'The nature of each era of heroes has been fundamentally different and this is partly due to the social forces that lead to each era. The first wave of heroes led by Hawkmoon and her two equals was marked by unprecedented warfare across the globe. It is not very surprising that the New Age Heroes were primarily made up of mercenaries of whom, only Hawkmoon would develop an ideology later in life. Hero and her allies would be born of an idea to free their respective countries from corruption and autocrats, and as such, they weren't heroes and more extremely militant revolutionaries. They would still inspire a Golden Age through their acts. The Modern Hero Era is marked primarily by vanity with little in the way of nobility. There will very likely be a hero who rises up and leads by an example, ennobling the populace to reach for the glory of an idealised past.'
—Excerpt from 'The Effect of Heroics' by Saruhiko Ando.
Today is the day that Toshinori Yagi regrets accepting One For All from Nana.
He regrets accepting her quirk and becoming a hero because today he can't be a hero. There are no villains to battle and there is no one to rescue.
The attack on the communications tower in Chiba has left thirty dead and ten injured. It had taken All Might a few minutes to run to this spot at his max pace from Tokyo. By the time he arrived, the explosives had been set off and the control systems rendered to slag alongside the power relays.
There is no time to rebuild or replace the tower, not when the same thing has happened at a dozen locations across the country.
He lifts a giant stone slab and lifts the corpse of a man, killed by a brutal blade wound in his chest that almost cleaved the cavity in half. If that wound hasn't killed him, then the blood loss from being trapped by rubble would have. He sets the man down amongst the other thirty bodies covered by plain sheets.
The acrid tang of burnt electronics and burnt flesh follows him constantly. Even the outside air does nothing to help.
A member of the rescue team offers All Might a water bottle. He accepts it with a grateful smile though he does not drink from it.
Now more than ever he cannot afford to trust anyone implicitly. The League has a shapeshifter amongst their ranks and it can be anyone. All Might can overcome physical threats but a poison will kill him just as easily as any other person. Hero had perished to poison. He does not mean to follow in her footsteps.
One day, he will die. But not before he beats All For One. Not before he rescues Izuku from the clutches of his nemesis.
He does not know what mad tortures his successor had suffered at the hands of All For One. It has been three full days and though he does not doubt Izuku's strength and courage, anyone would break after being subjected to his whims.
His only hope is to find his successor intact.
Later in the evening, after five more rescue efforts and dozens of corpses, Toshinori finds himself walking with Nezu. The principal looks as worried as they all do from his seat on All Might's shoulder.
"It is absurd to see our own tactics used against us," Nezu says calmly, though that calm can only be a lie.
There is an investigation pending regarding UA and the camp disaster, only a month after the Sports Festival. But it can wait until the war is over.
"What tactics?"
"Warp quirks have traditionally been on the side of heroes. Master Railroad was the first and perhaps the most notable. Hero's wife, Legion, could generate clones with warp quirks on occasion. Even recently, the Canadian Hero Conglomerate used a warp quirk to transport the entirety of their battlegroup. Though admittedly they did lose that battle. It seems we took their power for granted."
All Might turns the corner, stepping around a distracted messenger. No point in being rude.
"Quite honestly, I have no interest in a history lesson. They have my students and I want them back."
"Bakugou claims that Yaoyorozu placed a tracker on him," Nezu says. "We're scouring the forest for it but there was so much damage done that it'll take a few days to find. And even if we do win, I don't know if we'll be in a state to fight back. My best-case analysis has ten thousand dead."
The meeting room is large and airy. Given the number of heroes, decorated soldiers, state intelligence and members of the Royal Household, it makes sense that the room needs to be large enough to accommodate them all.
It has already been divided into camps. The section for the heroes has Hawks sitting beside Mirko, Beast Jeanist and Yoroi Musha a row behind, Gang Orca and Edgeshot on the other side. But at the front, right besides Hawks, is a reinforced chair.
He takes the seat beside Hawks who looks relaxed, feet on the table and arms behind his head. All Might wishes he could have even a tenth of that youthful arrogance.
"Old man," Hawks greets. "See you're still kicking around. Nezu, still using everyone as free transport. I think people should start charging for shoulder time."
Toshinori huffs. "I see you're as jovial as ever. Greetings to you all."
He doesn't pay any attention to their responses, speaking only when he needs to as he observes the room. Endeavour isn't present, the only real surprise of this meeting.
"Where is Enji?"
Hawks hums in consideration, one eye cracked open.
"On a ship somewhere," Hawks says lightly. "Apparently we're being invaded as well."
Toshinori clenches his fists tight, taking a deep breath to calm himself.
"An explanation would be preferable, Hawks."
"Don't ask me, I'm just getting second-hand information from what's left of the Public Safety Commission. Can't really get information when no one's in charge. Or alive."
"You shouldn't speak lightly of the dead."
"It must be nice not having to write condolence letters for your dead sidekicks." Hawks shrugs casually, but the whatever ease he had is gone, replaced by pure derision. "When was the last time you told a grieving mother that the son they entrusted you with isn't coming home?"
The fact that Hawks went straight from calm to insulting tells him he has crossed a line.
"This isn't a grief contest," Best Jeanist, one row behind, says.
"How's about you stay in your lane and stick to your looks?" Hawks asks snidely. "I read your casualty reports. A bit of singed hair never hurt anyone."
"Since when did you become a petulant child?" Gang Orca, two seats to the right, asks.
Hawks rolls his eyes. "Y'all always bring up my age."
"Perhaps we should behave for our distinguished guests," Nezu says coolly.
All Might knows the two generals and three vice-admirals are watching them, as are the members of the Public Security Intelligence Agency and the Imperial household.
All Might raises a single brow and lets his presence be felt. It is heavy and cloying, a blazing bonfire of One For All weighing down and threatening to burn any who stand in his way.
It lasts only a split second but it is more than enough of a reminder that he is the Greatest Hero and those beside him are his peers, worthy of respect and tested in battle.
"I believe," All Might says strongly, voice clear and carrying through the room, "that we should start this meeting. Whatever organisational differences we have can wait for another time."
One of the generals stands. He walks supported by a cane, bandages covering his neck and hand. He's in pain, but he walks with such steely determination that Toshinori is willing to acknowledge his strength.
"The League's attack was a masterstroke in asymmetrical warfare, force projection, and quirk warfare," the older general says. "The first four hours of the attack were a series of retreats to split up the League and decentralise their cells. The next twenty were a series of surgical strikes designed to cripple our ability to coordinate, communicate and stabilise. By the end of the first day, half of the army's senior command staff had been killed and two admirals were dead. Every senior agent of the PISA was caught off caught and killed by an incendiary device."
All Might doesn't let his grief show. Naomasa is one of those dead in that attack. Though he may not have agreed with Naomasa's allegiances, he was still a good man with a good heart.
"With the army and navy in disarray, and the state intelligence apparatus defunct, he would set his sights towards the Hero Public Safety Commission and assassinate senior staff and destroy their central databases containing the identities of known League operatives. They managed to find three major off-site backups. There may be more, but we haven't found any official with knowledge of them. In the span of a day, the League achieved the single most devastating military victory against Japan since the Dark Ages."
The general changes the display to show every organisation he just mentioned. It shows their command structure as it was a few days ago, intact and functional. Then, names and faces are crossed out till over half the screen is large red crosses.
"This attack has just made every warp quirk on the planet a strategic asset and a vital part of national security and international deterrence. This attack will be remembered a thousand years from now as the single most effective use of a quirk in a war. Kurogiri's name will forever be spoken in the same breath as Sun Tzu and Graviton Lance, Napoleon and Master Railroad, Warlord Allfather and Erwin Rommel. He may very well be the first person in two centuries worthy of the title Warlord." He lets that sink in. "That was just the first day."
The display changes to a map of Japan, clear and marked with major locations of interest—hero agencies, military bases, power stations, hospitals, and major manufacturing plants.
"Over the next three days, Kurogiri and his force of approximately forty Nomu and sixty humans would systematically cripple our infrastructure systems. They've managed to destroy communications across half of Shikoku and destroy four major power stations and many more substations. Currently, seven percent of Japan is without electricity and nine percent without running water. They've crippled the police and hero efforts to restore peace by directly attacking vulnerable stations and agencies."
The locations on the map are removed, replaced by the main prefectures with numbers beside their names.
"The current death toll stands at four thousand directly attributed to the League's forces. With emergency services completely swamped and many locations without water or electricity, this number is expected to rise. As it stands, a hundred villains are successfully waging a war against Japan and we are completely incapable of neutralising them given their mode of transport. The only real victory we have achieved is capturing a high-ranking member of the League who wasn't part of this attack.
"Finally, I will speak on the international situation. Now, our three biggest concerns are, in order of danger: China's remaining Great Ten, the Vancouver Island Villain Association, and the Taiwanese remnant. The first is seeking revenge for an unsanctioned attack on their Djibouti military base orchestrated by the Imperial Household and the presence of Japanese nationals during their failed Victoria attack. We anticipate that three of them, alongside their forces, will move to reinforce the Naval battle lines. The second are long-standing allies of the League of Villains and are currently organising their strongest members to join the fight here."
"How strong we talking here?" Hawks asks.
"Of the five members who will definitely join the assault, they are each on your level."
Hawks scoffs but Toshinori can see how tense his steepled fingers are. He may appear calm but they all know the magnitude of the threat they face now.
"Finally, the Taiwanese Remnant will see this as an opportunity to sow discord amongst the populace. Their most likely goal will be to integrate insurgents with the local populace during the chaos for a larger assault during the reconstruction period. Given that the League has opposed them many times, it is unlikely they will join sides now. I'll pass the floor to the representative of the Imperial Household."
The general returns to his seat as if he just spoke of the weather, not a war briefing.
A woman from the section claimed by the Imperial Household stands. She is young, perhaps her late twenties, maybe early thirties. Her presence makes Nezu bristle, surprising Toshinori with the intensity of his sudden rage.
She walks forward, her pace steady and measured. Once she is at the front, she bows before them before rising.
"I ask your forgiveness for taking time on formalities but in times of war, they must be observed now more than ever," the woman in the white uniform says. "I am Izanami of the Royal Guard, here on behalf of His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor, in accordance with the Unity Treaty and the Paramount Accords upheld for one hundred and twenty-seven years. As per the terms set forth by the Paramount Accords, signed and witnessed by the National Diet, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the navy and military, the League of Villains signatory is hereby stricken from the accords."
A murmur of unease runs through the hero section of the table, All Might startled most of all.
"Maybe I heard ya wrong," Hawks says for all of them, "but you're standing here telling us that you were allies with the guy we're fighting. Run that by me again."
And though Hawks has his feet on the table, Toshinori can see he is tensed, ready to flip forward and attack.
He can sense the other heroes prepared to attack or defend as well, all waiting on his signal.
"I believe an explanation is needed," All Might says before anyone does something stupid.
Nezu jumps off All Might's table. Though he is small, he commands the room with his presence.
"The Paramount Accords were signed following the Kusanagi Rampage 127 years ago after the National Diet was slaughtered to a man, the budding heroics industry annihilated and the Joint Chiefs of Staff killed by the villain group. There are many signatories, including UA. The Accords have been instrumental in maintaining peace for the past century."
"You call this peace?" Edgeshot asks snidely. "My hometown has no water or electricity because of your peace."
"I did specify that it was for the past century. The Accords are the primary reason Japan has remained unified." Nezu sets eyes on the Royal Guardswoman. "Yet even I was unaware that the villain was a signatory."
"It was one of their leader's demands in return for permitting the Accords."
"You say permit like he was the one who allowed them."
"In truth, the Kusanagi Rampage event was not carried out by a group of villains," the Guardswoman says. "It was carried out by one man."
"The fuck?" Hawks curses. "One man?"
"We have records dating back to the Dark Ages and we offer them freely as a gesture of goodwill. The person leading this war is the Strongest Man Alive," she says.
"What, Kurogiri? We have records of him and he isn't that powerful. Ruthless, but not the strongest."
"Kurogiri is his right-hand man. I speak of All For One who has lived close to two centuries. He's waged wars alone and won. He's fought off an Emperor and his Guard and walked away unscathed. Millions of deaths are attributed to him. This is a man who destroyed Tianjin and parts of South Sudan. There is only one person he's lost to."
She points to All Might and all eyes fall on him.
"In exchange for our knowledge and power, we request All Might not take part in the battles to come," the woman from the Royal Guard, the one who calls herself Izanami, says.
"Your demands are absurd," a general says, disgruntled. "He's our greatest combat asset. All Might's power would make this sea battle irrelevant."
All Might glances at the general. "I think you misunderstand something. I am willing to set aside your arrest until this war but that does not make us allies." He pushes his presence out once more. "I am not yours to control. Do not, for a single moment, forget that."
"What he said," Hawks adds casually, his gaze never drifting from the ceiling. "Y'all just made enemies out of all of us. Maybe you got used to your Accords keeping you safe and protected, but you're all on my list now. Right after this war is over, I'm going to make sure you're all behind bars. You knew about All For One and you did nothing. This, all of this madness, every grieving parent and orphaned child, this is on you."
All Might finds himself nodding. His war with All For One was only ever between the two of them, never through proxies or dead civilians.
"This is why the Accords were necessary," Nezu says, stopping the situation from degenerating any further. "To stop this infighting and permit channels of dialogue. But your request is rather unusual. All Might is the Greatest Hero. We need him now more than ever."
"All Might is the only asset we have capable of matching All For One," Izanami says. "We refuse to allow his power to be squandered. In exchange, every combat operative of the Imperial Household will wage this war alongside you."
Even All Might falls silent.
He knows the power of the Royal Guard. Nana more than made sure of that. And whilst he expects them to fight, the Emperor's designs have always been mysterious. There is no guarantee that Emperor would have chosen to involve himself in this conflict.
"We'll battle the Great Ten's remaining force before they invade," she continues. "We'll face the Vancouver Island Villain Association before they touch Japanese soil. The VIVA who just won the bloodiest quirk battle this century. They faced off against three of the Great Ten, every hero of the American Northwest and the Western Canadian provinces and annihilated them. The western seaboard of North America might as well belong to villains now."
She takes a seat on the table at the front.
"It will be Imperial blood that will be spilt to ensure Japan's sovereignty. Current analyses place Imperial losses at no less than fifty percent. It will be a slaughter. But we need assurances that every drop of spilt blood has meaning, that our sacrifice won't be squandered."
"You're not the only ones who've lost people."
She inclines her head, acknowledging those words.
"No, but we're the only ones with a sense of perspective. We know the enemy we face and quite honestly, we can coexist with him and maintain our current way of life. Just as we've done for a century."
"You're cowards."
"The Emperor has a signed draft of total surrender should All Might be injured," she says. "Injured. Not even killed. Injured. That is our ultimatum. Without us, you cannot hold back the invasion. Without All Might, All For One will slaughter us all."
In the depths of his heart, Toshinori knows that to be true. He remembers being a broken mess after their fight, half his torso simply gone and struggling to hang onto life. Most of all, he remembers how little damage he did.
"There is no version of this where we win without All Might at his peak. We do not know every quirk All For One has but we do know one."
The screen lights up. On it, is a grainy image of a man in armour and two other Royal Guard.
The video has been slowed down so they can easily see the massive stone pillar, less a column and more a hill, flying towards the group of three.
The man flings his arm. The air in front of him seems to crack. And then the column shatters to an invisible force.
"This was recovered footage of All For One's final battle against the 128th Emperor of the Chrysanthemum Dynasty. Over Raoul Island, All For One would face the Emperor and his Guard for three whole days. That island is now five times its original size and a radioactive wasteland completely hostile to life. And from that battle, he stole the Emperor's quirk. All For One holds the precursor quirk to the one the current Emperor holds. Do you understand? The current Emperor could sunder a mountain. His son sank an island out of grief without effort."
All Might doesn't let his worry show. All For One hadn't shown that quirk during their battle. No, it had been sly tactics and an impenetrable steel defence.
"There is no known weakness to this quirk. It can operate through any environment or medium and scales to continental levels. The one weakness you could argue is that the user is stuck in the devastation." She looks to All Might. "All Might punched All For One and he still walked away. I doubt he has that weakness."
"Are you saying he can't be beaten?" a vice-admiral asks.
"I'm saying that if we can, then the cost will be high. All Might must be the tip of the spear. There is no one else who comes close."
-TDB-
Kurogiri's war has raged for four days. He's tired and ready to pass out but he can't, not yet at least. There's too much to be done.
Right now, they're in an apartment the League owns, observing the position of a convoy through a mix of satellites and drones. Usually, there would be ECM they would have to contend with, but Kurogiri's strikes have been surgical and designed to kill the enemy's ability to retaliate.
The convoy is ten vehicles strong and thermal imaging shows a few rooftops along the route to be filled with people, soldiers and heroes together most likely. Unfortunately, they're clustered around what would make good ambush points for conventional groups who must deal with travel times and escape routes or general logistics.
A warp quirk annihilates those considerations.
With his group of a hundred, he is successfully waging a war against the entirety of Japan. They can attack where the enemy is weakest and decapitate command structures, and they can retreat without leaving a trail to follow.
The quirks he received from Sensei make coordination trivially easy. Search makes it so that he can keep track of his entire team—half the humans, thirty in total, are sleeping or resting in multiple safe houses, whilst the other half are awake and with him.
There are five Nomu he has with him in case they need heavier support. But for now, with surprise on their side, conventional weapons will do.
We move soon, he sends to everyone taking part in this operation using Mandalay's quirk.
The three leaders with him look up from their table where they are planning. Each is decked out in armour and carries a rifle. They don't look particularly special but each has a body count in high hundreds attained through wars in Georgia and Malaysia.
The apartment is a hive of activity though it is oddly silent. They can't afford to be suspicious right now nor can they afford for the activity level to noticeably spike. So, he watches his soldiers check ammunition and ready their quirks in utter silence.
"In and out in two minutes," he says to the squad leaders.
"Yes, sir. Do we have operational command?"
Kurogiri nods. "Yes."
"Then drop team one on this rooftop," he says, pointing at one with a cluster of heat signatures. "Kill them quickly and we'll have a good vantage point. Team two will stop the convoy. Team three will slaughter anyone in the area."
That plan is more violent than any Kurogiri would decide on. But he isn't well versed in war. Operations and logistics, yes, but not combat tactics and strategy. Honestly, had Japan been prepared, they wouldn't be winning as handily.
Given that they have yet to lead him wrong, he listens to their suggestions.
He warps the first group and lets them pounce on the soldiers waiting there. He doesn't stay around to watch the bloodbath, instead, he transports the second and third teams.
He watches as they efficiently destroy the road, forcing the convoy to stop. And long before the soldiers escorting it can get out of their cars, smoke grenades are being thrown and guns are fired, sharp staccato cracks in the dead of night.
A group of three carrying long blades slink away and enters the fog. Even from here, Kurogiri can hear the screams of heroes and soldiers being hacked to death.
It takes seven minutes before he can warp his teams away. Seven whole minutes in which anyone with a warp quirk can arrive and deal damage to them.
But no one does.
He warps the teams to safe houses across the country, noting the two who have died and the four injured. That's over a tenth of his operating force and he can't absorb those losses. He'll have to start using more Nomu now.
Their target, the convoy's captive, is startled when the bag over her head is removed. The Division Commander of Okinawa, captured whilst that cell of the League went to ground, blinks in surprise when she sees him.
"Kurogiri, what the fuck is going on?"
"Not yet. We need to meet the others."
He generates another warp gate and gestures for her to enter. She shoots him a distrustful look before they leave. And then they are in Bulawayo, overlooking the city from a mansion in the hills. Whilst not as populous as the capital, Bulawayo comes a close second with nearly four million living here. Besides, Kurogiri likes it a lot more than the capital Harare, as it is more scenic to observe.
And, it doesn't have a massive monument to Hero standing nearly a kilometre tall. That alone makes it a better city.
The other two Division commanders are already in the lounge, the older man who commands Shikoku pacing fitfully whilst the boy in charge of Hokkaido is the picture of calm. A surprising reversal, but then again, war brings out the best and worst in people.
"Kurogiri," the boy says in greeting, seemingly indifferent.
"What the hell is going on?" she asks now that they're safe. "Since when do we wage wars?"
"The League doesn't," Kurogiri says, taking a seat.
He wishes he had muscles to stretch out but if he's sitting then that means he isn't working and that is a close second. It also forces everyone else to sit and be polite.
Once they're seated, he continues.
"This is not a League operation. Do you understand? None of you was notified of this. All for One, Tomura, and I did this without consulting anyone else. Less than a hundred of us are waging this war. Not the hundreds of villains in the League. Not the supporters in the tens of thousands. Not our allies across the globe."
"Oh," the elderly man says. "Deniability."
"Yes."
"This isn't who we are," the woman says. "We fight as a group or fall together. That was the agreement. We work for you and we change society. Not this. This isn't the League. The VIVA won without resorting to this."
"As far you're concerned, the League is dead," Kurogiri says. "We can't win this battle, but we intend on winning the war. Listen carefully. I don't have much time to explain."
"I dislike this," the man from Shikoku says. "Abandoning our allies."
"You're not. You're fulfilling Sensei's final order."
"Fuck Sensei," the boy says. "I've never met him. But I know you. You're my leader, no one else. You're the bossman, no one else."
Kurogiri sighs. "Thank you. Will you follow my final commands?"
The boy considers it for a moment but they all know the answer. Despite his failings, he has always been loyal to the League and to Kurogiri most of all.
"Yes."
"These are the last orders I will ever give you," he tells them. "After this, we go our separate ways. You and the League. Me and my war. Understood."
"I don't like this," the woman says. "But I'll do it."
"You're to go to ground. Break up your divisions and decentralise leadership further. The cells aren't to have any contact, is that understood? Once you break them up, you destroy knowledge of their locations and any means of contact. There can't be a weak link. This war will end in a few weeks at most. Next, you'll take advantage of the chaos to forge new identities for the League operatives. This contingency is one we've planned for years."
"Understood."
He hands each of them a data drive from his pocket. They are heavy and bulky drives, military-grade and encrypted in more ways that Kurogiri can imagine, locked to the biometrics of the person he gives them to.
"Inside are the locations of hard currency and other assets. I don't know what you're each getting, but you're going to use it in the aftermath. Use it to rebuild and legitimise yourselves and the League. Rebuild our resources and make something new."
"Fuck," the boy says, seeming to finally understand what is happening. "This is how it ends? Running away? What, we go and be businessmen and farmers and engineers and politicians? We go back and perpetuate the system?"
"That's up to you," Kurogiri says. "I've given my orders. What you do next is up to you."
"Will we see you again."
"Maybe. Maybe not. But you will know Sensei's successor when he comes."
"You don't mean Tomura, do you."
"No."
It hurts him to admit it. But even he can't deny the sheer frenetic energy Sensei has whenever he speaks of Izuku Midoriya. It sickens him that Hisashi will gain more power through his son, makes him ill that Tomura's birthright and legacy will be stolen. It's a plan bound for failure, one destined for destruction. In the dark parts of his soul, he worries this is Sensei's grand plan for suicide.
And yet, if this goes through, then Kurogiri can take Tomura and run. They can find a new country and live new lives without the weight of Sensei's immense legacy crashing down on them.
Kurogiri is tired. All he wants to do is spend time with his son. Villainy has brought him hardship and pain and war. Maybe they can find another path, one that leads to happiness.
And if it all fails and Kurogiri dies in the process, then he knows his wife and daughter are waiting for him in death.
No matter the outcome, Kurogiri will win.
"I don't know his ultimate plan, but Sensei said that his successor will declare himself against the world. Stay hidden and do not contact him unless he contacts you first. And even then, the choice is up to you."
"What do you mean?"
"No one will force you to follow someone you don't trust. It must be your choice." He shakes his head. "I chose this path. I'm willing to die to see it through. But I will not make you suffer for my sins."
-TDB-
Izuku Midoriya is off-balance. A part of it is due to having no idea where he is. The larger owes to the relative freedom he has.
They haven't chained him up nor have they pumped him full of muscle relaxants like they threatened. No, if anything, he is in an odd state of limbo.
The villains, those from the Vanguard, don't know what to do with him. The lizard is equal parts fearful and admiring. Toga has an unhealthy fondness of him whilst the burnt one known as Dabi is utterly indifferent.
Shigaraki, after two whole days of spouting random bullshit about society, has finally given up on trying to convert Izuku. Maybe it had something to do with Izuku insulting him.
"Just shut up already," Izuku snaps a few minutes into Shigaraki's latest rant on society. "Have you ever read a book or do you just regurgitate second-hand thoughts that get reinforced with anecdotal evidence? I'd literally rather die than listen to you for another minute."
The villain falls still, glaring at him. Compared to his boss, it's a child wearing his father's coat.
"I could kill Ragdoll first."
"I may be a captive audience but I'm not a captivated audience." Izuku shows his teeth, sharp enough to chew through demons. "You won't because your boss didn't give you permission. They're the only cards keeping me here because I know he won't let you touch Kouta or Momo. Do it, lose one of your chains. You've only got three."
He hasn't seen Shigaraki since then, though Toga has taken to leaning over his shoulder wherever possible.
They take him to see the great villain a few hours later. He is still in the same room, still hooked up to medical equipment and still shrouded in darkness.
The plain wooden chair is still there. Izuku decides there and then to take just the slightest bit of control back.
He turns the chair on one leg and sits the wrong way, arm's crossed over the back.
"Hello, my boy."
"Don't call me that," he hisses. "You have no right."
"I see you're in no mood for a lesson."
"Your lessons are shit," he responds automatically.
A hint of malevolence returns. "Do be polite. Manners maketh man, dear boy."
Izuku bares his teeth. In the politest voice he can manage, he says, "I find your lessons droll, uninteresting and uninspired."
And then, in Arabic which he learnt in a week, he adds, "Using old English phrases that Hero resurrected does not make you sophisticated."
"A story, instead," the villain responds in unaccented Arabic. "Yes, I think you may be interested in this one."
"Why should I listen?"
"Because there is a reward at the end for you."
He is in control. You have no choice but to play his game with his rules.
"Fine," Izuku grits out.
"You won't even demand to know what reward I offer first?"
"No, because it doesn't matter. I have no choice. Let's not lie to ourselves, All For One. I'm your prisoner, kept captive only by innocent lives. I'm not here because I want to be here. If I could, I'd fight you to my very last breath."
"I wouldn't kill you. When you're as strong as me, winning fights without killing is trivial. And, I don't kill children. One day, maybe I'll tell you that story."
"Hopefully, you'll have died of old age by then."
"Do you know how old I am?"
"Don't particularly care."
"I was born at the end of an era. Hero's Golden Age which lasted thirty years. I was a boy when she was assassinated, maybe twelve, maybe ten. I never got to see most of her fights and I won't act as if I remember them. But I do remember her strength."
"You respected her," he says, surprised.
"Of course. Her strength made her worthy of respect. She was the pinnacle of strength at the time, in the same vein as Stormwind and Titan the era before. There was no one who matched her or came close. Even at the height of my power, I would be hard-pressed to survive an encounter with her."
Which, Izuku is thankful for. Hero was a legend, more powerful than the rest. Maybe only two people were stronger than her, and the reign of the Tyrants had already ended by then.
"I remember her last great battle against Duchess. They fought over the sea. She forced that encounter there so that cities wouldn't be destroyed. They were so glorious that day," the villain says wistfully. "There hasn't been a fight quite like it since then. Can you imagine two people so fast and strong that you could only track them from the clouds they evaporated with each blow and the storms they displaced? Can you imagine blows so powerful that you could pick the seismic waves up an ocean away."
These are the moments that terrify him. This man, in this very moment, isn't a villain. He's a person who has seen much of history and has more knowledge than most will ever have.
Right now, he's just an old man reminiscing on the good old days. A man who lives, not a villain who takes lives.
Izuku loves life as the sun loves the Earth. He doesn't want this villain to be humanised because then he might just feel empathy. That idea leaves him terrified.
Your kindness is a weakness and a strength.
"No, I don't think you can imagine that power. I am the Strongest Man Alive today and I would have been a minor irritant if I tried to interfere. Do you understand how powerful they were?"
"What I've seen might surprise you."
The villain barks out a laugh. "Yes, you are a surprise." He shakes his head. "I still remember the two iconic moments of that fight. There they were, flying in the air and sizing each other up. This was moments before the final blow and both had their helmets off. And then, Duchess said something that made Hero laugh. To this day, I haven't figured out what Duchess said, but it must have been memorable."
Izuku's not sure why, but he smiles. Hero defined an era and was without equal. To hear this story of her last battle from someone who saw it is not something he ever imagined experiencing.
"Maybe Duchess told Hero a bad joke," he says sarcastically.
"Perhaps. Hero was odd on the best of days. The second moment came after their final blow. It happened too quickly and destroyed every camera in the area. The force of it split the clouds across the world. And then came the shaking. And when the camera's got a good look, it was to see a churning ocean with waves a mile high. We waited, everyone in the world waited, to see who would walk away.
"And there came Hero, making her grand reappearance in Maputo. Her armour was destroyed from the force of the blow. But she walked out the ocean and onto land, her fist raised high to the sky. And then she roared her victory for all the world to see. Behind her, the ocean itself seemed to roar with her. That moment was seared into my mind as a child."
He can't imagine this imposing man being a child in a home with parents and maybe even siblings.
"I can't believe you respected a hero."
"She was nothing like your modern-day heroes. She killed Duchess in that confrontation. In fact, she killed most of her enemies. She knew the danger a living enemy might one day pose."
Izuku swallows. "What?"
"Oh yes. I know your education systems attempt to hide the truth of her and even of Hawkmoon. But neither left their enemies alive. If a villain is dead, they can't come after your loved ones or kill civilians. It was, I suppose, a different era. I was just a boy when Hero showed me the true definition of power. It was and still is, the strength to annihilate any enemy who opposes you.
"The ocean still bears testament to her power. Hero Trench in the Indian Ocean at a maximum depth of six kilometres and nearly five hundred long. I walked its depths once just to see the magnitude of power wielded that day. You can still find Duchess's armour there, preserved perfectly after all these centuries."
Who really is this villain? He's seen events that shaped the last two centuries of history and has been a driving force in shaping events. And yet, he isn't the villain Izuku expects. He's malevolent, yes, but there's something just beyond sight, something hiding behind his nobility and startling empathy.
Find it, Mikumo whispers. That will be his final weakness. Find it and kill him with it. This deception is all for that purpose.
"I think I'll let you talk to them," the villain says. "You have remained well behaved."
"What?"
"The boy and the girl. I will let you communicate with them. I suppose I am in a good mood."
"Positive reinforcement?"
"If you want to think of yourself as an animal, then who am I to stop you. Next time we speak, I shall teach you a lesson. And please be polite to Tomura."
There's a threat there. Or perhaps it is a warning that the villain will let Tomura kill their captives if Izuku angers him. Either way, he's willing to behave.
They don't take him to see Kouta or Yaoyorozu immediately. Perhaps it is a punishment for insulting Tomura earlier.
The only way he can keep track of the time through their guard rotations. Izuku doesn't need to sleep, so they're forced to devote extra attention to him.
He frightens Spinner when the villain wakes up from his nap. The first things the villain sees are Izuku's burning green eyes and a smile that can consume worlds.
"You're not a very good guard," Izuku says pleasantly.
"Shut up," he snaps back but Izuku can see he is flustered.
Push him.
Izuku cracks his neck. "What's your name?"
The lizard tilts his head. "Spinner."
"Not your made-up name. Your real name. Mine is Izuku Midoriya though I think you already know that."
"Shut up already."
Izuku rolls his eyes, letting the mad knowledge fade from his gaze.
"We might as well get to know each other. I see you're a fan of Stain."
"So what?"
Spinner may be gruff and confrontational, but Izuku can read him like a book. It's trivial after speaking to All For One and having met Kouta. There isn't much difference between the lizard and the boy. Both are foolish Stain fans who blindly follow his ideology without really knowing it.
Belittle him now.
And with Mikumo here, it becomes so much easier.
"Nothing. It's just something we have in common, I guess." He smiles. "Obviously, I actually know him and his philosophy. So, tell me Spinner-who-won't-share-his-name, what society do you want to create?"
"One that isn't corrupt."
"Every society is corrupt to some degree." Izuku cocks his head, "You haven't given this any thought any more than you've given me your name."
Spinner twitches, agitated. He can choose to avoid answering that and lose. He can choose to give an answer and have Izuku tear it apart. Or he can give Izuku his name and win slightly.
On an instinctual level, Spinner understands his options.
"Shuichi," he says after a beat.
"I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you but you did kidnap me and attack my class."
He's been well behaved so they aren't pumping him full of muscle relaxants. That gives him the opportunity to shrug casually.
"I don't think Stain would have approved." His smile widens. "Then again, you didn't really know him."
Shuichi grits his teeth but says nothing. Smart.
"Well, maybe you will," he offers, eliciting Shuichi's interest. "Before All Might busts down these walls."
Spinner stiffens at the reminder of who he has made an enemy of.
"He must be tearing through the country looking for me. And yes, I am that special," he says, cutting Spinner off before he makes the obvious comment. "Do you think some no-name kid would get to meet your boss's boss when you haven't met him? Oh, All Might will come for me. Do you think you can beat the greatest hero of this era?"
The answer to that is obvious. Izuku knows it as does Spinner. He can see the fear creeping up Spinner's spine, that tendril of dread and doubt.
The same tendril that All For One infected Izuku with during their first meeting. It sickens him to use those same techniques.
You must learn his ways if you wish to win.
He knows Mikumo speaks the truth, but it weighs heavily in the pit of his stomach. It feels like the lead heart he ate once that didn't sit well, but still together worse.
Eventually, they let him see Kouta.
The boy tackles Izuku and then he's babbling a mile a minute between sobs. It's an incoherent jumble that Izuku can't decipher despite knowing all languages because language implies structure and this has none.
"Shush," Izuku says holding the boy tight. "I need you to be strong."
The cell is observed by Magne who holds the detonator a bit too casually for Izuku's liking.
"What's going on?" the boy asks, voice wobbly and fearful.
Izuku inhales slowly.
"We've been kidnapped," he begins slowly, gently. "I need you to listen carefully. Whatever you do, don't fight them. Don't argue with them. Don't piss them off."
Kouta punches him. "Why won't you fight?"
"Because they have Mandalay."
Kouta freezes. "What?"
"Pixie Bob and Ragdoll as well." Izuku touches his collar. "If I fight, if I try to escape, then they won't make it. I promised to save you and I will, I promise. Right now, doing what they want is the only way I can keep you safe."
"This isn't fair."
He pulls Kouta close. "I know. That's why we need to be strong. Can you do that for me? But we have to be strong in our own way. If you're scared, then you should cry. Scream and shout and be upset. You see, they're liars unlike us. We need to use the truth to win, okay?"
Kouta nods against his chest. "Okay."
Izuku holds him as he cries. There is no other comfort that he can offer the boy. Izuku can't trust him with the plan nor can he offer false reassurances. But he can be a pillar of support for the moment.
Magne opens the cell, jabbing her thumb out. Izuku sets Kouta down on his cot. He squeezes Kouta's shoulder and whispers, "Stay safe."
The path she leads him down is a winding thing, one with more turns and corners than is necessary. And though he may be lost, he catalogues the shadows he can feel and counts the people in the facility. It isn't just the Vanguard and All For One, but at least a dozen other staff members.
When he lags slightly, curious by the runes on a door—ancient, filled with power, and built from Disparity—she shoves him forward. It takes him a moment to realise that the rune isn't visible to normal eyes. As he is led through the facility, he feels more and more of these runes, some built from sparks of godflame and others from shards of true dark.
They come to the edge of the facility and he knows that because his senses just stop. One moment he feels every shadow in a perfect sphere and the next it's like a wall of blankness has just been shoved into the sphere.
To his best guess, it is an oscillating shield of godflame, true dark, and disparity. Magnificent, and something he would study had he stumbled upon it in the abyss. Unfortunately, it means Shouto won't be able to track him.
Magne opens the door to Momo's cell.
This one is heavier, as thick as his arm is tall. There is no visible lock or latch. Her room is as plain as Kouta's, blank white walls and reinforced padding. He sees the door to the adjoining bathroom which is shut now. Just like his, it likely only opens at certain times of the day.
Momo herself is sitting cross-legged on her bed, her hair pulled into a tight bun and her features frigid. There are dark circles around her eyes and she wears clothes that cover every inch of skin but her face and fingertips.
"Hey," he says, waving.
"Why aren't you chained up?" she demands immediately.
They aren't friends so he understands she wouldn't trust him immediately. Classmates, yes, but the location of the camp was supposed to be a secret and yet they had been attacked. It still hurts.
"Because of this."
He points to the collar, identical to hers but for the green band of light. He takes one tentative step forward. When she doesn't recoil back, he takes another and then another until he is at the bedside.
"We all have those."
"This is the master collar," he explains, smiling gently. "If I leave or do anything suspicious, it sets the rest of them off."
He extends his hand, imploring her to take it silently. He needs her trust even if only for a moment. And he can't do anything overt, not when there are cameras everywhere and Magne is watching him.
Her features don't soften but she extends her hands.
Izuku holds her hands gently, smiling as he places his finger on her pulse, hidden from sight. This is a gamble and he doesn't know if she understands Morse code, but he must hope. Hope had saved him during the worst parts of his life. Maybe hope can save him again.
Trust me, he says in Morse Code.
"I'm not going to risk you," he says. "I can live with a lot of things but not with your death on my conscience."
How can I? She responds, filling him with hope.
"I wouldn't expect you to."
Do you have a plan?
Yes.
"Have they been treating you well?"
"As well as can be expected. Food sucks but the showers are hot."
What is it?
Let them think they've won and beat them at the very last moment.
"Might as well take your time and enjoy it. There's not much else we can do."
Tell me the truth.
"I think Shouto has a crush on you," he says randomly.
There's a weak link. I need to subvert him to our side.
"Your boyfriend has a crush on me?"
Izuku splutters, features flushing. "He's not my boyfriend."
"No one believes that."
That's risky.
I don't have a better plan.
"There's nothing there."
"What does this have to do with anything?"
Which villain?
Can't tell you. They'll see if you know.
"Nothing," he admits. "This is just… filler, I guess. I don't have to think about everything else."
Please trust me, he says, squeezing her hands tightly.
"You think you can work a way for them to get Kouta something to distract himself?"
There's a tracker on Bakugou, she says. They might find it and track us back.
That makes him blink in surprise
"I'll try. It might not happen quickly but hopefully, it'll be soon."
His grin is genuine because now there is another avenue. If nothing else, there is hope that they will be found.
All he must do is keep everyone alive until then.
"Time's up."
Izuku glares at Magne, baring his teeth. When she taps the detonator, he falls still.
"Just go," Momo says, calming him slightly.
His back may be hunched and his fists trembling with rage, but he is winning. The weaker they think he is then the stronger he is in truth.
He's betting everything on a plan with a thousand moving pieces, pieces controlled by outside forces, forces that he can't see. Everything is just one step towards that. He'll be weak when they expect strength, compliant when they expect defiance. He'll be whatever he needs to make sure Momo and Kouta are out of the base for the final piece to the puzzle. The ultimate goal is to see the villain dead.
It will be his greatest victory.
-TDB-
Fumikage Tokoyami towers over a mountain of dead nightmares in the depths of the abyss. This battle on a world with creatures travelling backwards in time is the latest in the long war he has fought alone.
Unfortunately, this world has no creatures he has any interest in enslaving. They are too far aligned to darkness, less alive and more beings of true dark with a facsimile of life.
"Well, this has been a fun distraction," Hisashi says from his throne of skulls built from a host of beings Fumikage slaughtered.
Fumikage twists his sword currently embedded in the torso of a godling. Purple light consumes it, searing it from existence and leaving nothing behind.
He flicks the sword to the side. A wave of purple erupts from it, burning another godling before it can return to a time it was alive.
"I suppose it has," he says, voice deeper than before.
"I like this place as much as the next guy but I also have secrets to learn." Hisashi stands. "Can you get back by yourself?"
Fumikage considers that for a moment. He feels the power held within his soul; an ocean of raw energy tithed unto him by all the creatures enslaved beneath his will. There are so many that he can't count them, Dark Shadow and Watatsumi first amongst equals, but there are others with vast reserves of power that are his to command.
He wonders if this is how Shouto feels. The power to destroy continents as easily as breathing is at his fingertips, ready to be unleashed should he choose it. And yet, though he has faced godlings and demons and nightmares, and stolen their powers, he feels there are still heights of power to be attained.
"Yes."
Fumikage summons Dark Shadow's claws around one hand and let's purple fire surround them. With one violent slash, reality distorts and a rip in spacetime appears.
"I believe my means will suffice," he says once the rupture has stabilised.
"Sure. Take care."
A highway of green materialises before Hisashi. Izuku's father waves before setting off deeper into the abyss. Fumikage watches him for a long time until a dragon—how many are there?—swoops down and picks the man up.
He shrugs. Hisashi is a Midoriya and Fumikage knows all too well the power they hold. Beneath his laziness and casual disinterest, Hisashi is still a dangerous man.
Regardless, Fumikage is confident in his powers now. He knows the extent to which he holds dominion and the abilities his kingship grants him.
"Do you think we're ready?" he asks his oldest companion.
I believe you have ascended enough to stand beside your peers now, Dark Shadow says from within his soul.
Fumikage returns to the real world in one great stride that spans universes.
The sun is a scorching beacon under godflame, a constant reminder of Shouto's dominion. It doesn't bother Fumikage much outside of leaving him with an itchy nose as though he has allergies.
His power is muted but for a few long minutes, his presence distorts the fabric of reality, stretching time and forcing hard angles to the direction of gravity. The atoms in the air decay around him, sparks and flashes of nuclear fire dotting his body.
Eventually, he remembers what a human is supposed to feel like and manages to contain his power more appropriately. He grasps true dark and godflame and moulds them, mixing the two together to a mixture more closely resembling the earth.
He stares at the blackened ground and the air that has rotted beneath his power and waves it away, watching reality shift to his whims. Green grass overtakes the blackened earth in a wave and the air returns to a normal mixture of oxygen and nitrogen. Whatever abyssal monsters that were birthed by his presence die as he kills the environment they were suited to.
One day, he knows he will be able to do so and create entire universes. Not today, but soon. His domain is life under disparity, but life can only thrive under the right conditions. Whilst he can't utilise true dark or godflame directly, he can choose how they intermix. A nudge of darkness here and gravity becomes less constant. A spark of godflame there, and he can make time run faster.
He is a few kilometres from the Imperial Villa. All he needs do is walk in a straight line and get to the main highway.
Which means he gets lost for the next three hours before stumbling onto the road even further than he started. Fumikage shrugs and just walks the empty highway casually, as though he doesn't have a giant sword on his back.
He hears the vehicle well before it comes into view. It is an armoured vehicle with the symbol of the Household on it. A man he has never met leans out the window.
"Inquisitor, where the hell have you been? You chose a bad week to go on vacation."
Only a few days?
It has been much longer for Fumikage, close to a year by his best estimates in a place where time is malleable.
He shrugs.
"Busy. What is the issue?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that Japan's at war."
"What?"
The man opens the backdoor and Fumikage scrambles inside. "Mind if we talk and drive?"
Fumikage nods. "Sure."
He listens to the briefing with growing dread as they drive down the highway. His homeland is under siege and he has been gone for the entirety of the attack.
"Currently, the military has been hit the hardest," the driver says, pulling into a compound on the outskirts of the Villa. "Half the senior command staff is dead and the juniors who might be a threat are being picked off."
He steps out the car and is led through the compound to a meeting room with members of the Imperial Household he recognises as part of the Intelligence division. He sees Itinerant and nods towards the man.
"Let's get this meeting started," Itinerant says. "The army, navy and hero society accepted our ultimatum. As such, we'll be upholding our end of the bargain.
Fumikage listens quietly as he outlines the plan of attack, disquieted with how easily he speaks of murder and assassination and civilian casualties. And yet, he can't say if this is the wrong way to go.
Japan is already losing a war to one man. If they are invaded, then there is no chance that the country will remain.
"What triggered this war?" he asks once Itinerant is finished. "There was no reason for any of this. Villains have never dabbled in war."
"They attacked UA's camp."
He freezes. "Attacked it?"
"Yes. Eleven students dead and two faculty members. The Pussycats were defeated completely, with Tiger dead and the other three kidnapped."
He hasn't been paying attention after the first number. Eleven, he repeats in his head.
"Show me the list."
Many of the names he knows tangentially. But others he is aware of.
Itsuka Kendo, representative of 1-B and Neito Minima who was always with her. Both dead and gone.
Hanta Sero, someone he wasn't close to but they did talk often, and always with Kaminari nearby.
Asui Tsu. That name chills his heart. They may not have parted on good terms but she was still someone he knew and liked.
Ochaco Uraraka. That name crushes him. Ochaco who was kind and vicious and determined, who pushed him at every turn and broke his composure. Ochaco who Shinsou loved and he doesn't doubt the two would have made a magnificent hero couple.
"Inquisitor," Itinerant ventures gently. "I understand they were your friends but you have a responsibility to the household now."
He takes a breath. "I will stay true to my oaths. Continue."
"They kidnapped two students and the boy living with the Pussycats."
"Who?"
"Momo Yaoyorozu and Izuku Midoriya."
Without an instance of hesitation, he turns on the spot.
Fumikage stalks out the briefing room without looking back, cloak billowing furiously behind him. Everyone gets out of his way the moment they see him, red eyes like twin suns and raw power leaving blackened footprints.
And when he inevitably gets lost, he slashes at a wall. It crumbles before his rage and he walks out to the blistering hot sun.
Itinerant appears in a wave of frozen time, features furious.
"Where are you going?" Itinerant growls.
"To find my friend."
"Is this more important than the oaths you swore?"
"Yes," he says simply. "This oath came first and I will not break it. I refuse to forsake him."
His dragon materialises, a menacing beast of pitch black. It doesn't roar but it makes Itinerant take a step back. Who wouldn't when there is a dragon towering over even the tallest buildings in the villa?
With one powerful jump, Fumikage clears thirty metres and lands on its shoulder. He doesn't care for everyone observing him.
"We are allies, Itinerant," he says in a voice that carries across the villa. "But some oaths matter more than others."
A single thought is all it takes for Watatsumi to beat his massive wings and take to the sky.
The dragon flies a straight line across Japan as Fumikage extends his senses searching for a blip of true dark. But there are so many people and places touched by the abyss. Musutafu itself drowns out every other signal with the overwhelming darkness and equally bright godflame.
Japan is big and trying to find Izuku is like trying to find a needle in a haystack at night without limbs. Quite impossible from the air alone.
His dragon loops a slow circle as he summons his flock of crows. One lands on his arm.
"Find him," he orders.
The flock disperses, feathers of glass unshattering beating furiously as a thousand abyssal birds split off to search for his friend.
Had you been able to find him easily, do you think the Scorchking would not have retrieved him? His oldest friend asks.
"Shut up."
They fly from one end of Japan to the next, constantly searching for any sign of Izuku's presence. The campground is the only place with signs of his existence, remnants of his green lightning still affecting the landscape. Still, those remnants are too old to be of use. There aren't any tracks to follow no matter how hard he searches.
His dragon comes to a halt as they're flying back.
Ahead of them is Shouto. He knows this because no one else stands on infernal fire as though it's solid ground.
Fumikage doesn't know much about Shouto, admittedly. The boy is his peer and equal. They were both UA students. They both have fathers whom they dislike. And they both hold an impossible fragment of the abyss in their souls.
He jumps down and changes the mix of godflame and darkness till gravity isn't a consideration and he's floating in the air. He beckons Shouto closer with a wave.
There is a flash of black fire and then Shouto stands a few paces across from him. Though he looks mortal, Fumikage can feel the vastness of his power, the first flame clinging to his presence. He doesn't understand how other humans can't feel this cataclysmic power. It's like looking at a dark sun larger than the galaxy.
In another world and another set of circumstances, they may have been enemies battling over shattered worlds and dying galaxies. Their powers aren't opposed to each other, but Shouto's fire is an extreme with no regard for the destruction it causes. It has no interest in the life that grows beneath it.
"We swore an oath that day on the beach," he says. "Allies till the very end."
Shouto nods. "I can't find him."
"I owe him everything," Fumikage explains. "I don't care how many people need to die but I will not stop until he is safe."
"He would hate you for sacrificing others in his place." There is a quality to his monotone that makes Fumikage think Shouto doesn't share the same sentiment. "It's the only reason he hasn't fought his way to safety."
"He knows nothing about the cold calculus of survival. He isn't willing to sacrifice people. I know him well, and I know he can't make the society he wants without opposing the world."
"I know. I don't want him to make those choices. I can't see him but… I think it might break him."
Fumikage stares at Shouto, assessing him. In the hard edges of his face and the cruel indifference in his dark eye, he finds a form of kinship.
Fumikage will never be a hero.
But neither will Shouto.
"Then let us make those choices."
"I can see the future with this eye. Let me make the plans. I'll give him his society whether or not he wants it by the end."
"How much can you see?"
"A lot," Shouto says tiredly. "Not you and not Izuku. We're singularities, the three of us. The future is… a suggestion, a gentleman's agreement between us. It's always in flux where we're involved. I'm tracking the remaining possibilities and finding the patterns to try and map it out."
"So, you know how it will end?"
"No, and that's what terrifies me." Shouto smiles. "But we made a promise. Till the very end. No matter what that end looks like. I don't think anything else matters."
"Nothing else does," he agrees. "Can you find him?"
Shouto shakes his head. "There are too many locations and with all three of us operating across Japan, it's like looking through ink. They're using something to avoid abyssal detection. I don't know what it is."
"We're left with conventional means then," Fumikage says. "I will use my connections and direct our purposes to that."
Fumikage removes one of his short white blades. It is heavy, the knife edge promising to consume all energy and life.
He flips it deftly and presents the weapon handle first to Shouto.
"I can't take this from you."
"Consider it a loan. I expect it back." He bares his teeth, feral and bloodthirsty. "Take it and use it to kill whoever took him."
Shouto takes the weapon.
An invisible chain settles around him, a promise to a person they both love and devote their entire personage to. It amazes Fumikage that Izuku can bring together two people as broken as they are, can mend their deficiencies and overlook their flaws, and the very idea of him is enough to seal an oath like this.
"To the very end," Shouto says.
"We three kings," he agrees.
So long as it is the three of them, Fumikage is willing to accept any outcome.
Perhaps it won't be pretty and perhaps it won't be beautiful. Maybe it will end in bloodshed and destruction. None of that matters. Not so long as a three of them are together.