Disclaimer: The intellectual property rights to Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 belong to Atlus and its respective creative directors, as does the My Hero Academia series, with Kohei Horikoshi.

Author's Notes: Stay safe out there!

0.0

Perched atop a water tower, Shigaraki Tomura stared flatly at the meandering skyline of Hosu ward. The city was well and truly alive with the phosphorus glow of city lights staining the night sky like an iridescent swarm of fireflies.

Huh…

They really did look like ants from this high up.

Tomura scratched at his neck roughly, the skin red and scarred from his poor habit, and spoke aloud, "What's so special about this place?"

The man flanking him to his left stepped forward, and Tomura almost snapped a hand at the long and tattered fabric of the man's mask-slash-scarf as it fluttered in the breeze; it almost slapped him in the face.

"I have unfinished business here," Stain said.

Without another word, the Hero Killer hopped off the water tower. He sprinted across the rooftop and leapt the distance to an adjacent building. It wasn't long before Stain completely disappeared from view, scaling from building to building and down into the darkness below.

"Ahhh, what a prick. I wanna kill him so badly." Tomura scratched harder, but was careful not to disturb the wound on his shoulder. "Can't believe he fucking stabbed me…"

A monotonous drone signalled the arrival of Kurogiri as the ethereal villain emerged from a spiralling mass of dark fog. Kurogiri stood where Stain had been previously, but was mindful to position himself behind him, like an attendant would.

"We're ready," Kurogiri said.

Tomura nodded his assent lazily.

More warp gates spiralled into existence before them; six to be exact. Monstrous beings, their skin drab and grey, lumbered forward onto the rooftop. Their statures varied—some imposing, some tall and lanky; one was a squat dinky creature that barely reached up to his waist. It was only then did Tomura notice the difference between the Nomu he had received from his sensei during the USJ Incident and these newer and improved models.

A cylindrical twin canister was strapped to their backs. Tubes, broad and rigid, ran up the length of their frames to a sleek metallic helmet; it covered the head and reached down to the base of the neck. Lining the lip of the full-face visor were needles, the bevels short but thick, that pierced into the exposed brain.

"What the fuck is that?" Tomura asked.

"That device is a 'Trigger Circulation System'," Kurogiri explained. "These are Daruma-sensei's latest prototypes, Shigaraki-dono. He believes them to be a game-changer."

A derisive sneer came to his lips.

"Feh, I can't believe the super-genius-hackerman had to resort to using Trigger. So much for originality," Tomura said. "Whatever…" He flung his hands out, shooing the Nomus away. "Go! Kill! Rampage to your hearts' content!"

A chorus of guttural roars greeted him.

His sneer morphed into a sickeningly wide smile. "It's time we let this country know who's the one running the show in this city."

0.0

When Arisato Minato caught his reflection in the full-length mirror, he tried not to frown. His piecemeal attire was lacking; slapping on his body armour and scarf over the colourful pyjamas that the hospital had provided didn't make for a very heroic look.

Still, desperate times called for desperate measures.

The moment Yu pulled back the privacy screen around her bed, distractedly adjusting the seams of her costume, her eyes lingered on his attire. He expected a reaction out of her—a laugh or a snarky comment. Hell, he'd even settled for a groan. Instead, she just shook her head.

"No," Yu said. "You're staying here and that's final, Minato."

He thinned his lips into a line. "I healed you for a reason; I told you I was coming along. I thought we were past this."

The sudden shift in her demeanour was not subtle; to see her vulnerable mere minutes ago and how she was now—her eyes hard, her body tense; it was as jarring as it was unsettling.

"Yeah? And so was I," she said. "This isn't up for discussion."

Yu breezed past him, out the door, and he made to follow her at a pace. The hallway to their ward led him to the reception area of their floor, where hospital staff were evacuating patients, some escorted on wheelchairs and gurneys, to parts unknown.

"You're not going out there alone," Minato said to her back.

Yu wheeled around, her eyes narrowed. "Could you stop being so stubborn? I'm a Pro Hero! This is literally my job!" She shoved a finger in his face. "And you're just a student—a student without a provisional hero license, if you happened to forget."

"That's not what this is about and you know it."

Yu turned abruptly and headed for the emergency exit. "Psychoanalyse me later!" she shouted over her shoulder.

Yet again, he trailed in her wake and took the stairs down. Sadly, they weren't the only ones. Minato had to jockey for space down five flights of stairs as he fought against a horde of bodies pushing past him to get to the upper levels. Yu had it easier. People recognised her and had the presence of mind to make way for a Pro Hero. He didn't receive the same treatment; his lack of a costume certainly didn't help.

Lost in the throes of bodies, he had lost sight of Yu entirely. It took Minato far longer than he wanted before he arrived in the main foyer of Hosu General—to a scene of utter bedlam.

"Move further in! Don't crowd the entrance!" he heard someone shout above the din.

As one of the designated emergency shelters in the area, hundreds of terrified civilians were seeking respite within their walls. The scant few security personnel in the area were trying to corral the masses, but no one was listening. The fear in the air was palpable. It was only made worse when the building shook beneath his feet and plunged the foyer into darkness. Screams of terror and desperation hit him like a physical force.

The situation was made no better when the power flickered back on. Without order and bereft of direction, it was starting to turn ugly. Now, a literal sea of bodies were pushing and shoving past one another to get inside.

That was until a second tremor shook the ground.

"Knock it off!"

Yu's massive frame was crouched on her hands and knees just beyond the walls of the hospital, her body contorted at an angle to avoid crushing any bystanders beneath her.

"Hosu General is beyond capacity! For those beyond this line," she used a finger to draw a line on the ground and separated the terrified civilians, "the Pro Heroes will be coordinating with the police to begin a secondary evacuation to a nearby metro station! We need everyone to remain calm and proceed in an orderly manner!"

Her eyes began to scan the crowd, and she lowered her voice, but it was no less commanding, "Don't push. Don't panic." Her features were firm, resolute. "Mind your surroundings and help the people around you. For those requiring medical attention, please step aside and someone will come to assist you. Things will move faster if everyone cooperates."

A hush fell over the faceless crowd and they quietly obliged.

The peal of police sirens resounded nearby, accompanied by the familiar flash of red and blue lights. Minato saw more uniformed personnel arriving on scene by the dozens before Yu deactivated her Quirk, shrinking back down to size on the street directly adjacent to the hospital.

Minato moved through the crowd to find her.

As it was, he spotted Yu amongst the gathered uniformed officers, alone and off to the side. Before the assembled group, a trio of Pro Heroes stood at attention; one of them Minato was vaguely familiar with.

The lead Pro Hero, a woman, stood tall with her back held straight. She had dark orange eyes and a brash toothy grin, which bordered on wolfish. It was her hair that drew the eye, being made literally out of fire; a shockingly bright hue of green. Her costume, a white form-fitting coat that extended down to her thighs, contrasted the aesthetics of her flaming hair.

She was famous in her own right, being the face of Endeavor's sidekick troupe—The Flaming Sidekickers.

The Impassioned Hero: Burnin.

"—tasked Endeavor's agency to run point," Minato heard her say. "And I'll be the one coordinating the city's evacuation effort in the northern sector."

Burnin held a spherical device in her hand, and a large holographic map of the city materialised in the air above it. She began pointing at certain areas on the map. "There are six unidentified assailants wreaking havoc on the streets of Hosu. The core of the battle is taking place here—ten blocks away from Hosu General, right along the JR Shinkansen line running through the city. We've already classified this as a Disaster Level: RED, so I need everyone here to take the necessary preca—"

Minato squeezed his way forward and stole a spot next to Yu. He leaned in and whispered, "Why don't we have something like that?"

It wasn't exactly subtle—the way she flinched. Yu covered it up by tilting her head away from his, staring at him out of the corner of her eyes. "Figured I couldn't keep you away."

Minato held his tongue. Mentally, he filed away that small but worrying gesture for later.

"I thought you were against me coming along," he said.

"A part of me still is." Yu's features softened. Just like that, her façade slipped. "It's hard not to worry—about all this, and about you, especially. But we are who we are, Minato. We're drawn to this life because we can't fight what's in our nature. Telling you that you're stubborn and pushing you away won't amount to anything. It wouldn't have worked on me either. So what's the point?"

She shook her head, adding, "It was a knee-jerk reaction. I know I got carried away. I do trust you, Minato. That hasn't changed. You were right for calling me out on my bullshit. I think I needed that."

"Thank you… for—" he tried to say.

Yu pushed his cheek forward with a finger. "Stop distracting me and pay attention."

Because of his sudden appearance, Minato realised that Burnin had taken a special interest in him, for a predatory smile was directed his way as she continued her briefing:

"Endeavour wants to minimise civilian casualties." Those words didn't mesh with her smile. "He's gonna direct the fight away from the downtown core and contain it here—at the north-eastern part of Hosu, near the industrial district. That's why we're here. The plan is to cordon off a three-block radius around this specific route." She motioned to her colleagues and circled two spots on the map. "Fire-Ant and Red Star Belle will take point and lead a squad of officers to clear out these two surrounding areas. Since Hosu General takes priority, I'll remain here to deter any would-be villains who think that they can get at the hospital."

Her flaming hair seemed to mirror her mental state, as it intensified and rose in excitement, creating hazy distortions in the air around it.

Minato could see that she was posturing; her eyes gave her away. Burnin was worried, but had the forethought to not let it show to the people under her command, like any good leader would.

Incomprehensible murmurs broke out amongst the gathered officers.

"What about us?" Yu asked her. "You have my sidekick and I here to assist you. We'll do our best to follow Endeavor's lead, Burnin-san."

"Well, the more the merrier." Burnin used that as a lead-in to start directing some of the officers to their stations. She then motioned the two of them forward, away from the rest of the officers. "Thanks for that," she said lowly, just enough to not be overheard.

"Figured you'd need it. Endeavor's agency operates out in Chiyoda, right?" Yu asked. "I know what it's like. I rotate around different wards every few months, and not every officer is willing to bend over backwards and defer to someone they don't know, much less someone wearing spandex tights."

"Good looking out," Burnin said, with an appreciative nod. "Like I told you before, I got something in mind for you and your… sidekick." She gave Minato a once-over and looked at Yu, askance. "You sure he can fight?! I thought I was imagining it, but he really is wearing hospital pyjamas!"

Minato looked down at his attire. "My clothes were ruined in the last fight. I didn't have time to get a replacement. This was all they had."

"See… He's good. Trust me," Yu said. "Just tell us what you need, Burnin."

It was one of Burnin's colleagues, a man with a bizarre red costume modelled after an ant, who spoke up, "Endeavor needs reinforcements. The comms line has gone dark. We lost contact five minutes ago. Endeavor isn't answering and neither are the two sidekicks supporting him."

"I normally don't like begging outsiders for help," Burnin said, her lips curling. "But I'd rather lose my pride than my comrades. I'd give anything to be there at their side. Hell, these two feel the same way… but Endeavor entrusted this responsibility to us. We won't bring shame to his agency by disobeying him."

"Civilian lives will always come first," the other woman in their trio said.

"Enji made sure to beat that into all of his sidekicks," Burnin said. A small smile graced her lips before she thinned it into a line. "Look, Endeavor's 'No. 2' for a reason; he can take care of himself. It's the rest I'm worried about. Chances are that you'll get caught up in some bad shit, so I'm not gonna force two people I just met to go to bat for us. Whatever you decide, I'll respect it."

There was a momentary lull.

Yu shared a look with him and sighed. "Well… If we're both gonna do something stupid and reckless, we might as well do it together—team effort and all that," she said. "You in?"

"Never in doubt."

Yu frowned. "I'm not letting you out of my sight this time."

"I should be the one saying that…"

0.0

A large hand, its fingers nothing more than sharp bony claws, broke through the wall of fire and swiped at empty air—it was dangerously close to slicing his neck.

Todoroki Enji doubled down and switched on the after-burners.

Pinned down, the imposing creature flailed and snarled as it was bathed in a great gout of hellfire. Its skin, once grey and dull, blackened under the intensity of his attack. When Enji breathed, the acrid stench of burnt flesh lingered in his nostrils.

He ignored it.

Even as sweat dripped down from his brow and into his eyes, he didn't blink; taking his eyes away from the Nomu would have meant certain death.

It was sudden, but in that moment, something about the creature changed, Enji could sense it. Gone was its sharpness. Its movements were wilder, almost belligerent. The Nomu wasn't reacting to his flames. Instead, it clawed at its full-face helmet, beating its own head senseless.

The helmet was malfunctioning. Its brain was visibly stained black, the organ writhing as if parasites were visibly crawling just beneath the surface. During the duration of their fight, the device had periodically injected a reddish-black liquid into the creature's exposed brain, but that had been administered in controlled doses. Now, it was like the floodgates were open.

He wasn't a stranger to what it was; he'd seen the effects of Trigger first-hand. He understood how much more dangerous the Nomu could become if he allowed the drug to continue unchecked.

Enji gnashed his teeth and came to a decision.

With trembling hands, he forced his fists together, pouring every single ounce of strength within him into his flames. The hellfire, raging and incandescent, narrowed into a beam no wider than a five-hundred yen coin.

He ended the fight in an instant.

With measured and precise movements, Enji directed his attack in a full circle at his target. The beam cut into flesh, the extreme heat rending limb from body, before he allowed it to dissipate. There was a moment where the Nomu remained standing, immobile. Then, in the blink of an eye, it came apart, its severed limbs and head sliding off its body before it all collapsed in an unsightly heap.

Enji almost did the same, but only through sheer willpower did he manage to stay on his feet. The device on his wrist beeped.

Eighty-seven percent.

The folds of his costume decompressed and activated the refrigerated gel packs that lined the inside of his suit; it released a small cloud of mist into the air as the cooling gel came into contact with his super-heated skin.

Enji was breathing heavily, his focus lost on the devastation around him; there wasn't time for him to catch his breath.

The situation was dire.

He spied fallen allies crushed beneath rubble and debris in the immediate aftermath of a disastrous battle. He had tried to coordinate them, to get them to work together, but even with his support team leading the charge, none of the local Pro Heroes were up to muster; most had been incapacitated by the overwhelming power of the Nomus.

The rational part of his brain reminded him that there were still five more within Hosu, and Shoto was out there in the mix; his blasé request to send for reinforcement at Ekou Street went unheeded still—there was simply no one to spare.

Enji clenched his fists tight.

He was caught off-guard when a foot suddenly connected against his chest, but it did nothing more than push him back a step.

"Get back!"

His instincts all but shouted at him to do the same, and his body moved without the need to direct it. He landed in a crouch, next to a tiny old man in a white bodysuit with a long yellow cape.

Enji turned to the Nomu he had just vanquished. The twin canisters strapped to its back began spraying a fine reddish-black mist in the air. Instinctively, he crept back and placed a hand over his mouth.

"If you don't know what that is," the old man said. "That's Trigger leaking out like a cheap water-hose. The effects aren't as severe unless it's taken directly into the bloodstream, but too much exposure can still be dangerous." He regarded Enji with a brief nod. "That's a mighty fine control you have there, boy. There's barely any damage to the surrounding area from such a lethal attack."

Enji motioned with his head to the tall glass exterior of the building behind the Nomu; it was one of those high-tech minimalist retailers selling consumer electronics. "In case you're hard of seeing," he said roughly, "there are civilians hiding in there."

The old man hummed under his breath. "You intentionally directed your attack around the tank the Nomu had strapped to its back. Two steps ahead of everything, I see. Heh…"

Enji narrowed his eyes down at his new companion. "How the hell do you know what that thing is? That's classified information."

"Name's Gran Torino."

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Enji asked, scoffing. "First time I'm hearing that name."

Gran Torino waved him off. "Bah! Never was one to be caught up in the fame game like you kids nowadays. Now, you want my help or you wanna keep yapping that mouth of yours? These things aren't gonna put themselves down." He turned and walked away.

The ignominy of having a cape slapped in his face snapped Enji out of his funk.

"I hope to hell that you're stronger than you look, old-timer," Enji grunted, righting himself to his feet with one last solid exhale. "Because it just so happens that I have a job for you…"

Help was coming, Shoto.

0.0

Don't dwell. Stay focused.

No matter how many times Takeyama Yu repeated that mantra in her head, her conscious mind sought to betray her.

She thought that in her current disguise, it would be easier to compartmentalise her emotions; wearing a mask was meant to be a reversion to the status quo. Mount Lady was everything she wasn't—the embodiment of who she strived to be, held together by a purple domino mask with two horns.

Strong.

Selfless.

Courageous.

In terms of raw physical strength, Mount Lady was one of the strongest Pro Heroes in all of Japan. Due to her size, she could shrug off most attacks without batting an eye. Both of those qualities allowed her to project an aura of invulnerability; one that even she had bought into. The truth of the matter was that she had never lost a fight until Kugutsu, much less…

Her eyes grew distant.

Unbidden memories came to her like a crash of waves.

This time, there wasn't a sudden swell of anxiety seizing her up and rendering her immobile. Instead, it was fear, slow and methodical, wrapping tendrils around her psyche. Like a lead weight, her thoughts became heavy and muddled. For once, the cracks in her mask were beginning to show, and of course, Minato had to be the one to notice it.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

Minato obviously meant well, but she didn't like the way he looked at her, as if she was fragile and made of glass.

She breathed deeply.

Compartmentalise.

"I'm fine." He didn't look convinced, but Yu didn't give him a chance to reply. "Hey, listen. I don't know why it took this long, but this is the first time we'll be fighting together." She grimaced, explaining, "Fighting with me will be… messy. Odds are you won't be able to communicate with me effectively when I'm using my Quirk; that's just how it is with a gigantification-type. I'll dominate the battlefield with my size alone. So I need you to be sharp and pick up on my cues."

"I'll do my best to accommodate," Minato said.

"Let's look out for each other, okay? Don't rush it alone. Don't be reckless. We take it one at a time and work it together—as a team." Yu held a fist out to him. "Promise, Minato?"

He bumped it lightly, smiling. "I promise, Yu."

"Great," she said, returning the smile; hers was strained, however. "Then, let's go save the 'No.2' Pro Hero in all of Japan…"

As she activated her Quirk, growing to her full height, she knelt down and allowed a reluctant Minato to scramble up her hand. He took a moment to survey it, then cupped his hands over his mouth, half-shouting up at her:

"Are you sure this is safe?"

"Uh, lay down and hang on tight," she said. "It will get bumpy, but I promise that I won't drop you."

He did so, albeit it did little to assuage his hesitation.

Even standing at her full height, Yu couldn't see past the commercial skyscrapers and residential high-rise properties that populated the downtown core of Hosu ward. However, plumes of black smoke peaked above the skyline, and in the dizzying reflections of the sleek building exteriors around her, a harsh orange glow stood out against the artificial backdrop of the city.

She used them as a marker to her destination.

To anyone else, it must have been quite a sight to witness a twenty-metre tall woman hurtle across the frozen traffic, hands clasped together, as if she were trapping an insect.

Yu knew better. She didn't envy her passenger. Minato was clinging onto the folds of her gloves for his dear life, not quite looking sickly, but she could tell that he was clenching his jaw tight. As the sounds of battle drew nearer, she slowed to a jog before fully coming to rest on one knee.

"We're close," Yu said, placing her hand flat on the ground. "You good?"

Minato rolled over on her palm until his foot found solid ground. He gave her a weak thumbs up, and said something which she failed to catch.

Even if she was kneeling, the height difference between them was about a four-storey building; it wasn't as if she had super-hearing either. A reply died on her lips when a piercing shriek rang out in the skies above them.

A familiar voice screamed, almost in retaliation:

"Just die already!"

Yu looked up, squinting. Far beyond her, she could make out a bunny ganguro half-straddling and half-clinging onto a winged creature.

"Mirko?"

Rumi was hammering down on her adversary with her arms and feet. With each blow, their flight careened wildly, until a particular nasty kick to its head brought them down to a steep nose-dive. The duo separated while still in mid-air; it was a good sixty-metre fall, with only the ground between them.

A bloodied and bruised Rumi finally seemed to register her larger-than-life presence. "Mount!" her fellow Pro Hero screamed. "If you don't catch me, I'll stomp you!"

Yu shooed Minato away. "Get back!"

Moving quickly, she positioned herself directly underneath Rumi and leapt into the air with an outstretched hand. She couldn't understand why Rumi started glowing; not that the woman herself seemed to notice.

Rumi proved that those thick muscular thighs of hers weren't just for show. Flipping herself upright, she cushioned her fall with her legs and rolled into the momentum. In one smooth motion, she was up and on the move. Rumi ran to the edge and pushed against the tip of Yu's outstretched finger to forcefully accelerate her descent. She caught the winged creature again in mid-air with a crushing heel to its head, and it propelled the creature down sharply, into a crater of its own making.

Yu was sure that the earthquake that came after was more from Rumi's attack than her finding her footing back on solid ground.

Rumi landed roughly a few metres away, her padded hands and feet skidding against asphalt to find purchase. When she came to a stop, the bunny ganguro collapsed flat on her back and raised her hands in the air triumphantly.

"Wooooo! Eat that, bitch! I won! Me! I! Won!" she raged to the heavens, grinning. It dimmed when she caught sight of her arms. "What the fuck is this?! Why am I glowing?!" As if reacting to her words, the soft white bloom faded away, but it didn't stop Rumi from frowning at herself.

Yu deactivated her Quirk and ran over to her.

The woman hadn't escaped from her fight unscathed. She looked exhausted. As Rumi sat up, wiping the blood that dripped from her busted lip, Yu noted the bruises and welts that marred her exposed skin. One of her ears was even bent at an awkward angle, obviously broken.

Rumi gingerly got to her feet and tried to hide a wince. She failed. "Fancy seeing your big mug here, Mount. I thought you'd be shacked up in the hospital after that fight of yours." She laughed at Yu. "Gotta admire your guts, even if you got your ass beat so badly!"

Yu ignored her. "You're injured."

Rumi waved away her concerns, scoffing. "You should see the other guy…"

A sharp whistle brought Yu back on her heels. Turning, she saw Minato standing adjacent to her, his bokken in hand, as he pointed it at the crater. There was movement, the creature's large wings unfurling and fluttering weakly.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Rumi gnashed out. "I put everything I had in that last one!"

Rumi wasn't lying. Part of its head was caved in, right where Rumi had struck it with her heel. Yu couldn't hide her disgust at seeing its brain gunk and eyeballs smushed against the front of its visor; she was half-glad that she didn't overeat during dinner…

The creature was dead, if not dying. It remained motionless, except for its wings, and even that didn't hold out for much longer. With one last erratic beat, the wings slackened and splayed itself across its body.

As one, the three of them converged upon the crater.

Minato placed his hands together and bowed his head in silent prayer. Almost as an afterthought, she did the same, except for the life of her, she couldn't tear her eyes away from its mangled remains.

Yu regarded Rumi with a grimace. "Do you know what that is? It looks—looked human."

"Probably was," Rumi said. "Poor bastard… It's obviously been experimented on. See that helmet? That's the kinda high-tech gear only Pro Heroes have access to. Not sure what that thing did, but it was getting stronger throughout the fight."

"Do you think it could be Trigger-related?" Yu asked. "I've never seen an overdose that could do something like this."

Rumi shrugged. "Don't know. Can't say that I really care either. It was out there killing civilians and I stopped it. All the shitty reasons and motivations sorta blend together at some point, ya know?" She spared a look down into the crater and shook her head, frowning. "Sometimes, Mount… Death should be a considered blessing."

"It isn't."

Minato's voice was soft—so soft in fact that Yu could have sworn that it was just the breeze blowing in. There was a hardness to his eyes; something she had never quite seen before.

Rumi heard it well enough.

"Oh yeah?" She got in his face, sneering. Sadly, the top of her head barely reached Minato's chin. "Gonna enlighten us with some third-rate poetry you wrote when you got your heart broken, scrub?"

Just like that, the moment was gone. Minato blinked dumbly and looked to Yu for support.

Yu sighed and broke them apart. "Back off, Mirko. You two can get into the specifics of our existential crises after all of this is over, but don't shit on my sidekick for giving his opinion when you offered yours."

Mirko scrunched her nose. "Sidekick?" she repeated, as if the word physically left a bad taste in her mouth. "You have a sidekick?"

"Arisato Minato," he said, bowing. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mirko-san."

"Gah!" Yu chopped a hand into her other, stressing, "You should always introduce yourself with your hero name first when you're in costume; it doesn't matter if I know her personally." She clucked her tongue. "It's okay… I know it takes some getting used to."

Bless his heart, Minato actually nodded and tried again. "My hero name is—"

"A scrub is a scrub is a scrub," Rumi said, turning her back to them. She shooed them away over her shoulder. "Y'all two weaklings go run back to the pasture and play. Let the real Pro Heroes handle this."

Yu bit down on her tongue.

There was a time and place for everything. Sadly, hurt feelings mattered little on an active battlefield. It helped that Minato seemed genuinely unmoved by the slight, so she changed tack.

"You know, Mirko," Yu called out to the woman's back. "I always knew that you were an ass, but I never pegged you for an idiot."

"I have an ass, but I ain't one, Mount." Rumi paused in her steps. "Watch yourself now. Calling me an idiot… Them's fighting words, ya bimbo."

"Think about it. It took that much out of you just to fight one of those things alone. Imagine having to deal with the rest of them when you can barely walk three steps without grimacing. Do you honestly believe that you'll come out at the end of this battle alive? It's a death wish."

"She's right," Minato added. "You shouldn't fight with those injuries. I—"

"So what?" Rumi cut in, "I get a little fucked up and you two want me to cower under a rock somewhere? As long as these Frankenstein-looking freakshows get put down, I'd be more than happy to put my life on the line. Cuz that's what real heroes do, Mount. We don't give up."

"Cute…" Yu said, clipped. "How about you let my sidekick finish what he was about to say?"

She locked eyes with Mirko, their wills warring behind their gaze. The undercurrent of tension that hung in the air was interrupted by Minato's reply:

"I could heal you… if you'll allow me to, Mirko-san."

"See~~" Yu said, her tone saccharine. She took immense pleasure in the fact that Rumi's eyes twitched. "Even weaklings like us have something to offer to a ~real~ hero like you, Mirko. Of course, there's no denying that—"

Face red, Rumi buried her fingers into her hair. "Arghhh! Fine! Whatever! I get it! Stop yanking my chain already, dagnabbit!" She punctuated her anger with a forceful stomp of her feet.

Considering her Quirk, Yu could only assume that the woman was holding back—it was loud than anything destructive—but she did unintentionally flinch from the explosiveness of Rumi's outburst.

The bunny ganguro had some serious issues…

"Glad you could see it our way," Yu said softly, glib.

Rumi wasn't listening; lost as she was in her rant. "God! There's nothing I fuckin' hate more than team—" The woman stopped abruptly, her one good ear twitching. She narrowed her eyes over the city, in the area where they knew the battle to be, mouth agape.

Minato must have picked up on the same thing because he grabbed her by the arm.

"Do you feel that?" he asked.

"Feel what?"

The moment those words left her lips, the build-up of power washed over her like a freezing cold shower. She shuddered.

"Oh, shit…"

0.0

Fire burned in his lungs.

Despite that, Todoroki Enji directed more of his flames into the soles of his feet. His body, swathed from head to toe in a protective layer of hellfire, tore through the skies—at the next imminent threat.

He was nearing the downtown plaza, a mid-sized recreational zone overlooked by a number of high-rise commercial buildings. In the middle of it all, a small group of Pro Heroes were working in tandem to subdue one of the Nomus.

The Nomu, a pale green creature with an exceptionally long neck, was hunched over on his hands and knees. It looked for all the world that the Pro Heroes were gaining ground as they rallied around it, raining down an onslaught of fiery sparks and burning colours; their attacks ignited the air around them like a multi-coloured sparkler.

The creature endured through it all, unmoving, but a soft blue glow began shrouding its being. It was imperceptible but every attack it sustained, the energy was absorbed into the shroud. Enji could see it even from afar, partly because he could feel the unholy build-up of power permeate in the air.

"Stop!" Enji yelled, hoarse. "Get out of there now!"

He drew upon his flames and lobbed warning shots at the group. It caught their attention, and the Pro Heroes, suddenly aware of the threat, scrambled to get away. However, it proved to be too late.

With an almighty screech, the Nomu reared back on its knees and thrust its arms to its side. The shroud expanded, pulsing and throbbing as it accelerated in its rotation, until it formed a translucent blue dome large enough to envelope the entire plaza. In that split-second, all of that built-up pressure was unleashed at once, and the dome collapsed into itself.

Standing right at the edge, Enji bared his teeth and stared up at his imminent death…

0.0

Binoculars in hand, Shigaraki Tomura couldn't help the bubble of laughter that poured out of his gut. He doubled over, his breaths long and strained, but still the delirium consumed him. Weakly, he reached for the lapels of Kurogiri's vest and shook the other man.

"F-Fuck," he asked, laughing. "Did you see that? What was that? It was goddamn amazing!"

"I believe that is the Nomu with the 'Absorption and Release' Quirk; the one that absorbs and reflects emitter powers. It possesses a few other Quirks… I can't recall what they are, unfortunately."

"You're telling me that caused by the Pro Heroes themselves?" Tomura shivered and stared up at the sky in muted delight. "Ahhh, the schadenfreude…" He peered into the binoculars again and muttered, "Nomus really are the best toys a boy could have."

"Yes. Daruma-sensei should be pleased with the results," Kurogiri said. "With some fine-tuning, it could be a dangerous asset within our ranks. We should recover that particular specimen—alive. It would be a waste if we allow it to get captured."

"Where's the fun in that? We're winning. We should let it ride."

"Daruma-sensei was quite insistent that we recover some of the Nomus we've borrowed tonight. Even dead, the data and insight it could provide would—"

"And since when do we take orders from the doctor?" Tomura gnashed his teeth together, hissing, "We tell him what to do, Kurogiri. Not the other way around!"

"If I may be frank, Shigaraki-dono," Kurogiri said. "We must look beyond what happens tonight. You've struck right at the heart of the public conscience; people will not soon forget the indelible stain you've left upon this city."

"Fuck that! All of this will get blown over the next time there's another Trigger incident or when that 'Shit-Stain' kills another Pro Hero. No… We need to make it stick. Forget leaving a stain on this city. Come hell or high water, Hosu will burn for three days and three nights."

"And what happens when All Might arrives?"

Tomura stilled at that.

"We are not prepared for him, Shigaraki-dono—not tonight. He will stop you. He's already done it once before." Kurogiri shook his head. "Ours is not a war of aggression or attrition. We must do our best to conserve what resources we have to fight him another day."

Was this what his sensei meant?

Tomura blinked. "Infamy is only relevant if it's current," he said into the silence.

Kurogiri perked up, surprised. "Yes, there is some truth in that. All Might may be infallible, but he is but a man. Just like our failed incursion into UA, we must be willing to adapt according to the situation. If we cannot hope to kill him, then the best we can do is—"

"—hit him where it hurts." Tomura's eyes lingered over the smouldering wreckage that was once the plaza. With a growing grin, he said, "A city will burn… for every second of every minute of every hour of every fucking day. Fuck Stain and his convictions. Fuck Trigger and its agenda. We're gonna keep it old-school, like Space Invaders on the Atari. We'll send wave after wave of aliens to bombard the rocks that protect the ship; even if the ship kills one, there'll be more and more and more! In the end, something's gotta stick!"

"That is certainly one way to remain relevant," Kurogiri said. "But it would require some smart planning and even smarter resource management. Perhaps if we could—"

Distractedly, Tomura walked past Kurogiri and took the ladder down onto the rooftop below. The ethereal villain remained where he stood on the water tower, but called out to his back:

"Will you be joining the battle, Shigaraki-dono?"

Tomura turned around, frowning. He motioned to the knife wound on his shoulder. "I'm injured. I'm not gonna get involved unless I'm at full HP. Besides, I have something better in mind." Far above him, he spied a television news helicopter hovering over the city; the network's striking logo, 'Fuji-Q News', was scored across its fuselage.

"Do you think that's a live broadcast?" he asked Kurogiri, smiling.

0.0

For Arisato Minato, it felt like everything came all at once. Even as he broke into a dead sprint, he couldn't help but stare at everything and nothing around him.

The littered streets, once crowded with locals, were empty and desolate; in their place only loose piles of ruined concrete and rebar remained. Even in the aftermath, shattered glass and debris rained down like a deadly rainfall. Nothing caught in the blast had been left unscathed. Closer to the epicentre, some of the buildings lining the ruined plaza had been sundered cleanly at an arc, as if it were carved in the image of the gibbous moon hanging above the city. It was a wonder that these buildings still stood; a strong breeze seemed capable of toppling it on its side.

Motes of soot and dust particles lingered in the air. He ran still, breathing it all in, his lungs burning from the effort. The roads beneath him were cracked, its fractures winding through the asphalt like jagged spiderwebs. Even as he stumbled, his feet catching pockets of rubble and recesses, he pushed himself forward.

Beside him, he had Yu matching him stride for stride. Minato locked eyes with her. He didn't have the breath to spare to string two words together, and neither did she; everything he needed to convey, he did with a single nod of his head.

Yu understood him well enough.

"I see 'em!" Mirko hollered, her red eyes narrowed. Her anger bled into her words, cutting through the caterwauling blare of car alarms that resounded around them, "I fuckin' see 'em!"

Mirko struggled to meet their pace, not because she was hampered by injury, but because they were slowing her down; the woman had barely said a word of thanks to him for his effort. Her steps were light and lively as she hopped from foot to foot, crossing the pockmarked surface as if she was playing hopscotch.

She turned back to them, her lips curling. "If you two don't hurry up, I'll leave your sorry asses behind, turtles!"

He closed his eyes.

He sought divine protection.

And a silver angel flocked to him in his mind's eye, descending from the heavens with the gentle and composed grace of a ballerina. Minato hadn't asked for a miracle, but one had found its way to him through the strength of his virtue.

"Mahamaon."

As the word left his lips, his steps became hallowed, and he felt the familiar surge of divinity course through his veins; that boon was extended to the other two members of his party. Their surprise, one particularly livid and shouty, was summarily ignored.

"Let's go," was all he said in return.

Minor Arcana: Wands (V)

Side Note(s): Edit - Putting this disclaimer up again so people can see.

I've taken some creative liberties to de-gamefy aspects of the Persona skills to try and keep it more grounded in the MHA-verse. Essentially, I've removed the buff/debuff skill tree, and like what you've read in this chapter, these are being shifted to replace the instant-kill mechanics of both the Light and Dark skill tree.

X Extra (A): And so, Tabe Soramitsu intrudes upon someone's dinner…

"Haruto-chan! Stop!"

Tabe Soramitsu flinched and backpedalled away. A beagle, no taller than his knee, pulled at its leash as it tried to lunge at him. It growled lowly, baring its canines, until its owner, a perky-looking girl in her teens, forcefully collected the dog into her arms; it still refused to stop barking at him. Unbeknownst to the girl, his stomach growled, and he clutched at the front of his rumpled shirt, failing to stop a whine from escaping his lips. It hurt. His whole body ached from the hollow pang of hunger.

It was an agony he could never escape from.

His Quirk had altered the acidity in his stomach to be able to dissolve the hardiest of materials instantaneously. Because of it, no matter how much he ate, his hunger could never be satiated; it was like a bottomless pit.

He hated his Quirk.

Without sleep and adequate nutrition, Soramitsu began fading away at an early age. His body had always been frail, for as long as he remembered. By the time he was in his teens, he refused to look at himself in the mirror. Those eyes of his, shadowed and red-rimmed, haunted him. It didn't help that his Quirk had altered his facial structure to make him appear ghoulish, with an over-pronounced jaw to fit his large mouth and teeth.

He hated how hideous he was.

The girl looked apologetic, before a grimace briefly crossed her features when she caught sight of him. She schooled it back into a sheepish smile, bowing. "I'm so sorry. Haruto-chan isn't normally like this."

"I-It's—" Soramitsu slurred his words, his saliva catching on his lips. He wiped it away with the back of his hand, "—fine."

He hated how his mind drifted.

He imagined himself biting into her shoulder; the visceral crunch of bone and sinew sinking under his teeth. He hated that pleasant tingling sensation that set in the pit of his stomach. It barely lasted a moment, but it was a relief, all the same.

He must have been staring because when the girl spoke next, she was almost shouting, "W-Well, I have to go, mister! My whole family is waiting for me to come back from the store!"

Soramitsu ducked his head down, ashamed, as she practically sprinted away from him.

He hated how people feigned being civil.

Ever since Overhaul first recruited him into the Shie Hassaikai, he rarely ventured out in public alone. His appearance made people uncomfortable. In turn, it made him uncomfortable.

Soramitsu pulled his arms around himself, shivering. It wasn't the sudden chill that swept past him that made him shiver, rather it was the fear of exposure creeping up his spine. His breath quickened and he stole a quick look around him.

Passers-by were sparse. The residential area he found himself in wasn't particularly busy at this time of night; most, he assumed, were inside their homes. In another lifetime, he remembered living in a similar estate. The houses around him were modest, but the fact that these families owned land in a city like Tokyo meant that they were more than well-off.

It wasn't long before he arrived at the address his master had given him. Cautiously, Soramitsu approached the residence and squeezed through a narrow opening to access their small backyard. It was dark out, and the only light source was coming from the glass doors that lead into the living room. He spied a woman having a quiet meal alone at a small dining table; there was a second chair that remained conspicuously empty.

Soramitsu must have stood there for what felt like minutes, observing her without a word. The woman barely paid her surroundings any attention, transfixed as she was on their television; the news was broadcasting a supposed villain attack—somewhere in Hosu.

Even as Soramitsu put on his mask, he didn't feel any different. He quietly undid the locks and took his first steps forward into the house. It was quaint and homey, not unlike the one he used to live in. For a split-second, his eyes gave way to a memory of blood-splattered walls and bloody trails.

Try as he might, he could never escape from the hell of his own making.

He shook his head.

The woman noticed him, scrambling back and knocking her chair to the floor, terrified. "W-Who are you?!" she screamed. "What are you doing in my house?!"

He hated himself more than ever.

"Your daughter… H-Her name… It's Hachisuka Kuin, r-right?"

There was a hint of recognition that reached her eyes; muddled as they were in the hurt and humiliation behind her gaze. "K-Kuin? What has my daughter done? W-What do you even want with her? I-Is this about my husband?"

His stomach growled and Soramitsu hungered. His lips quivered beneath his mask as he uttered:

"I-I'm so-sorry."