Heroes in the Dark chapter 8
Tokoyami held his breath as the black ooze took possession of him, but it wasn't long until the student was dumped unceremoniously onto a new playing field. He staggered around, gasping for air and horribly weary, but was still able to make some sense of his surroundings. Coughing mere feet away from him was Bakugou, cursing and spitting up the strange liquid. The two of them seemed to be standing in a battleground, where the familiar city terrain had been stripped away to reveal bedrock that was still steaming from the effects of some fresh, unknown disaster. But as they got their bearings, there was no denying who had been the source of it. Standing in the center of it all, looking right through them, was a dark figure clad in complicated machinery obscuring his face and a dapper suit. There was no doubt in their minds that the man radiated with ominous intention.
"Bakugou…" Tokoyami began hesitantly.
Bakugou snarled a warning. "Get…away. I don't care what you do, just aim for the villains if being a hero still means something to you. But I'm not letting them take me again. So don't you dare try and interfere."
Tokoyami gritted his teeth and trained his gaze to the smoking ground. Black liquid still dripped from him, and the cold of the night could be felt clearly through his tattered clothes. He realized that he no longer cared as much about escaping the grasp of the villains as his fellow victim did. If such a force like the League of Villains and this person, who he realized must be the Master, truly wanted them, then what could possibly stop them?
As if on cue, the rest of the villains appeared around them in a scattering of black, much like what had brought him here, only they appeared much less concerned. Grateful, in fact, for the power that had allowed them to escape from the heroes.
The imposing man that had summoned them here stepped up to Shigaraki, walking within a mere hair's breadth of the young students. His voice was cold and calculating, and every movement he made was filled with such confidence and power that both of them knew that any move made against him, any word he deemed unfit, would mean an end to their short lives. And yet this Master appraised Shigaraki with such integrity, like a father talking on equal terms with his son, that Tokoyami was caught off guard. Despite everything, these villains had a sense of community that he couldn't fathom.
Tokoyami realized that he had been holding his breath again. He inhaled sharply, and the Master turned his head ever so slightly. But what he said next came as a surprise.
"…It looks like he came after all."
A blast of wind warped the air and the ground tremored with the impact that took place not a second after the first hint of this new arrival. All Might was upon the villain in an instant, fists of justice planted firmly in the villain's palms as they held on with equal strength. "I'll make you give everything back, All for One!" All Might announced.
"Is that to say you plan on killing me again?" All for One pressed, breaking their contact apart with a burst of power. "Because I think you're wasting your time here. Just look at the deplorable condition you're in. You must realize that you're much closer to death's door than even I am. Coming here was a mistake."
"None of that matters. I will take back my students and defeat you for good if it's the last thing I do!"
Tokoyami heard the villain boss laugh, a sickly wet sound that hung in the air. As much hope as he wanted to have for the number one hero…All Might was still very obviously injured because of what Dark Shadow had done. That made All for One's next words all the more chilling. "If that's the case, then it just as well should be."
The wave of destruction that was triggered after that was the catalyst for ensuing battle. The villain boss and All Might were grappling in a fight of insurmountable scale. But All Might's chances for victory were questionable as he was thrown through a mile of concrete buildings with the kind of force that would break any lesser human. Bakugou cried out for him, but Tokoyami couldn't say anything as rubble rained down upon them and the blast from the attack blew everyone back. This whole situation was tipped in the villain's favor from the start.
All for One looked down on them. "I was honestly hoping he'd take the hit better, but I suppose that's how things happen. No matter. I need you to leave, Tomura, and to take these kids with you." He used some strange ability on the comatose Kurogiri and turned away from them with a few parting words. "Now leave."
All Might rose from the wreckage to meet the villain head on once more, and the villains moved in on the two students. Although the fight taking place between the opposing powerhouses was of immeasurable strength, there was still the sensation that they were holding back. Not only was their presence making it impossible for them to go all out, as terrifying a thought as that might be, they were also in no position to escape. But far be it these disadvantages to dissuade Bakugou from engaging with the enemy. Six on one was hardly a fair fight, but Bakugou made the most of it with every explosion sent through the air. He roared in anger and sheer animalistic instinct as he fought them off.
And Tokoyami…still hadn't moved. He didn't have the same confidence and intent to do anything, and he hated it. But even if he could, even if he found himself able to muster the power within him to fight off these people and prove to some extent that he was useful and a candidate for heroism, there was no guarantee that it wouldn't just backfire in his face. He could just end up on the wrong side of Bakugou's flaming blasts, or worse yet hurting someone he didn't mean to again. There could be no worse feeling than that.
Even still, he tensed, ready to throw himself into the fray without any further reasoning if it meant that he could accomplish something. The hand guy, Shigaraki, he could tackle him maybe, anything to keep his horrid quirk away from Bakugou. Maybe if he made enough of an effort, it would allow Bakugou to get away from this nightmare. If anyone deserved to get out of all this, it was him, so that he could go on to become an incredible hero. He had the drive and power to do so, Tokoyami knew, and the fact that these villains would confuse those qualities with that of a villain must've been insulting. And then there's me.
Just as Tokoyami was preparing to rush forward, a familiar hand gripped his shoulder. It wasn't firm – very weak, actually – but it was enough to give him pause. Dabi was holding him back, but if he meant to convey any sort of threat he was terribly unconvincing. He looked exhausted, and Tokoyami recalled that he had been out of commission not so long ago.
"What do you think you're doing?" he rasped. "Get down."
Dabi pushed him to the ground as clumps of concrete rained down from all sides. He grunted in pain as a stray rock struck his arm. Tokoyami squirmed away from him but didn't retreat. Now was not the best time to be held back from the fray like this, but at the same time he was faced with such uncertainty regarding everything that he didn't want to make a wrong move.
"Just hear me out, Tokoyami, please. Don't do anything reckless here and I promise everything will work out for you. We can help you master your quirk, and you could be so much more in this world than what you are now. All you have to do is stay where you are. Otherwise you're just gonna get hurt, and no hero will want to save you after the damage you've wrecked. But we'll be there when nobody else is. Because that's just what happens to people with strong quirks that have been disregarded by the wrongdoings of society." The hard look in his icy blue eyes conveyed some kind of knowledge that Tokoyami didn't know, and he spoke with such conviction that he couldn't help but listen to his words, if even for a delusional moment.
Amongst all the chaos, the temperature of the air dropped noticeably by several degrees and without warning. No one could ignore the large structure of ice that appeared from the sidelines, the source of which could only be guessed but that he knew must belong to a fellow student of class 1-A. And then came the cavalry, bursting through the night sky like a shooting star made up of horribly impulsive teenagers. Tokoyami was both awe-struck and bewildered, but he knew what this meant for him and Bakugou. They were being saved.
Tokoyami began running forward, right to where Bakugou was staring up at the group above. He was getting ready to blast off towards them and be reunited with the friends that had come to save him. I can't use Dark Shadow to reach them, but if I could just get to Bakugou then he can—
Dabi lurched desperately towards him, grabbing his leg and causing him to stumble back onto the ground. Tokoyami rounded on him, seething with rage at being brought down yet again by this person that he had to remind himself was a despicable villain. "Get off," Tokoyami growled, wisps of darkness emanating from his clothes like smoke as he struggled with the surge of anger washing over him.
But that faltering moment had proven to be more than enough to accomplish their goal. Tokoyami looked back to where Bakugou had been standing. And now he was gone, climbing into the air being propelled by his own explosions. Only he wasn't on his own, because in all the confusion Tokoyami saw a carbon copy of himself holding onto the fleeing student. Wait, what? No. No no no where did the girl go?!
Sure enough, as he saw them get ever nearer to each other, heard Kirishima cry out for them to come and reached his hand out to them, Tokoyami could feel his heart sink with the realization of what was happening. The two groups collided and were on their way to freedom, seemingly out of reach of all the villains. Except for one.
"Bakugou, watch out!" Tokoyami screamed up at them, in the hopes that his voice might reach them. He couldn't make out what happened exactly, but a glint of silver and a loss of momentum was all he needed to know that Toga must've done something. Another blast, and Tokoyami watched as his own body fell from the air, flightless. Of course it wasn't him, but seeing his mirror image melt away to reveal the form of the sadistic girl that had stolen a his blood still left him unnerved.
The group of students were almost out of sight by now, regardless of what had transpired, but the villains weren't willing to let up quite yet. In a spur of the moment, Magne stepped in quickly, activating her magnetism quirk to send Mr. Compress flying towards them. Just as quickly their desperate attempt to reclaim the student was dashed when Mt. Lady, who'd been lying out of sight, gigantified to block the villains from reaching them. The villains falling from the sky were caught by the dark circling portal of Kurogiri's quirk appearing beneath them, even as Mt. Lady fell to the ground with a slam. They were gone now. His classmates were safe.
The villains were left in a state of panic, and Shigaraki was roaring with outrage at his loss. Tokoyami wondered if they would even notice if he were to make a break for it now, if they would even consider giving pursuit if he were to run after them. But it couldn't be such an easy thing, despite the villain league being steadily driven further into a corner.
All for One chose that moment to break from his fight a pull off yet another move using his abilities. Forcefully activating Magne's quirk, he drew everyone inside Kurogiri's portal, ensuring their escape. Tokoyami felt the draw of it pulling him in, and he struggled in vain as this darkness beckoned him increasingly closer. Don't do this to me again!
Strangely enough, Shigaraki showed the same amount of reluctance. "Wait, no! Master! In this condition, you're…!" He began to sink into the portal. "I still haven't…"
All for One came to stand in front of the portal, even as it was already starting to vanish. "Tomura. Continue the fight. Not all is lost. You still have everything in your favor. That much I can promise."
Shigaraki vanished completely into the portal just as it was starting to take in Tokoyami and Dabi, who had been farthest from where it had opened. It couldn't be avoided anymore, not that he stood a fighting chance in the first place.
Tokoyami looked up into the dark mask that concealed the Master's face. He might've seen a glimpse of vaguely human features behind the veil, but a trick of the moonlight revealed something warped and unsightly. The head villain stared back down at him, addressing him directly. "You will become vital to his success. I don't think you'll disappoint me."
Tokoyami didn't know how to respond to that, bewildered by these sudden words. But he found himself able to glare back evenly at the villain as the portal took him, and only then did the words come to him. "I won't be anyone's pawn."
All for One laughed, only this time it sounded genuine. "That's good."
All Might came rushing from behind him, whether to continue the fight or to reach out to Tokoyami yet again he couldn't be sure. But it hardly mattered. The student wouldn't be fooled by false hopes a third time. It was inevitable at this point, and he accepted that. His only hope now was that wherever they went from here, it would finally be morning. Whatever happened beyond his sight between these two symbols of their respective sides, it was past his control. Not that he ever had any to begin with.