I want…no, I need to fulfill that promise."
She looked at Aizawa and Nighteye as she spoke. The two of them were obviously concerned even if they hadn't discussed just exactly what happened to her earlier.
"So, please, let me continue fighting." Ayano begged. "Just if it looks like for even a second that my quirk will put anyone in danger, Aizawa-sensei, erase it and knock me out without hesitation."
—END OF FLASHBACK—
Aizawa had promised and while Ayano felt as if things were normal again, she still felt fear in the back of her mind. She had no idea what happened or who or what the presence was that had taken over her mind earlier. It wasn't Hive. It was something entirely else…and it frightened her.
But she couldn't let that stop because she knew Eri had to be even more afraid than her right now. And she was waiting for them…waiting for them to rescue her. Not to mention Mirio was still on his own. She lost all connections to him during her fight with Royale. She just prayed that he and Eri and all their other friends and comrades were alright.