Deku-ghost landed on the roof of one of the warehouses before moving closer to the villains chatting as they entered one of the warehouses in the place. Silently, the vigilante followed them into the room before hiding on top of the rafters to watch them.
As he stood there his gaze lingered longer on the rosy one, his anger showing again as his gaze hardened and his fists clenched, the greenish one could not help but remember when the two were great friends.
(Flashback.)
Izuku let out a sigh as he was sitting on a bench in the current base of the heroes' resistance; he was on a small platform looking at several of his colleagues talking and preparing for the next battle, but mainly at Nejire who was talking something with Ryukyu. Suddenly someone sitting next to him, making the boy turn around to see Mina smiling at him, surprises the greenette.
"Hello Midori-kun." Greets the girl with a smile for him, which makes Izuku wave to her.
"Ashido-san, how are you?" Izuku waves with a calm smile that makes the pink girl laugh to herself, waving at him.
"It's okay, just resting, Denki-kun is resting right now in our room and imagine my surprise to come out and see you here alone, while Hado-san is right there with her mentor." Comments Mina giving a malicious smile to the greenish one who blushed a little with the girl's implications before she laughs. "It's good to see you're still the same shy boy you've always been."
Hearing this Izuku gives a nervous laugh before turning to Nejire and smiling fondly at her, the greenish stays that way for a while before turning back to pink.
"Hey…Ashido-san, can you keep a secret?" Asks Izuku making the girl look at him curiously before nodding to him.
"But of course, what is Midori-kun?" Ask for the pinkette.
With that, Izuku quickly glances around before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small black box, opening it to reveal a ring in it. Seeing this Mina's eyes widened before a smile slowly crept onto her face and she hugged the greenish one.
"Oh my God! Midori-kun, my god! Are you really going to do this!?" Asks Mina excitedly, smiling at him.
Izuku chuckled at her excitedly and hugged her quickly before the two broke away with him smiling at the pink girl and waving.
"Yes, even having started this a little while ago, it has become very important to me and with this war, we can die at any moment, so I will enjoy every moment we have." Explains Izuku making the pink smile at him giving thumbs up.
"Congratulations Midori-kun, I will cheer for you." Ensures the pink before letting out a sigh. "You know, before I hooked up with Denki-kun, I even had a crush on you, I was gathering the courage to talk to you, but then Hado-san showed up and you two... well, you know, but if I were in her place would definitely say yes."
Hearing that, the green man looked at her in surprise before she smiled and patted him on the shoulder and walked away from him.
"Anyway, good luck Midori-kun." Declares the pink one before walking away from him.
(End of flashback.)
The vigilante growled remembering this before his gaze hardened as he noticed that Dabi and Mina sat at a table arguing about something.
(With Mina and Dabi.)
The two villains were sitting facing each other with only a table separating them, when one of the Shiroi Zugaikotsu approached the table and placed two cups of tea on it, each in front of one of the two at the table. Seeing this, Dabi immediately grabbed one of the cups and drained its contents quickly before letting out a satisfied sigh looking at the woman in front of her.
"This tea is good, I think I will want some to go, now... let's talk about our business." Declares Dabi before her expression becomes serious staring at Mina. "As you may know, our society is being plagued by a lunatic vigilante and word about him is spreading far too fast for our liking."
Mina nodded at that, after all she too had seen a significant decrease in her business since the word about this vigilante became more significant.
"However, what you don't know is that this guy has been around longer than you think." Reveals Dabi making the woman widen her eyes when the man puts a folder on the table and pushes it to her.
With that, Mina takes the folder and opens it, getting more and more shocked seeing several photos, reports and documents showing that the vigilante was active for almost 3 years destroying several other groups of criminals in a discreet way without leaving any member unpunished.
"As you can see, this person is becoming more and more public, the League of Villains is still investigating other incidents that may or may not have been caused by this guy and as expected we reached a dead end, so we need something from you, your trophy." Declares Dabi as Mina throws the papers back on the table with a thoughtful frown, before her gaze returns to the burnt villain in front of her.
"My trophy? I think you are taking this situation more seriously than it is." Mina comments with a frown before Dabi slams her fist on the table making the girl's entire henchmen jump in fright, preparing their quirks and weapons at the same time as the Nomus with him hissed at everyone as they bowed.
"I am not kidding, this guy is dangerous and we want to finish him as soon as possible, we want this new vigilante and this 'heroes return' dead by the end of the week." Dabi growls at the woman in front of him before taking a deep breath and leaning back in the chair and raising his hands signaling to the Nomus. "In addition, Shigaraki gave me permission to offer some Nomus drones to your gang in exchange for your trophy and assistance in our hunt."
Hearing this Mina's eyes widened at this, it was common knowledge among all criminals and organizations that the Nomus were by far the strongest soldiers as well as the most efficient weapons to have, however they were only for use by the League of villains. Now, Mina had an excellent opportunity to get a huge power boost for her group and even more recognition from Shigaraki himself and maybe All for One if she got along well enough with the creatures.
Slowly a cruel smile appeared on her face as she tapped the table with her finger.
"Ara, ara… you know what to say to a woman, huh Aniki? While I should not be surprised, since you chose this place of all to be the meeting, where I keep my trophy, fine, we have a deal." Mina waves before raising a hand, snapping her fingers, making one of her henchmen approach her and bow to both of them. "Bring me my trophy, oh and make sure the boys are done having fun."
With that, the man nods before walking away towards a door he entered quickly, after which Mina turned to Dabi and crossed her hands smiling.
"Now… I have to know what you intend to do with my trophy? It is a very valuable asset to my boys and me; I need to ensure morale here." Comments Mina making the villain face her without expression.
"Sometimes you scare me, you know?" Declares Dabi sighing heavily, shaking her head before turning to her. "We will use her as a bait, a bargaining chip to attract the vigilante and when he comes to save her, we will kill him, but of course, I will return her personally."
Mina nodded upon hearing this, clearly amused by what Dabi said before perking up when a noise of wheels moved drew the attention of the two who turned towards the door as the soldier walked away.
"And look, she just got here." Announces Mina excitedly when the doors opened revealing the henchman that the pinkette sent pushing a wheelchair that had a woman sitting there.
She was brunette with long white hair and red eyes, the woman was very thin, wearing rags, but what most caught her attention was the lack of her left arm, as well as the numerous injuries on her body and the rabbit ears on her head.
With that, Mina smirked at Dabi before extending her hand to the approaching woman. "We have an agreement, here is my part, the former rabbit heroine, Miruko, or Usagiyama Rumi at your disposal aniki."
"She looks better than I imagined, by the hatred you had for her, I could swear that I would do something worse with her." Comments Dabi receiving a laugh from the pink one, but he waved at her and pointed to the two Nomus with him. "Anyway, the other Nomus arrived until tomorrow, but you can consider these two as yours, consider an advance."
"Oh, that looks wonderful, thank you so much aniki." Thanks Mina smiling at the villain.
(With the Deku-ghost.)
As soon as the Deku-ghost saw Miruko his eyes widened in horror turning paler underneath the mask and from Mei's horrified sigh into his communicator the greenish man guessed that she was in a similar state to him. Miruko had been a great heroine and an older sister to him during the war, the two became very close during battles, she was also one of the ones who made his relationship with Nejire possible.
During the final battle, in the UA explosion, she was one of the few who followed him to face Shigaraki and All for one himself...
(Flashback.)
Miruko, Deku and Phantom Thief were fighting Shigaraki and All for one on the roof of U.A, however despite their best efforts the heroes were losing while several other heroes were fighting around the building against the Nomus and numerous villains.
Deku and Miruko kicked Shigaraki away causing the villain to fall skidding to the edge; however, he managed to catch himself at the last second before running towards the two heroes roaring with rage with everything around him disintegrating. At the same time, the Phamton thief was facing All for one, having copied the villain's quirk and trying to counterattack in kind, however suddenly the hero was thrown to the ground.
He grunted in pain before getting up, but suddenly a hand grabbed his throat and lifted him up, at that moment Deku managed to dodge Shigaraki at the same time that Miruko returned to fight with the villain.
"MONOMA!" Deku exclaims with wide eyes before being covered by One for all and running towards the villain.
All for one glares at Deku approaching him before turning back to Monoma and smiling at him. With that, the villain made his free hand glow orange before touching the blonde-haired person's forehead and throwing him into the greenish
"This little game is over."
At that moment, orange veins glowed around Monoma as he widened his eyes before All for one teleported himself and Shigaraki away leaving only the three heroes standing there.
"RUN!" Monoma orders with tears falling from his eyes as his skin now glowed red before he exploded.
Deku widened his eyes before crossing his arms in front of his face, but instead of being hit he felt Miruko pulling him off the ground before hitting him on the ground with a kick breaking the ground, after which he only saw fire and smoke.
In addition, it was the last time he saw Miruko.
(End of flashback.)
"Is she alive? During all these years has she been alive?" Deku-ghost thinks feeling like throwing up while looking at his once confident friend reduced to the broken piece he saw there.
At that, the man closed his eyes before opening them angrily and staring at the people below while putting his hand on his communicator turning it on.
"Azrael are you in position?" Asks the greenish one with his eyes never leaving the ex-heroine.
"Yes, waiting for the signal." Answers Chizome's voice in his ear, which made the Deku-ghost remove some shurikens from a bag on his belt.
"Kill them all." Commands the vigilante before throwing his projectiles at the lamps darkening the place once that done his body began to emit smoke that spread throughout the place.
(…)
"Hey… Is it just me or did everything go dark in there?" Questions one of the henchmen turning to the shed before a gloved hand covers his face and a blade crosses his chest.
With that, the henchman knocked to the ground causing all those who were there to turn to see a man dressed from head to toe in a red and gold costume with a red hood covering his head and a cape that resembled several feathers coming out of his shoulders. Furthermore, the figure held a simple sword in his hands and turned it before resting the blade on his shoulder and looking at his opponents.
"You should concentrate on the danger right in front of you." Declares the figure before dropping a metallic sphere that released a cloud of smoke that completely covered the hooded being. "Because I, Azrael, will bring the flame of vengeance upon you."
With that, Azrael advanced leapt over the smoke with his blade raised as his eyes emitted a red glow staring at the henchmen.
(…)
A blue flame appeared on Dabi's palm as he, Mina and all the other Shiroi Zugaikotsu looked around with their quirks ready, as well as their weapons ready.
"What's happening!?"Asks Dabi irritated looking at Mina who gives him a look as irritated as his.
"I would also love to know." Mina declares before everyone hears shots coming from outside the warehouse.
However before anything was done, two of Mina's henchmen were pulled into the darkness causing everyone to turn back to where they were pulled.
"Nomus..." Calls Dabi before turning to the two Nomus, but at that moment he widens his eyes when he sees the two on the ground with their necks broken and their heads turned. "WHAT THE HELL!?"
Dabi's scream made him jump back, now fully alert, though he did not realize that Mina was escaping through a hatch under the table. The villain looked around and saw how the pink one was gone, either having been caught by his current opponent or running away leaving him as a bait, in addition to that her own henchmen were being pulled into the darkness completely causing him to growl in annoyance.
"Do you want to play like that!? So let's play!" Exclaims Dabi before his hands light up with fire and he shoots all over the floor illuminating the whole room and making him see the shadows of the henchmen floating unconscious in the middle of the smoke.
"Where are you!?"
"Right here." Answers a voice behind him making Dabi turn around only to receive a hook in the middle of her face when a snap echoes.
The villain grunted before taking a few steps back and facing the figure, however when he saw her his eyes widened seeing the vigilante, or rather, who he looks like.
"Y-you? Impossible... Shigaraki and All for one said they killed you." Murmurs Dabi in shock; however, the Deku-ghost did not say anything as he continued to stare at him.
"They didn't lie." Answers Deku-ghost before advancing towards Dabi and hitting him with a fist in the face that made the villain retreat.
After that blow, Dabi started to ignite his arm before another fist now hit his stomach causing him to stop and soon several other blows hit him in several places. After that, the villain finally dodged a blow and hit his opponent with one of his free hands shooting a blast of flames.
With that done, Dabi took the moment to step back a little with his hands containing a blue fire that burned them, ready to shoot more fire.
However before anything happened he felt something hitting his head and throwing him through the warehouse wall, the villain skidded on the floor before finally stopping in the middle of several bodies of Shiroi Zugaikotsu henchmen dead with blood all over the floor around.
A bang caught Dabi's attention making him turn towards the warehouse that was now covered in fire and saw a shadowy figure stepping out of there with the blue fire behind her giving her an intimidating look as she approached.
At that moment, Dabi gets up ready to attack the vigilante with his flames before a figure jumps over him with a sword in his hands. After that, the person landed on the ground revealing himself as Azrael, however that was not what caught Dabi's attention, but his arms lying on the ground.
Upon noticing this, Dabi stares with a shocked expression at her arms before her brain finally processes what has happened and screams in pain as she drops to her knees.
"My arms... My arms... THIS WERE MY FUCKING ARMS YOU SON OF A..." Dabi exclaims furiously when suddenly Deku-ghost grabbed his hair and lifted him to face the vigilante.
"Why are you complaining? Is not that what you did with the Hawks? Did not you take his arms and wings away?" Asks the vigilante before his eyes narrowed when his face approached the villain making him gulp. "Don't worry; I still have something to do, something that only you can help me."
(…)
Detectives Bakugo and Kirishima stood side by side watching Commissioner Tsukauchi speaking to a crowd of surrounding reporters while some police officers held the crowd back, among them was Uraraka.
"As everyone should know, there was a big fight in the port last night and until now; we have several bodies of dead people and two Nomus, until now we do not have any significant data to say something with property and…" Begins Tsukauchi before 1:00 pm light bulbs go out suddenly, scaring people.
After that, the room suddenly began to fill with smoke as Tsukauchi slowly walked away from the podium picking up his gun and looking around, something that copied by the other police officers. Suddenly a shadow appeared in front of the podium before Deku ghost appeared there and stopped in front of the podium making everyone stare at him in shock.
"De-deku?" Bakugo whispers in disbelief looking at his once childhood friend, or the person who pretended to be him, beside him Kirishima's jaw also dropped seeing the man and Uraraka covered her mouth with her hands widening her eyes as tears fell from her eyes .
However, they were not the only ones that recognized him, in the middle of the crowd was a set of floating clothes that held a microphone and almost dropped it upon recognizing the outfit.
"Impossible..." Murmurs the woman.
"Good morning..." Greets the figure with his distorted voice making some cringe with the tone. "For years people around the world have been suffering from the age of villains, after the death of all heroes, you were victims, a great feast for villains who enjoy, profit and destroy everything while civilians, good people have to suffer the consequences."
"I come to tell you that the feast is over, the one who killed both Nomus? I kill them, the people killed in the harbor? They were the Shiroi Zugaikotsu, I killed them, any criminal I find will suffer a similar fate, you can try to kill me, but death was not enough to hold me back..." Deku-ghost declares when One's lightning strikes for all covered him with the blackwhip appearing around him as well. "Do you want me, the League of Villains? The Shiroi Zugaikotsu? All for one? Whoever it is, you will no longer revel in terror, why? Because I am here!"
As he said that last sentence, it was as if a breeze of fresh air filled the room as tiny hints of tears showed in the corners of people's eyes as they recorded the speech of the man in front of them.
"Don't bother looking for me too, I will find you, I will hunt you like the worms you are, even if I have to corrupt every inch of what's left of my soul to catch you I will, I'm not the hero with the bright smile that you all so desperately want..." Announces the Deku ghost before lifting Dabi's severed head and hitting it on the podium while its eyes glowed a ghostly green. "…I am the demon you need."
After that, people's shock and horror became evident, but at the same time everyone's hope grew to see the head of one of the most influential villains in the League of Villains dead and the proof was irrefutable. However at the same time the concern, mainly from those who already knew the real Deku, he would never reach that extreme, it was the first time that Bakugo wanted his intuition to be wrong.
"Have a great day and don't worry, I'll be watching..." With that warning the Deku ghost entered the smoke again and disappeared from sight, almost a second later the smoke dissipated revealing that he was no longer in the room.
"SEARCH THE BUILDING NOW! NO ONE ENTER NO ONE OUT! FIND THIS VIGILANT!" Exclaims Tsukauchi making the entire police officers wave, despite their shock and run away.
(…)
Eri was excited; she remembered the last time she felt like this, at the concert she was in Deku's old class, in UA and now. The girl had never imagined that it would be possible for the heroes to return, not after what had happened in the UA, but now? She was ecstatic, having seen the vigilante appearing on television and threatening every villain in existence on earth, as well as having dealt a huge blow to the League of Villains with Dabi's death.
Beside her Mirio stared blankly at the television screen before getting up causing the girl to turn to him, but her animation died when she saw her brother's dismayed look.
"This is a waste of time…" Murmurs Mirio before leaving the apartment, probably going to work.
The girl fainted a bit upon hearing this, but then she turned back to the screen and clenched her fist as a determined expression appeared on her face.
"Deku, I still gonna to keep my promise... I'm sorry Mirio-aniki."
(…)
"YES!" Exclaims a teenager with a wild smile looking at the television, he was in a dark room his eyes practically glowing before turning to what looked like a Wild, wild pussycats poster.
"I said, I said he could not be dead, I SAID!" Exclaims the excited boy with tears falling from his eyes before he rubs them before turning to the television smiling.
(…)
Kyoka watched the television transfixed before falling to her knees a smile appearing on her face along with the tears, she let out a sob as she laughed.
She was so emotional that she did not notice her phone ringing, having received a call from Momo.
(…)
Enji Todoroki stared at the television wide-eyed with all of his remaining family watching the now worldwide broadcast of the declaration of war against the villains. The old Endeavor couldn't believe what he was seeing, it had been years since they lost the war and the old man had completely given up on trying to fight back, with his quirk getting caught he couldn't do anything.
Now a small flame of hope spread in his chest and he started laughing, completely euphoric, something that startled his family who stared at him in fright. He did not care, the fight was still going on, he was not going to be able to help but they would have his full support one way or another.
He just had to figure out how to help from Alaska, which is where he and his family now live.
(…)
Mina looked shocked at the television, but mainly at Dabi's severed head, she started to shake before falling into a chair, with that she screamed in rage before knocking over everything she had on her table causing some of her henchmen to gulp and leave the room leaving their angry boss alone.
"I don't know who you are... but I swear by everything that is most sacred, by everything I sacrificed, that I will kill you..." Mina snarls at the television, squeezing her fists. "I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!"
(…)
Shigaraki stared wide-eyed at the television before angrily screaming releasing his quirk of decay around him destroying everything, meanwhile sitting in an elegant chair was All for one who didn't even seem bothered by it as he stared intently at the television.
"…So, we still have one survivor…interesting." Comments All for one while Shigaraki continued with his tantrum.
(…)
Izuku was sitting in a chair next to the bed of a sleeping Rumi while Mei was examining the albino who had a serum inserted in her vein; in addition, Chizome was leaning against the wall next to the door watching the three of them with a solemn look.
"Mei? What is her status?" Asks Izuku making Mei sigh and stare at him.
"Worse than you after the explosion, much worse… I do not even know where to start, it's just a miracle she's still alive." Answers the pinkette causing a very weak laugh echoes making everyone turn to Rumi who smiles weakly to them.
"I have always been... tough... right?" Rumi jokes making Izuku widen his eyes at her before smiling softly at her.
"Yes…you always were."