Holy shit this chapter took so much time, I'm so sorry. Please review? 3
Guest: Hi! Yeah, but remember we still haven't seen Tomura's point of view on the situation ever since she joined him ;) Yeah, Tsukauchi was part of the cult mwahaha! It was something I came up with pretty fast when I started to think about this fanfiction. I'm glad you liked that twist! 3 Hahaha, Momo will see Mirko again don't worry :) As for their quirks, they're only temporarily disabled because of drugs. I wouldn't take away their quirks for real!
Chapter 12.
The fight was pretty underwhelming, as far as Dabi was concerned. He had already charred a dozen cultists without much effort, the smell of baked flesh the sweetest aroma there was. However, he was not stupid; they were trying to exhaust him before the so-called Archangels entered the fight. He had no idea of their strengths, but he had no intention to find out on his own and would much rather have some support, as much as he hated to admit. Of course, he could still use Prominence Burn or Jet Burn if needed, but he would rather be able to walk out of this cult conscious and not more charred than he already was.
Moreover, he was saving this ability for his big day. He could not let the Front figure out who he was. It would kill half of the fun, and he wanted to enjoy this day, whenever it would come. Still, the part of him who enjoyed a good fight wished he would need to use such powerful techniques against his opponents.
He was up against a good thirty of them and he had not felt the need to truly push his abilities. It was pathetic, to be honest, and he wondered just how this cult had survived this long. How had they escaped All Might's purge? Everything about this shit show was weird, and he hated it.
As if summoned by his thoughts, a winged woman landed abruptly before him. A gush of wind erupted from her, repulsing his flames. Dabi took a step back, frowning. There was only a part of him that enjoyed a good fight; the rest enjoyed overwhelming his victims and relishing in their pain. It was conflicting, truly, but both feelings were quite enjoyable.
Summoning his flames once more, Dabi released a powerful blast towards the woman; wind quirks were often powerful, but he had a major advantage. Hot hair went up, and he would be able to redirect the woman's wind at will. Her wings gave a huge advantage in mobility, though, which he disliked. Speed was a big problem for him. He was flexible and had nice reflexes, but he did not move exceptionally fast as Shigaraki did.
Someone with wings would inevitably be faster than him. He scowled, thoughts momentarily drifting to the bloody bird he wanted to char. Hawks. He refocused on the fight, though; now was not the time to get distracted. Especially not by the bird sucking Endeavour's dick.
The winged bitch took off flying, trying to attack him from behind. Dabi countered her speed by igniting his entire body, blasting blue flames all around him. He heard a shriek and, satisfied, turned around to survey the damages he had caused. The woman's right wing and arm were severely injured. She was sweating badly, holding her wounded limp while the wing was pathetically dropped to the ground.
"You heretic! Harming my Archangel wings!" she hissed.
"Cry me a river, bitch" he replied with an amused grin.
He blasted a huge eruption of blue fire. The woman's eyes merely had the time to widen before the flames engulfed her. She did not have the time to scream, for she turned into a burnt corpse in a matter of seconds. Weak. Pathetic. Was that all the Archangels could do? How lame. This cult truly was an insult to villainy, and Dabi really wanted to know how they had survived all these years.
"Sister!" someone whined behind him.
Dabi sighed. Another one? Weren't they tired? Couldn't they see he was completely overwhelming them? Toga didn't even need to use her quirk to defeat them, running around cutting people. The petite young woman was quite the fast thing, after all. And these cultists were pathetic.
The pyrokinetic turned to face his new opponent. Ah, no more Archangels, just some low-rank goons. He spat to the ground, annoyed, and blue fire once again devoured trash. Excitement built inside his chest as the screams of pain reached his ears. If he could purr, he would definitely be. Was there a more beautiful sound? The pleas for mercy was both a soothing lullaby and a war horn for him, the smell of burnt flesh delicious.
Most hated the aroma of charred corpses, but Dabi loved it. It made him high and reminded him of his power, of his overwhelming ability to slaughter dozens. He had never felt better than when killing. He felt as if he was born for that and relished in it. Tōya had died in a sea of blue flames, murdered by the selfishness of Endeavour. And Dabi has risen from the ashes to bring the flames of the deepest pits of Hell to the world. Shigaraki might wish to rebuild the world and make it fairer, but Dabi had no such dreams. He only wanted to watch it burn.
The goal was quite simple. Sneak on the battle and see who had discovered the cult's hideout, all the while remaining discreet. They could not afford being caught while they did not have their quirks. It was far too dangerous and reckless. Discretion was obviously not Tenko's forte, seeing how he usually carried himself, but Momo still followed his instruction. He had more expertise than her in this domain, being a villain.
The word used by her brain made her ponder. Was she a villain too? She was joining her brother, after all. The idea queerly did not bother her. It was perhaps because of the pain brought by the heroic side of this never-ending battle. All in all, she found that she did not care much. The world was free to call her however it wished, so long as she was with Tenko. It was all that truly mattered. He was all she had left, all she loved, all she wanted. She was somehow aware that this kind of deep attachment would be considered unsane by most.
But why should she care? The world had ripped happiness and safety from her brother's life, ripped him from her. She would do whatever she could to give him back. No matter what it said of her. Love was never supposed to be explicable, to make sense. This feeling was beyond scientific explanation and was not supposed to be understood. Only cherished and encouraged. She should be allowed to love her brother however she pleased. If the world was against it, she would simply create a better one, one in which siblings would not be pit against each other.
A sudden cry of "Mother" and "Father" brought her back to reality, and Momo turned around. A group of four cultists was standing a few meters away from them. Before she could take an instant to analyse the situation, Tenko dashed by her, ripping the stolen fork from her hands. Faster than anyone's reaction, he immediately stabbed one man in the neck as he powerfully kicked another.
Momo's eyes widened as her brother ripped the fork out of the first cultist's neck and stabbed another one in the eye with it. Then, Tenko grabbed the last cultist by the hair and repeatedly smashed his head against the wall. Blood soon stained the white marble, gargled pleas of mercy strangled by haemoglobin.
But, above all, ringing in her ears like an alarm, was Tenko's amused cackling. The sound petrified Momo where she stood. Why? She knew he was a killer. So, why was she shocked? She should not. She could not, otherwise he might think she would leave him again. She would not be able to handle him thinking such thing. She would rather die than abandoning him.
The thought spurred her into actions, and she launched herself at the last man. She punched him in the jaw, wincing at the pain in her knuckles. She hated fighting without the advantage granted by her quirk, but she would make do. After all, she had been trained for several situations. Her opponent grunted in pain and retaliated with a punch of his own. Momo swiftly avoided it, ducking beneath his large arm, and kicked his ankles, tripping the man. He fell on his back, grunting once more. Momo got up quickly, slamming her foot in his face.
She heard the distinctive sound of a bone breaking, accompanied by the man howling in pain. She had successfully broken his nose. But she was not done; she had to render him unconscious or he would follow them. Alert the other cultists, and then an entire army of madmen would be after them.
She could not allow that, not after what they had done to Tenko and her. How they had violated their bodies, treated them like guinea pigs for their madness. The memory of her brother, lying unconscious on the laboratory bed, covered in his own blood, prompted her blood to boil with unparalleled fury.
Untamed, the hatred grew beyond Momo's control, and the strength of her kicks increased. There was a horrible crunching sound, and the girl looked down, idly wondering what it was. At the sight of her actions, she grew pale and frighteningly cold. The skull of the man had broken under her assault. His brain was exposed, a pinkish jelly covered in blood and pieces of bones. Her stomach twisted painfully, and she took a step back. Horror filled her, crawling on her skin like a thousand scolopendra.
"Well, I was definitely not expectin' that."
Tenko's voice brought her back to reality. Momo looked at him, entire body shaking.
"I… I… I didn't mean… Oh gods…"
Her stomach was twisting and turning, painful. Then, something in her body snapped. She keeled over and vomited everything that was in her stomach. She quickly felt Tenko's arms supporting her as she was dry-heaving, eyes full of tears and skin covered in sweat. With one hand he was holding her hair and the other her body. His touch was gentle and warm. She leant into it, wishing he would never let her go.
"Shhh, breathe, it's gonna be okay. You doin' great. Breathe, Hana, breathe."
His voice grounded her and helped breathe, and Momo shakily strengthened up. She met his eyes, rubies shining upon a face of porcelain, and more tears poured from her eyes. He observed her in silence for a few instants which felt like forever before opening his arms. Momo immediately threw herself against him, clinging onto him for dear life. Or rather dear sanity.
She had killed someone. She had taken a life. This man she had just murdered in a fit of rage had been someone's son, someone's brother, someone's friend. And she had killed him. Taken from strangers the life of someone they held dear to their hearts. This was not just self-defence; this was a rage-fuelled murder. Some might argue she had her reasons for killing this man, but it did not matter. His face would haunt her, for murder was murder.
But was it?
Tenko had been right to decay and destroy their family, who had done nothing but harm him. So, was she not justified in killing this man who had participated in the torture inflicted upon them? Was her fury-fuelled murder truly unjustified? If this kill made her a monster, would Tenko not be worse?
As far as Momo was concerned, he was her baby brother, her heaven. But the world might disagree, might see them as monsters for killing. Oh well. If she had to be a monster to be with her brother, it was fine by her. He was the only one who would understand, after all. The heroes, her classmates, they would not understand. She could never return to their side. Only Tenko would understand. Maybe the other villains from the Paranormal Liberation Front, but she cared less for them. No one mattered as much as Tenko.
"We gotta keep movin', Hana, 'kay?" he said.
Momo nodded and took a step back. He offered her his hand the way she used to when they were children. The teenager felt like crying all over again as a thousand memories ran through her head and the sweet voice of a lovely little boy echoed in her mind.
'Hana, Hana, look! Pretty flowers! Do you like them? I'll make you a crown!'
'Happy birthday, Hana!'
'Hana, can we play heroes and villains together? I wanna be the hero!'
'One day, I'll be a hero!'
'Hana, I love you forever!'
How he had grown up! She mustered a small smile through her tears and, nodding, she took the offered hand. He was truly brave and strong for the both of them.
Himiko hid behind a pillar, panting. She had been running non-stop for the past fifteen minutes, and she was beginning to get tired. She needed to regroup with Dabi-kun so they could find Tomura-kun. And the little heroine, she assumed. After all, she had saved Spinner's life. They owed her. Plus, she was Tomura-kun's sister, and Himiko desperately wanted to meet her. How would she be? Could they be friends? Or would she be stupid and mean? No, Tomura-kun would not be the brother of someone stupid or mean to them.
He was smart and nice, after all. Plus, if the girl had saved Spinner's life, then she must be nice. Why else would she do it? She bit her lip; she could not focus on that at the moment. The reinforcements were on their way, but she was not sure of when they would arrive. Clutching her knife, the girl quickly searched for Dabi-kun.
Her friend was standing in the middle of a crowd, eruptions of blue flames rolling out of his body one after the other. His shirt had been turned to ashes, and his pants would soon follow suit. But that was not the worst part. She could almost smell Dabi's burning flesh. He was going to collapse of exhaustion sooner than later if she did not something. She was already impressed that he could successfully use his quirk.
She could not allow him to hurt himself like that. She hated seeing her friends hurt, blood looked horrible on them.
Fuelled by a burst of protectiveness, Himiko launched herself in the crowd, dancing with her knife. She was the fastest and most agile member of the League; she had earned her A rank. Himiko easily slit the throats and stabbed several cultists, moving with the grace of a feline among the crowd. They fell pathetically to the ground, whimpering and calling for Mother and Father. Himiko had heard the nicknames referred to Tomura-kun and his sister and hated them for that.
"Dabi-kun! We have to find Tomura-kun!" she cried out as she reached her friend, ducking between yet another wave of blue flames.
Standing next to Dabi-kun was painful. The air around him was burning, a charring heat biting her skin. He was overheating badly, and she could see his sweat evaporate. He was putting on a brave face, and Himiko was not sure he truly realised how badly he was hurting himself, but he was going to pass out pretty soon. She had to get him out of here.
"They're upstairs."
"Okay, I'll get us there!"
Himiko swiftly morphed into Ochako-chan. How good it felt to become her! She wished Ochako-chan could see her like that. Then perhaps she would understand how much Himiko loved her. More than she loved Izuku-kun, more than she loved Stain. Ochako-chan was special. Himiko could use her quirk. It had to mean something.
Himiko tapped Dabi-kun's cheek and then floated herself. She grabbed Dabi-kun by the shoulder, who immediately understood the plan. Firing flames from his feet, he projected them towards the stairs. Some emitter types tried to hit them with whatever they had, but Dabi-kun once again fired blasts of blue flames, turning the projectiles to ashes. Himiko maniacally; it was so thrilling! Oh, if only she could do that with Ochako-chan! How fun it would be!
She released her borrowed quirk and they both crashed to the floors a few inches beneath them. They were both more agile naturally but dealing with the return of gravity was different from what they were used to. Himiko abandoned the transformation. She needed to keep some reserve for later, and they had friends to find.
She turned to Dabi-kun in order to urge him to get up and run, but her eyes widened. The pyrokinetic was on his knees, puking everything he had in his stomach. Himiko paled. She had forgotten about Dabi-kun's motion sickness. Added to his exhaustion, there was no way he would recover and be able to fight again. He had only been able to hold on this long because he was high on bloodlust and adrenaline.
Himiko turned to face the opponents climbing the stairs to grab them and clenched her teeth. She grabbed a knife and assumed a fighting stance. She had to protect Dabi-kun, even though there was no way she could win against this many people with emitter quirks. Still, she had to protect those she loved, even if she were to lose her life doing so. A wicked smile danced on Himiko's face. Dying protecting her friend was be the best death she could hope for.