stuff

by Rabbitfaster

s

3. Chapter 5

Deika City(Long Story Short, I Joined A Cult) Pt.3 "So, let me get this straight." Izuku carefully sets the burned man down against an alleyway wall a fair distance away from the burning portion of town. Smoke inhalation is no joke, and he doesn't know how resistant Dabi is to it. Thankfully, this alleyway is camera free—though he can't say the same for the rest of the town. Most of the ones near Dabi's fight were melted or in such bad shape that they couldn't record, but the strategic placement of each one was enough to let him know that whoever put them there had a near full range of sight there. It was enough to send phantom prickles across his skin, because it was all too similar to Nezu: always watching, always prodding and poking until— He shakes his head. Just in case... The green haired boy reaches back and pulls up the hood of his costume. "...The League went on a mission to recruit a new ally." "Gigantomachia." Dabi scowls as he spits out the name, voice rougher than usual. "You went to recruit a new ally who was named Gigantomachia. Then he said you were all 'unworthy' and proceeded to attack you for two weeks straight?" "Pretty much. We only got three hour breaks every two days when he just fell asleep mid-fight. None of our attacks did anything while he was sleeping, either." Izuku's mind flashes back to a large, loud person that looked like they'd been carved out of a mountainside and come to life. He decides not to bring that up, because that seems like a can of worms he doesn't have time to deal with right now. "He said that if we beat him in a fight, he'd reconsider our offer, and you know how Crusty is." He nods in understanding, pulling a water flask off of the side of his belt and handing it to Dabi. The burned man takes it and begins to drink as Izuku continues. "And then someone called Re-Destro, who is the leader of this city-cult thingy—" He gestures around the alleyway. "Meta Liberation Army." Dabi supplies, sounding a little better. "Meta Liberation Army," He repeats. "He tracked you down and kidnapped Jin to lure you into his cult city. Then he called you and threatened Jin, and you guys went to the tower after Gigantomachia fell asleep and got ambushed by...?" "Basically the entire city." "Basically the entire city." The green haired boy says, rummaging around in his pockets. "Did you see where anyone went?" "I think Spinner and Magne managed to stick together, and Crusty was standing his ground, but other than that, I don't know what happened to anyone." Dabi replies, sounding annoyed at his lack of information. Izuku frowns. He'd really been hoping for information, but this was better than what he'd started with. That being said, something was nagging at him. Something important. "Dabi, where's Kurogiri? Why didn't he warp everyone back to the bar as soon as Gigantomachia started swinging?" Dabi sighs, slouching back against the wall as the arm holding the water flask flops into his lap. He's running low on energy and definitely has Quirk Exhaustion. "Kurogiri went on a separate trip. No one knows where he went or what he's doing, but he's unreachable." The green haired boy stiffens at the news. That means that the only way out of the city is one of the openings in the gate or that nationwide road I saw before. No fancy warp Quirks, no tricks. Just the League, scattered across an entire city full of enemies with no help in sight. Fuck. Those aren't good odds. Especially with most of the League members unreachable and in unknown locations. The longer they're out there, the bigger the chance they— Stop. Don't think about that. The green haired boy closes his eyes, forcing himself to take a deep breath before rummaging through his pockets again. His burner phone may be gone, but he still has useful things in here. We need a plan. With what information he has, he knows that Jin is in the tower at the center of town. And considering that this entire town is a cult, the tower probably has some sort of significance. That means that the highest security will be around the tower, and the people the League are fighting will attempt to chase them away from the tower and away from each other. "Ah!" He pulls out a bag of apples and hands them to Dabi, then goes back to rifling through his pockets. Damn, where is it? "Why do you have apples?" "They're Eri's favorite." Izuku replies absentmindedly, ignoring his chest clenching as the memory of Eri's horrified face flashes through his mind. Before he can think any more on that subject, Dabi pushes the flask back into his hands, temperature abnormally warm, even for him. I need to monitor that. He takes it, noting it's mostly empty. I have one more, but that won't be enough for everyone. Carefully, he hooks it back on his belt. "Oi, pipsqueak. Wh—" Something explodes in the distance, making the ground tremble. Izuku and Dabi exchange a look, and the burned man attempts to get to his feet—only to be picked up by the hero-in-training. Bing! They're off before he can even think to complain, the bag of apple slices still tight in his grasp. _ "Don't interrupt Curious!" A woman with short black hair throws herself in the way, activating her Quirk. Toga's blades twang off of the woman's skin, and she hisses in annoyance and retreats. Mere seconds later, the ground where she was explodes in a shower of concrete chunks and dirt. Every time she got close to the blue skinned woman called Curious, one of her followers would step in and take the—often fatal—hit for her. Curious seemed entirely unaffected by their deaths, and had continued to chase her down, screaming about an interview and weird stuff about her life that no one but Toga should know. None of their blood tastes good—it all has this weird, ashy taste that makes her lips curl in disgust at the memory of it—and Curious is really screamy. It kind of reminds her of her parents when she'd tried to give them the pretty bird she'd found in their garden. She frowns and sneaks up beside one of the people lagging behind the group of three—formerly eight, but she'd slowly cut through their numbers, and Curious had made one of them go 'boom' when she got too close. SCHLICK! One down. Two more and she could go back to help Big Sis and the others. "'HOW DID THIS HIGH SCHOOLER TURN TO MADNESS? IN THIS SHOCKING EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW, HEAR HER STORY IN HER OWN WORDS!' How's that for a headline?" The blonde's lips peel back as she glares at the blue skinned woman and her one remaining follower. Curious is just wasting her time! She needs to go and help her friends, not do some stupid interview about her life. Toga knows that her friends aren't exactly conventional, but they're the people who accept her. Who make her feel normal. Unlike her family, who never let her drink blood or bring them gifts or meet new friends and made her stay in her room all the time. Her life is good now, and she doesn't want to talk about what happened before, especially not with someone who's keeping Jin away from her. Toga narrows her eyes, a dangerous smile spreading across her face as she darts forwards, eyes fixed on the blue skinned woman. "That sucks!" Toga hisses as she rams her favorite knife into Curious' abdomen, sending blood splashing across her arm and face. She makes eye contact with sickly green eyes—not pretty like 'Zuku's, they're sickly and weird, with black where white should be—and recoils away from the triumphant look in Curious' eyes— Too late. Something clicks into place, and an explosion goes off right beside her head as a hard object slams into her cheek, sending her flying backwards. Her back hits a metal pole hard, knocking the wind out of her. Disoriented, she tries to get up, but she can't see, can't hear past the sharp ringing in her ears. Jin. _ Izuku and Dabi skid around the corner just in time to see a bright explosion go off right beside a head of blonde hair. Himiko is thrown backwards from the force, her back hitting a streetlamp with a sickening thud. Her attacker, a person with light blue skin and long, styled lilac hair grins, gripping the bloodstained knife in their side. "DON'T YOU SEE? THERE'S NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOUR 'NORMAL' AND THE LIBERATION ARMY'S OBJECTIVE. AND THAT IS WHY YOU'LL BECOME A HUMAN SACRIFICE—" They scream, stumbling forwards as the black haired person beside them tries to support them, clearly worried about the injury. He sets Dabi down. And Black Whip comes to life, curling and lashing out and wrapping around both people with enough force that he can hear bone cracking. He ignores it, lifting them higher in the air. "I—WILL NOT—MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY—INTERVIEW! SINCE THE EARLY DAYS—MY JOURNALISM CAREER—" "CURIOUS, PLEASE STOP MOVING! IT WILL ONLY MAKE YOUR INJURIES WORSE!" 'Curious' and their follower writhe, each trying to escape Black Whip. Unfortunately for them, no one had ever escaped the Quirk's tight grasp aside from All For One, and neither were anywhere near the level of a two hundred year old multi-Quirked man with a grudge to settle. His green eyes glint coldly as he watches their struggles with detached amusement and vindication. "You deserve this and more." He murmurs, voice a gently chilling caress. Curious' struggles get weaker, and their voice quieter as their blood— so much blood, that much blood means being cold and weak and hurt —drips down onto the street, painting the concrete dark red. He knows something is wrong. He should feel something, anything. Watching a person bleed out shouldn't be like this. He should be worried, patching her up and telling her that everything will be okay like a real hero. Am I— "'ZUKU!" _ Dabi watches with no small amount of confusion as the black tentacles from before hold Himiko's attacker's in the air. He'd thought he was hallucinating those, and when he'd tried to ask Izuku about it, but the explosion had gone off and they'd rushed here and then— Himiko. The burned man wobbles to his feet, staggering over to the blonde girl, who's clearly trying to get up despite the blood trickling down her forehead and large burn on the right side of her face. She'd grown on him, and seeing her hurt like this flared long deadened brotherly instincts he'd done his best to bury, along with his past. He reaches her, kneeling right in front of her and reaching out—only to nearly get stabbed in the neck. She stops when she meets his eyes, recognition flashing across her face. She looks metally present...for now. Dabi knows better than anyone that head trauma is a finicky thing. God, I hope she doesn't have a concussion. That wouldn't be good for anyone involved. Carefully, he starts checking her for signs of concussion. The burn is minor enough that it can be treated later, and the blood is from ripped skin, not the place of impact. "What are you doing, Dabi?" Himiko asks, sounding puzzled as he waves a few fingers in front of her face. "Are you feeling dizzy? Nauseous? Is the light too bright?" Dabi asks, still waving his hand in front of her face and watching as her eyes move past them and focus on something in the distance. He tenses. "...'Zuku?" Toga asks, confusion flickering across her face before she leaps to her feet and sprints for the green clad figure. "'ZUKU!" "Toga, wait!" He calls, struggling to get up as the girl sprints towards Izuku. _ Himiko. He whirls around just in time to catch the blonde as she tackles him in a tight hug, taking a step back before steadying himself. Black Whip retracts completely, dropping the two people onto the hard concrete as he stares at her. "'Zuku!" Blood runs down her face as she grins at him, eyes glittering with excitement and hope. He moves to deflect her knife to the side instinctively, eyes wide as he takes her in. "Himiko." Izuku breathes, noting how clear her eyes look and that there isn't any blood coming from her ears. It must've been a flashier explosion, rather than one with actual substance. That's good. More flashy explosions meant less chance of permanent damage, less chance of that faint ringing lingering in your ears for days after the fact and making it hard to concentrate, hard to think— "It's you! You're here!" She grins, wrapping her arms around her neck and pulling him into a tight hug. He tightens his grip on the girl, tears pricking his eyes as he realizes that she's real and alive and here . Carefully, he shifts, using his side to block the view of a camera hidden on the side of a fire hydrant. "I'm here." He repeats, then snorts. "Oi, what the fuck was that? Why do you have tentacles now?" Dabi limps up to them, clearly out of breath. The green haired boy frowns. "First of all, you shouldn't be moving in your condition. Second of all, the 'tentacles' are my Quirk. It...mutated. Also, please don't call them tentacles. I don't do weird shit with them and I never will." Dabi smirks at him, and Himiko grins even brighter, looking happy despite her battered face and torn clothes. Something tugs at the back of his mind, a vague feeling he's done something like this before, but before he can think any more on that, something buzzes and crackles. "—Lieutenant Curious—currently on the move! All remaining members of her party come to Lieutenant Trumpet's aid in executing the criminals known as Magne and Spinner during this Revival Ceremony! All hail the Grand Commander, and long live the will of Destro!" The green haired boy's eyes zero in on a van parked on the side of the road, all of its windows rolled down and the back doors open wide. He gently sets Himiko down, edging closer to the van to see if Danger Sense goes off. When it doesn't, he walks right up to it and pokes his head through the driver's door. Inside are dark brown leather seats, a black dashboard, and most importantly, a radio with a built in walkie talkie all lit up and buzzing. Hell, the keys are even in the ignition! He grins as he reaches in and unlocks the door, checking out the back of the van from the front seat. It has built-in seats, and there's some sort of storage underneath them, but it's spacious and clean and most importantly safe . "Come on!" He calls, grinning underneath his mask. This is it. Our ticket out of this city. "Pipsqueak, don't you remember I can't drive? And Crazy is way too young to know about that shit." Dabi asks as he sidles up to the van, still looking wary of the vehicle. Izuku's grin grows wider. Thanks to Fifth's penchant for pre-Quirk luxury cars—he'd ended up fishing one out of a junkyard in the Philippines, paying for it to be shipped back to Japan, and then fixing it himself(AKA turning it into a biochemical hazard that had to be shot into space due to its threat to the environment after his death)—he knows how to drive. "I can drive, so get in." He hops out of the van and slides an arm under Dabi to support him, gently guiding the man towards the passenger seat of the van. He still looks unsure, but by the way his body is trembling, he needs to sit down and rest. Once Izuku gets him into the passenger seat, Himiko gets into the back and closes the double doors, a huge grin on her face as she brandishes a bloody knife. He has a feeling he knows where it came from, and he chooses not to ask about it, instead closing the door and resting his hands on the wheel, allowing Fifth's old instincts to kick in. "Let's do this." "Yeah!" Himiko cheers, sticking her head into the space between the passenger and driver's seat. "Please don't be as bad of a driver as Spinner." Dabi mutters, clutching his side tightly as he puts on a seatbelt.

Deika City(Long Story Short, I Joined A Cult) Pt.4

The city swarms with people dressed in dark, armour-like clothing, their weapons glinting in the afternoon sunlight as they patrol through the streets. They organize and interact like actors in a terrifyingly perfect stage play, each movement dictated by the director.

His eyes land on the tower in the distance, eyes narrowing as he remembers the narrow streets and the swarms of people, their eyes alight with a sort of fervor that spoke of a willingness to die for their cause. One of the glass panels of the tower catches the sun, shining directly into his eyes. He sighs. It was as if the building was punishing him for daring to look too long at it.

Wind pushes against his side, sending his tattered, squash yellow coat fluttering in the wind despite the heavy coating of mud on the hem. His nimble fingers are slightly pink from the cold, and he pushes them into his coat pockets to avoid total numbness, silently wishing for his warm gloves.

Yet another thing to be replaced.

Tomura would be reimbursing him for those. He'd found them in the drawer of a huge wooden dresser in a dark corner of an antique shop, and he was quite fond of them. Now they were gone, lost to the bastards that had kidnapped Jin and lured them here to attack them while they were vulnerable.

As his lips start to turn downwards, he catches sight of a patrolling pair facing the building he's currently standing on top of, their fingers pointed upwards as they shout for their comrades with 'more suitable meta abilities'.

His eyes flick back to the blindingly bright tower.

If I can just make it to that tower undetected...

He glances back down at the gathering crowd, noting how one of the figure's fingers are beginning to elongate and stretch towards him.

I suppose that's my cue.

The performer bows to his audience, then disappears in a flash of blue light.

Very well. I shall be the one to disrupt this intricate play.

A smile spreads across his lips behind the chipped black and white mask.

After all, a production quickly falls apart without its director.

Izuku clenches the steering wheel tightly enough to feel the resin give slightly beneath his hands as he weaves around the multitude of abandoned cars. People dressed in dark clothing walk down the street in pairs, with around four pairs in total for this block alone. They all press their thumb to their forehead and stick up their index finger in a sort of L-shape when they see the van. But that's not what has his attention.

No, it's the Support Items they wear.

They're all clearly well manufactured, and carry no logos or indicators of where they were made. What's disturbing is that every single person they've driven past has had some sort of Support Item. And considering the size of the average town in Japan, they would've had to pay enough money to tank the economy to get those things made, especially if they were altered for Quirk use.

Did they get them from some sort of weapons trafficking ring? But how did they afford to buy them? Do they have some sort of rich sponsor? But why would they waste money on arming an entire town when they could be spending their money on something else? Speaking of the town, who built it?

It's clearly modeled after an old military base, with a huge gate that neatly fences it in and creates a chokepoint for potential enemies. The only way in or out is by foot, or by the highway he'd caught a glimpse of earlier. On top of that, when they'd driven closer to the center of the town to avoid the burning area, the streets had started narrowing. Another tactic of older military bases to make things difficult for large groups of people coming in on foot. Honestly, at this point, he wouldn't be surprised if there was an underground bunker reserved for high ranking officials.

Seriously, who agreed to build this?

He slowly exhales, focusing on reigning in the flickering colors around him and checking the GPS. The dot labelled 'Lieutenant Trumpet' is slowly moving through a neighborhood area on the outskirts of town.

Thankfully, it hasn't stopped...yet.

The green haired boy's skin prickles as he spots yet another camera, positioned right above a streetlamp at the intersection of the streets. Though he knows the windows are heavily tinted, it doesn't stop him from side eyeing Himiko and Dabi.

They seem to be in an argument over the remaining apple slice, and their bickering soothes his nerves slightly. It feels sort of like the bar, except they're in the middle of a town full of cultists and trying to find their friends before they die. Himiko seems to be back to normal for the moment, and is enthusiastically swiping at the plastic bag in Dabi's hands. The wound in her forehead has stopped bleeding, but it left a huge trail of half-dried blood on one side of her face. She doesn't seem to notice though, too preoccupied with getting the food. Dabi looks...tired and sunburned, but has more energy than when Izuku found him. He also looks slightly green, but Izuku is pretty sure that's just because of Quirk Exhaustion.

He takes a hand off of the wheel and pulls out a second package of apples from his belt, holding it out for Himiko.

"Here. Please stop harassing Dabi."

The bag is promptly snatched from his hands with a squeal of excitement that makes him wince. He keeps his eyes on the road, though, checking for any signs of imminent danger or another member of the League.

In the distance, plumes of black smoke rise into the sky as Dabi's flames consume everything in their path, slowly but surely eating away at more and more of the town.

"—Lieutenant Trumpet requests backup to deal with the criminals known as Magne and Spinner in our Revival Ceremony! All units nearby, please move towards Block 162! Long live the will of Destro, and all hail the Grand Commander!"

Everyone tenses at the voice.

"That means they're still fighting! That's good!" Himiko speaks up, a smile on her face as she stares at the walkie-talkie.

Dabi doesn't say anything, but the look in his eyes is enough for the green haired boy to press down on the gas a little harder, silently praying they'd make it on time.

As he leaps onto a fresh rooftop, legs burning with exhaustion and slightly out of breath, he catches sight of a dark van driving through the streets. His eyes sharpen, darting from the van to the tower.

Though the streets got narrower the closer they were to the tower, having a van to transport himself there quicker, and with minimal suspicion. Plus, he'd have a chance to rest for a moment, instead of wasting his energy rooftop hopping to avoid the people that patrol the streets below.

A slow smile spreads across his face as he regards the narrow, almost entirely empty street below himself with an odd sort of mischief. It was almost perfect, aside from the lone pair of enemies and the excessive amount of cameras.

I can't have the director seeing my movements and stopping me from foiling their plans, can I?

He chuckles and slips into the shadows, ready to set his trap.

Izuku turns right, and the prickling feeling of being watched subsides. Colors flash around him as he surveys the street. It's entirely empty, and the usual places where he sees cameras are bare. This only serves to heighten his anxiety, and he clutches the steering wheel even tighter.

"'Zuku—"

Danger Sense flares.

From above.

He yanks on the wheel, pressing the gas at the same time. They spin out, but Izuku keeps his hands on the wheel, foot already moving to the break. The van is quickly approaching an abandoned car, and he knows that if he doesn't time this right, they'll crash into it.

Almost.

His eyes sharpen, focus entirely on the car that appears in and out of the windshield.

Almost.

The steering wheel creaks beneath his tight grip.

NOW!

He slams on the breaks.

The van comes to an abrupt stop, rocking dangerously far to the side before stabilizing with one final thump that sends Izuku back into the driver's seat. It's completely silent, as if the entire van was holding its breath, waiting for—

"Fucking hell." Dabi groans, opening his passenger door and promptly throwing up all over the concrete.

...At least it wasn't in the car.

He twists to check on Himiko—only to find her grinning at him, eyes alight with manic excitement as she sits in the center of the backseats. She doesn't look any worse for wear, thankfully.

"AGAIN!"

"Fuck NO—" Dabi starts throwing up again, though Izuku doubts it's anything but water at this point. He grimaces, reaching into his pockets and hands a packet of tissues to the burned man.

"Dabi?"

Spinner's shoes pound against the ground, almost in tandem with his heartbeat. His throat is painfully dry, and every breath feels as though sandpaper is being scraped against it. The broken katana in his hand catches on the ground every once in a while—a sign of poor form.

The sound of his own heartbeat and footsteps are almost overwhelming in his own ears, only outdone by the sounds of dozens of feet thudding against the concrete and rhythmic chanting that frays his nerves.

"—THOSE IMPURE MUST BE CLEANSED—"

Pretty cookie cutter houses morph into a dark, dank alleyway that smells of fish and piss.

"—GET THE LIZARD! HE WENT THAT WAY!"

He curls up behind a dumpster, the smell of his own vomit filling his own nostrils and making him silently gag. He can feel the brick at his back leeching the warmth from his scales—

Stupid scales. Stupid body. Stupid Quirk.

"LEFT!" Magne shouts, making a sharp turn into a narrower street. He quickly follows behind, shaking off the sour memory.

He watches with a grim sort of satisfaction as the dilapidated church collapses, sending a plume of embers and smoke into the night sky. The Creature Rejection Clan was one of many discriminatory groups that should've never been allowed to exist in the first place. But a society so bright cast dark shadows, and he knew that this wouldn't be his last meeting with people like them.

He just wishes...

"Are you okay?"

The man turns to Twice, who seems unusually centered and calm. Light from the fire illuminates the soot and scuffs on his suit, though he hasn't seemed to notice any of them yet.

"...I've been better." He settles on, sheathing his katana and turning back to the burning building.

Another long pause.

"If you ever need to talk about stuff like...this, we're listening." Twice says, gesturing towards the fire.

"We?" Spinner asks, eyes fixed on the burning church. Distantly, he can hear sirens, a sure sign of police officers and heroes heading their way.

"The League. We're here for you, you know?"

"RIGHT!"

Magne's voice startles him, and he stumbles, narrowly missing a baseball shaped lump of metal to the head. He hisses and sprints after his partner, feeling as though the mob's hot breath is tickling his neck. As he turns the corner, he notices a large, white house ringed by a tall fence right in front of them. Blocking their exit.

His breath catches.

We won't be able to get over that fence before they corner us.

"...So you tried to hijack the van?" Dabi asks, fully twisted around to speak to the two people in the back of the van.

"I thought it would be the best way to get closer to the center of the city while conserving my energy, but I can see that you had the same idea." Mr. Compress says, placing a bandage on Himiko's now blood-free face. He'd unmarbled a first aid kit the moment he saw her face, which was a huge relief.

The green haired boy keeps his eyes on the road, occasionally checking the GPS as he half-listens to Dabi and Himiko fill the performer in.

"—how did you see me coming?"

He can feel three sets of eyes focus on him.

Izuku presses his lips together, eyes darting to Dabi, who merely raises his eyebrow.

"...I saw something in the rearview mirror and kind of just reacted. Sorry for making you throw up, Dabi." He settles on, sending the black haired man an apologetic smile before realizing that his face is covered.

Whatever.

The green haired boy ignores the looks he's given and the colors dancing in the edges of his vision. The League doesn't need additional things to worry about now, and he doesn't have enough time to explain a haunted legacy Quirk and the circumstances around how he accepted it.

When he makes another turn, they enter a neighborhood that looks as though a riot had passed through it. Every single house's window is shattered, cars pushed to the sides of the streets, fire hydrants gushing, and plants trampled. There's even a car in one of the two story houses.

His eyes flick back to the GPS.

We're almost there.

"WE HUMANS ARE NOT WEAK! EVERYONE HOLDS 'POWER' WITHIN THEM!" The greasy haired person shouts, the smile on their face equally greasy.

Magne grunts as she activates her Quirk, forcing half of the mob away from them with the help of her magnet. They bump and push into the other ones she doesn't use her Quirk on like they're playing human bumper cars.

"THROUGH THIS RESURRECTION FESTIVAL, WE MUST SHOW THE WORLD..."

Still, she can feel herself reaching her limits, and that asshole screaming propaganda at them certainly isn't soothing. Beside her, Spinner combats any who get past her mass attacks, though he's slowly being pressed back from the sheer amount of people. Someone lets off a blast of blue smoke, obscuring her vision for a second.

"HOW WE HUMANS WITH 'SPECIAL ABILITIES' STAND VICTORIOUS AGAINST EVIL! THE POWER TO EARN OUR LIVES WITH OUR OWN HANDS!"

What the hell is this bullshit they're spouting and why is everyone listening to it?

In her distraction, she misses the person that lunges for her. They manage to grab her wrist, and she feels her energy draining even faster than before. She manages to knock them away, but not without great effort.

"OUR OBJECTIVE IS NONE OTHER THAN THE DISSOLUTION OF THE LEAGUE OF VILLAINS!"

Magne stumbles backwards, back hitting the fence.

"MAGNE!" Spinner calls, but is quickly forced to block a spiked metal arm.

She grits her teeth and raises her magnet once more, ignoring the coppery taste in her mouth as she activates her Quirk once again. Dozens of bodies fly backwards, but they're quickly replaced with new people.

It's not enough.

The woman realizes.

"SPINNER, GET UP THE WALL AND FIND THE OTHERS!" She shouts, pushing herself off of the wall and crouching low. Her magnet feels like it's a million pounds, and all she wants to do is collapse then and there. But she can't. Not until Spinner escapes.

He'll be of more use to the League than me.

"NO! I'M NOT LEAVING YOU—" Spinner bellows, only to be cut off by the greasy haired person.

"HEAR MY WORDS, LIBERATION ARMY! GATHER YOUR POWER—"

Black tentacles wrap around them, yanking them off of the van they're standing on and holding them aloft. Abruptly, the mob surrounding them collapses.

Spinner yelps as the large person he was fighting nearly flattens him. The woman straightens, arms burning from exertion as she searches for the source of the tentacles.

"BIG SIS!"

Her head whips towards the familiar sound, eyes widening as she watches Himiko dart over the limp bodies and nearly knock her over with a tight hug.

"Mr. Compress?!"

Spinner's voice makes her look up—and, sure enough, there's the magician himself. Right beside him is Dabi, who's crouched down and poking at one of the bodies with a wary expression.

"You think they're going to get up any time soon?" He calls, turning his head towards the van that the greasy haired person had chased them on.

A figure emerges from the shadows, clad in a green hero suit that has her hackles raising—until she sees the black tendrils coming from their red gloved hands, the tendrils wrapped around a greasy haired person currently being dragged across the concrete.

A hero...is helping us?

She furrows her eyebrows, arms tightening around Himiko.

"Probably not. His Quirk is definitely an amplifier type, and it looks like prolonged use leads to a mild 'overdose', so to speak."

Magne's eyes widen as the black tendrils lift the greasy haired person up into the air again, right level with the green clad figure's face.

"Isn't that right, Lieutenant Trumpet?"

"Bush?"

Izuku startles at the nickname, eyes flicking past the terrified man's face and to Magne.

She looks...bad. Not as bad as she could be, but bad enough that he knows she'll need rest. Lots of it.

"Magne." Though the green haired boy doesn't say much, his tone is warm and friendly.

"How—What—" She stops herself, eyes narrowing as she turns to Spinner.

"You called him?"

The green scaled man visibly stiffens and throws his hands up in a defensive gesture, backing away from her furious expression.

"I didn't actually ask him to come, I asked him to call for reinforcements! I swear I didn't ask him to fight!"

"Then why is he here?" Magne hisses, glaring at the man, who retreats behind Mr. Compress and Dabi(neither of which attempt to shield him from her wrath).

"Um," He speaks up, ignoring the feeling of the man tangled in Black Whip attempting to escape. "I'm happy to explain why I'm here when we're not surrounded by cameras. You know, giving the enemy information and stuff."

Mr. Compress sighs.

"He's right. There are cameras everywhere, and I think it would be best we moved to a more secure location before speaking about this matter."

They collectively nod along, and Spinner looks relieved that Magne's attention is off of him. She doesn't get angry very often, but when she does, it's terrifying. The green haired boy smiles as he watches Himiko tug at Magne's hand, leading her around the mass of unconscious people and towards Dabi.

"Your takedown was quite splendid." Mr. Compress walks up to him and sets a hand on his shoulder. "But I must ask that you allow me to handle the trash."

A smile creeps up on Izuku's lips.

"Sure! Just leave him intact enough to get information out of."

The man entangled in Black Whip shrieks and squirms, trying to get away as Mr. Compress reaches for him, but it's useless.

Moments later, a shiny blue marble drops to the concrete, glinting wickedly in the winter sun.

Deika City(Long Story Short, I Joined A Cult) Pt.5

Twice shifts in the hard chair, trying to maneuver his uninjured arm out of the cuffs to no avail. His back aches from the weird angle he's at, and the various cuts and bruises across his body burn and itch in a way that's impossible to ignore.

The blonde man grunts in discomfort, but continues with his attempts. Oh, stop complaining and make yourself useful for once.

Re-Destro had finished his villain monologue—which was kind of boring, but the feeling of the long haired person's eyes on his back made him at least pretend to pay attention—a while ago, and the large room is silent aside from the tapping of fingers on a keyboard. Neither one of the corporate bastards had bothered to speak to him unless they were spouting weird propaganda about 'meta abilities' and how the League is too destructive.

He twists a little too far, and white hot pain lances up his broken arm, making him hiss in agony. It could be worse. You could've turned out to not be the Original.

The other occupants of the room ignore him, the orange haired man on the grey couch sipping his glass of wine like the pretentious bastard he is. A pretentious bastard with no taste. Who drinks red wine? It tastes like shit. Shards of glass glitter in the shaggy carpet below his feet, and the dark, partially dried stain looks unnervingly like blood.

That'll be a nightmare to get out of the carpet.

Focus. He needs to focus. Mr. Compress always got out of handcuffs, even without his Quirk. He'd said something about magic and then Twice got distracted. Now he wishes he hadn't but...well. Here he is. What an idiot.

Something flashes in the corner of his eye, and he turns back towards the huge, floor to ceiling window to his right. From this angle, he can see the entire city, and the massive mountains and forests surrounding it. The only thing that breaks the intimidating wall of nature is a highway devoid of cars that quickly winds out of sight.

And...there. There it is. The cause of Re-Destro's anger earlier. Plumes of dark smoke curl into the sky, carrying embers of blue flames as they eat away at this stupid city, block by block. It had only been half an hour, and it was twice the size it had been when he'd first noticed it.

A grin spreads across his aching face. Serves these assholes right.

"Grand Commander."

Twice twitches at the long haired person's voice, phantom pain making the bandaged wound on his leg twinge. They were the one who 'roughed him up' before taking a video of his beat up state and threatening the League with his safety. They were the one who broke his arm with a sickening smile on their face, murmuring about breaking him as he screamed and thrashed against his chains in the cold, empty room.

"Yes, Lieutenant Skeptic?"

The blonde man shudders and shakes himself out of it. He doesn't have the time or energy to process that memory.

"I believe we have a bishop on our hands, as well as a new piece approaching from the west."

"A bishop? It's been a while since you named such a versatile piece."

"They're well deserving of it. Their Meta Ability is incredibly useful and unique, and they wield it in inventive ways. Unfortunately, I can't find any records of someone currently living in Japan with a Quirk like theirs, but judging from their attire, they're a foriegn hero. Probably from where the laws are a little less strict and costume companies are more experimental." Skeptic explains, fingers still flying across the keyboard.

"Malaysia? I heard their costume companies were a hit or miss sort of deal from another potential investor." Re-Destro muses, swirling the amber liquid in his glass languidly.

"Perhaps. I only have a few good shots of them, and most of them are still fairly blurred. They seem to know where the cameras are and destroy them before I can get any good pictures." The black haired person complains.

"I see. And the rest of the League?"

Twice perks up.

"Out of sight of my cameras. They probably crawled into some dark corner to lick their wounds. But if they do get close to us, I have no doubt the pawns at the base of the tower will deal with them swiftly."

That's not very helpful.

"What have I told you about referring to our loyal followers as pawns, Skeptic?" The orange haired man chides, tone chastising despite the amused smile on his face.

Skeptic huffs, the clicking of the keyboard slowing for a second as they lower their head to the man on the couch.

"I apologize, Great Commander. They are valuable followers that strive to uphold Destro's beliefs."

"That's right. Continue your hard work, and tell me about the new pieces once you get any new information. I'm quite curious about this bishop of yours."

"And then I got warped here by slime, saw Dabi's fire, and the rest is history." Izuku finishes off his story with a nonchalant wave of his free hand.

The other one is firmly on the steering wheel, navigating through the wrecked streets. It looks as though this entire small shopping area had been hit by a mob. Which is weird, because he'd think that they'd try to preserve the part of their city that housed food and clothing, but if their attack on the League is as thought out as he suspects it is, it probably has something to do with insurance.

Glass litters the streets, and a hole where a fire hydrant should be gushes water everywhere. Poles are bent or broken, and storefronts are almost collapsed in on themselves. It's suspiciously devoid of black clothed people, but the cameras are as present here as in the rest of the city.

The tower is closer than ever, untouched amongst the chaos and glittering in the midafternoon sunlight. Everything was getting narrower, and Izuku knew that they'd have to ditch the van soon if they wanted to use it to escape later.

"You're skipping over the part where you piledrived the dude I was fighting for half an hour into the concrete like it was nothing. And nearly snapped the woman who attacked Himiko in half. And the tentacles." Dabi says, a half smirk on his face as he rummages through the dashboard compartment in front of him.

Old indignation rises in his chest, and he shoots the burned man a glare.

"They are not tentacles—"

"What did you even say to the Doctor to get him to warp you here?" Spinner asks, yelping when Mr. Compress applies antiseptic to a patch of missing scales on his bicep.

The green haired boy pauses, wondering how to phrase this.

"...I...um. Kind of threatened him. But I didn't say to bring me here, I just said I wanted to know where you guys were and he sort of just warped me with no warning infrontofmyentiregradeandallthreeofmymainteachers!" He rushes out the last couple of words, hoping they didn't catch that.

" That's why you're wearing a hero costume?" Magne asks with disbelief.

Shit, she heard me.

"Um. Yeah. Sorry?"

"It's actually a pretty good disguise. I thought he was a hero before he started asking me about my stitches." Dabi says, then pulls a megaphone out of the drawer.

"Thank god, I thought it was just me!" Magne exclaims, flopping backwards as she holds out her hand to Mr. Compress.

The masked man produces a marble from one of his many pockets and places it in her hand. Within seconds, it morphs into a bag of chips, and Magne scarfs them down quickly.

"You're welcome." Mr. Compress huffs. "Anyway. You shouldn't apologize. You were warped to an active crime scene against your will in a rather unpleasant way."

Izuku frowns.

"I don't really care about that. I'm more bothered that he didn't send any other resources aside from an inexperienced highschooler to help you out. Isn't he your ally?"

"In the loosest sense of the word. He has no ties or obligations towards us aside from our shared spo—"

Danger Sense flares, and he nearly slams on the breaks when the entire van begins to shake slightly. He stops himself in time, moving to check the rearview mirrors—

On the top of the hill he'd stood on no more than an hour ago, a huge, rocky person stands. Their white eyes are shadowed by heavy brows, and they wear a huge grin on their face.

"MY LORD, I AM COMING! I, YOUR FAITHFUL SERVANT, SHALL FIND YOU AND FULFILL ANY REQUEST YOU MAKE OF ME!"

The entire van vibrates, and the windows rattle slightly as their excited voice echoes through the valley they're located in. It even seems to bounce off of the nearby mountains and comes back in a faint echo.

It's deathly silent, no one in the van daring to breathe, much less move.

"...That's Gigantomachia, isn't it?" He asks, tone flat. It's not really a question. Everyone inside the van already knows the answer.

"Yep! He looks happier than usual though." Himiko chirps, peering out the back window.

The memory of the giant man calling him 'Lord' and wailing for him to come back flashes through his mind.

"He must've tracked us here by scent." Dabi mutters.

Fuck no.

Izuku slams on the gas so hard that he knows the van will leave behind marks on the concrete and peels out of the wrecked shopping district as fast as he possibly can. They need to find Tomura and Jin before they're attacked by two separate, extremely formidable enemies.

Hopefully, being in a car will help us hide a little longer.

Shigaraki kicks open the final door, labelled with eighty-seven in bold red paint. There's only one hallway here. It's dark and completely empty, much to his surprise. The other floors had dozens of NPC's guarding them, but this one was empty? Was this some sort of trick? Or was that asshat who kidnapped Shigaraki's party member so cocky that he thought he didn't need bodyguards?

Whatever. Either way, I don't have to deal with NPC's getting in my way anymore.

They're annoying, time consuming, and more like obstacles than actual opponents at this point. His legs burn from exertion, and he feels exhaustion weighing heavily on him. He knows that once his adrenaline rush wears off, he's going to collapse.

Blood drips from his bare fingertips as he trudges down the dark hallway, eyes fixed on the only door on the entire floor. The last door.

The blue haired man reaches out, flattening his palm against the sturdy surface and feeling a rush of satisfaction as it quickly dissolves beneath his touch. Bright light makes his eyes water as he steps into the final room, a scowl on his face.

"—Agent Tengai. Come in, Agent Tengai!"

The monk reaches up and taps the communication device hooked behind his ear.

"How may I assist you?"

"Lieutenant Skeptic said that it's time to enact Operation 45. How long will it take you to get it up?"

Hejiki Tengai looks around at the masses of black clothed people that surround him, methodically adjusting his long black sleeves as he does so.

"Around five minutes, if I begin now. What are their orders?"

"Get it up now. Apparently the League has a new ally."

The blonde man frowns with displeasure. Only the truly immoral would help scum like those that made up the League of Villains. He is merely thankful that he has an opportunity to help someone who took issue with their actions as well. They'd corrupted his former Master, turned him towards a path of greed and lies instead of his glorious path to purifying the world of filth.

"I will begin at once. Long live the will of Destro, and all hail the Grand Commander." He replies.

The device cuts off, and he raises his arms abruptly, his sleeves making a sharp snapping noise as yellow light begins to spread from his fingertips.

I may not be able to pull Master Overhaul away from his path of corruption, but I can punish those who led him down it in the first place.

Shigaraki lunges for the man in the chair in front of him, dissolving the cuffs around Twice's wrists in mere seconds before pulling away. The blonde man topples backwards, letting out a grunt of pain as he scrambles to free himself from his other bindings.

"Grand Commander—!" A pale twig in the corner of the room gets out of their seat, heading for the man sitting on the couch.

"Sit down, Skeptic. I'm guessing you're Tomura Shigaraki, the leader of the League of Villains. Am I right?" The orange haired man waves 'Skeptic' away. What was his name again? Destroy? Detroit?

Either way, he was the one who's behind Twice's kidnapping. Anger roils in his chest, and his lips peel back in a feral snarl.

"No one hurts my party members."

Shigaraki lunges for the man, but before he can turn the asshole to dust, pain explodes in his stomach. He flies backwards, back hitting a padded wall hard before he slides down to the floor like a bug on a windshield.

He dry heaves, gasping for the air so abruptly stolen from his lungs.

"Boss!"

I didn't even see that attack coming.

"What a shame. I thought that the rumours of your uncivilized behavior were overly exaggerated, but I suppose the broken clock is right twice a day."

He growls and forces himself to his feet, still panting as he glares at the orange haired man—who hasn't moved from his position on that stupidly clean couch—and wonders if the sleep deprivation is getting to him or if this boss's attack points are just that high.

"Shigaraki!" Twice is there, kneeling beside him, except it isn't Twice because Twice always wears a mask so he doesn't split in half—

"Leave this to me, okay?"

What?

"What do you think you're going to do? Your arm is broken, and there's no way out of this tower without the Grand Commander or myself stopping you." The long haired person— Skeptic? Science? Wait, those don't sound similar— taunts, a cruel smile on their face that makes Shigaraki's blood boil.

"You know what? Fuck you. INFINITE CLONES!" Twice screams, and dozens of clones sprout out of him, each screaming obscenities as they overwhelm the other two people in the room. Each clone makes dozens of copies of himself, until their collective weight makes the floor beneath Shigaraki's feet shake and crack.

He stumbles towards the stairway, only to be scooped up by Twice, who wears a big grin on his dumb face...his dumb face with a black eye. How had he missed that? He really needs to kill Detroit.

"I'll get us out of this, Boss. Just hold tight, okay?"

Shigaraki doesn't have time to ask what that means, because Twice and several of his clones charge through the huge window with Shigaraki in tow.

Glass shatters, and for a moment, they hover there, as if they're weightless. Then gravity catches up to them, and they plummet towards the ground.

The blue haired man shrieks in delayed terror, realizing that they'd just leapt from an eighty story building and to their certain death.

"YOU CRAZY BASTARD!" He howls, grip on the blonde man's arms clawlike despite his absent pinkie finger.

Chunks of concrete rain down around them as clones begin to sprout from Twice's body again at such a rapid rate that makes Shigaraki feel slightly nauseous just watching. Suddenly, he's drowning in beefy bodies and goop and loud shouts of protest as he tumbles down a hill of Twice clones, the original close behind. He hits the ground with a muffled 'oof', ribs throbbing as a huge piece of concrete hits the ground right beside his head so hard that it cracks.

The blue haired man's eyes widen, and he scrambles to his feet.

"TWICE! TWICE, WE NEED TO GO—"

He narrowly dodges another chunk of falling concrete.

CRAAACK.

Shigaraki looks up to see at least three floors of the top of that stupid, shiny tower break off and begin falling towards them.

Oh shit.

Deika City(Long Story Short, I Joined A Cult) Pt.6

The old man leans back in his chair, listening to the object creak slightly underneath the change in weight. It echoes through the basement, bouncing off of the glowing green tubes holding his beautiful creations. Calmly, he pats the head of the small, deformed creature in his lap, careful to avoid the exposed brain and beak. Neither are particularly pleasant to touch, and he'd rather not make the trip to his operating sink. It's still messy from his last...project, and he doesn't want to disturb that mess just yet.

That child...

He'd heard of the hero student that had wormed his way into Sensei's little side project, who'd kept coming back despite his cemented place in a prestigious school and future career as a hero. It was strange to hear it from Sensei's mouth, and even stranger to witness the 'League of Villains' tense in recognition of the name that he uttered in their presence. It wasn't a new experience to be threatened with his life, but it was the first time Sensei's other allies dared threaten him. After all, he played an essential part in supplying Sensei with new creations to test the limits of human capabilities.

His gaze drifts to the hulking figure in the tube closest to him. It's his most recently completed creation, and one that might be useful to the League of Villains...

The man's mustache twitches as his lips curl downwards.

No. They don't deserve Hood.

He turns back to the computer screens, eyes landing on the phone sitting on his desk. The progress bar is fully done, indicating that the device that had been used to contact him was permanently wiped of all data, including his contact information and any other incriminating evidence. He wouldn't be taking his chances with a hero brat.

Especially not one that sounds so much like...

The Doctor sighs. He really should inform Sensei of the most recent development with his pet project. But his master had said that he wanted to see Tomura mature, and any early interference may stunt any sort of developments. It's a test, of sorts. And it would be unwise to interrupt something that Sensei had explicitly stated to leave alone.

Still...

"What do you think, Johnny?"

The small Nomu in his arms shifts slightly, the large shoes on his feet making skid marks on his stained slacks as it chirps and clicks out a series of noises not unlike a bird would make.

He nods.

"You're right. It's best to leave it alone."

All For One is far too generous of a sponsor to risk his ire.

Yotsubashi's stress swirls around him, inky black and potent as rubble and debris pelts his back. Smoke fills his lungs, and he resists the urge to cough as he reinforces the stress covering his enlarged body like armour right before a particularly pointy piece of metal almost pierces through his shoulder. It never makes contact with his flesh, and in a few moments, deafening silence replaces the rushing noise of the tower—his tower—collapsing.

He grimaces and rises to his feet, hands tightly cupped around Skeptic's tiny body. It's hard to see in the dark smoke, but a faint red glow comes from his right, and he can feel the heat of flames warming his right side.

The orange haired man exhales, the stress around his body whirling once more before pushing outwards in a wave of energy that forces the thick grey smoke away from him. It moves away from him violently, clearing the air enough that the sun begins to shine through once more. Everything is tinted an odd yellowish color, and it takes a moment for him to register the iridescent yellow barrier over his head.

Sharp winter wind nips at his bare skin, and he makes a mental note to commission suits of a more expandable nature before engaging enemies with his Meta Ability in the future.

As Re-Destro surveys the still slightly smoky area, he grimaces when he sees how much collateral damage Shigaraki has managed to do. He'd expected some level of damage—hence the raised city-wide insurance with a trustworthy company—but he'd hoped it wouldn't come to such extreme levels. The remains of the upper part of the tower are scattered throughout the park that once surrounded it, and if he squints, he can make out intact buildings in the distance.

A pang of sorrow courses through him as he sees a few of his followers didn't get out of the way quick enough.

In a matter of minutes, the center of his city had turned into a wasteland, and he can't help but feel some resentment towards the self-proclaimed 'League of Villains' for destroying utopia so thoroughly. He's spent a lot of time designing the perfect city, and while many things could be replaced or rebuilt, his devout followers could not. Each one is precious in their innate ability to help make Destro's will known to the world.

However...

His followers' deaths had ensured the demise of Tomura Shigaraki and his most powerful ally. The rest of the League have extraordinary Meta Abilities, but are weak in comparison to the sheer destructive power Shigaraki and Twice wielded. They will be easily dealt with now that they're wounded and leaderless.

Smoke and black stress whirls around him, their patterns almost in tandem as he gives his followers' mangled bodies a smile.

"You may rest peacefully knowing that you've helped us achieve the true goal of our Revival Celebration." He murmurs, uncurling his hands as sunlight filters down on his dusty face.

A moment's pause.

And the person in his palm shifts, pulling their turtleneck over their nose as they open up their computer and begin typing once more.

Re-Destro sighs.

Skeptic takes this as a sign to begin talking.

"Don't worry, Grand Commander. I've already enacted Operation 45, though I doubt it will be necessary—"

"You really thought..."

A figure emerges from the smoke. Battered, bloody, covered in dust, and clearly limping. But intact, and with hateful red eyes and a feral snarl that's intent is clear, even with the swirling smoke and dust.

"That something as pitiful as a building would kill me?" Shiagaraki asks, dirty greyish-blue hair almost obscuring the blood trickling down his chin.

Red eyes meet black.

The red eyed man staggers forwards, and Yotsubashi's attention is entirely on the threat in front of him. So much so that he entirely misses the dozens of shadows crawling along the edges of his vision, using the smoke to hide their movements.

His eyes narrow at the pure hatred radiating from Shigaraki, his own anger flaring up in response and making the black stress around him thicken.

Re-Destro sets Skeptic down.

"Grand Commander—"

"Go and reassemble our forces, Skeptic. I will show the leader of the League of Villains the true might of Destro and the Meta Liberation Army."

The wheel beneath his hands vibrates, signalling the footsteps of Gigantomachia as he moves through the city.

Izuku had lost sight of him a while ago, but the wheel trembling beneath his hands is enough to let him know of the giant man's presence. He purses his lips, doing his best to tune out the low murmuring of the people in the back and Himiko watching the colors that flash around him with intense curiosity in her eyes.

The shiny tower looms over them, closer than ever. He's currently driving parallel to it, eyes focused on the line of black vans that barricade each road wide enough for a vehicle. Each van is guarded by several armed figures, and from this distance, Izuku can just barely make out cameras mounted on the tops of each of the vehicles.

He sighs, gripping the wheel a little tighter as he makes another turn.

It's clear that they won't be getting any closer than they are now without being found out. So he needs to figure out a good place to hide this van, and then a good way to sneak up on a large group of people with illegal Support Items.

Damn, I wish I had Stealth.

The green haired boy frowns and drives around a line of cars, nearly riding up on the sidewalk to avoid the abandoned vehicles.

Stop it. Not everything can be solved by a Quirk.

"—stop being stubborn and let me check it! You can't go in without knowing the extent of the injury—"

"I have no idea what you're talking about—"

"Stop hiding it from me! I saw you favoring your left ankle—"

Izuku purses his lips, eyes flicking to the rearview mirror. Spinner is trying to grab Mr. Compress, but the performer is smoothly dodging his attempts despite the limited space. Toga is in the corner, giggling over...something, and Magne is clutching her head like she's nursing a headache.

It looks like they've regained some of their energy. What was that about Mr. Compress favoring his left...ankle...?

His eyes widen.

The shiny tower is crumbling, smoke pouring out of the building as it slowly collapses from the top. Bodies freefall through the air along with debris, and dull roaring fills his ears as he watches everything fall in slow motion.

Danger Sense flares.

They're close to the tower. Too close.

We need to get behind or underneath something sturdy, otherwise we'll get hurt.

Izuku hits the gas, making the van lurch forwards violently.

"WHAT THE HELL—"

The buildings around them are intact, but they're not tall enough to entirely shield the van from damage.

"IZUKU—"

He makes a hard right.

"HOLY SHIT LOOK!"

Almost there.

The ground begins to rumble, and he makes a left, narrowly avoiding ramming into yet another abandoned car as he skids into the glass littered streets of the shopping district. Thankfully, whatever group that passed through here mostly targeted the windows of the buildings and left the building's structures alone.

Someone is shouting something, but he misses the words.

Danger Sense is going off the hook, it's increasingly frantic warnings grating on his nerves so much he nearly misses his destination—a dark, narrow alleyway they'd driven by earlier.

Quickly, he puts the car into reverse and pulls into the alleyway so fast that he can hear the shrieking protest of metal. His side mirror clips the edge of the building and bangs into his window, but the noise is drowned out by the sound of a rushing river as a cloud of smoke and debris engulfs them, plunging the van into darkness.

There's a moment of silence, punctuated by several people's heavy breathing.

"...I'm never getting in a car with you again." Dabi groans from the passenger seat.

"— attention! The Great Commander—"

Izuku slams the door shut, then locks it and shoves the keys in one of his more secure pockets. Ahead of him, everyone slowly creeping out into the smoky street, faces covered by neon bandanas soaked in water.

Sunlight trickles through the light grey smoke, it's dull rays washing everything out. He adjusts his metal mask and jogs over to them, falling into line behind Dabi with Mr. Compress in the lead.

The performer had volunteered, and they agreed on the condition that he let Izuku and Spinner check his ankle(apparently he's taken basic first aid classes a few months ago). Thankfully, it wasn't broken or sprained, but they'd wrapped it just in case.

Glass crunches beneath their feet, the noise drowned out by the all encompassing smoke.

Dabi's tattered black coat flutters as he walks forwards, footsteps even despite the faint trembling of his hands. He wishes that he could've convinced the burned man to eat something else after he'd thrown up, but he'd gotten distracted with driving and the thrill of realizing that everyone else was okay and not dead.

The green haired boy walks a little faster, moving close enough to Dabi that he could catch him if he fell.

As they advance through the streets, Izuku begins to hear the sounds of people fighting, though it's pretty muffled and far away. He perks up slightly.

Could that be Tomura and Jin?

Mr. Compress seems to think the same thing, and they begin walking straight for the sounds of fighting. Shadows creep in the corners of his vision, and he forcefully pushes down One For All, which seems ready to activate at the slightest perceived danger. Flashing colors are already bad enough, but full blown lightning would definitely alert people of their position, smoke or not.

Izuku blinks, resisting the urge to rub his itchy eyes as he looks up to check on Dabi—who's covered in a fine layer of dust that makes it look like he's been sprinkled in powdered sugar. The sounds of fighting are getting closer, so much so that he can hear people shouting indistinguishable words. If he stands on the tips of his toes, he can see shadows beginning to emerge from the smoke over Dabi's shoulder.

Something yellow flashes, and for a moment he wonders if it's One For All—

BANG!

He flinches away from the sound, recognizing it as a gunshot. Before he can even process that thought, something comes flying out of the smoke. It hurdles for them, then slams into an invisible wall and dissolves into grey goop that drips down seemingly nothing like a bug on a windshield.

It's one of Jin's clones!

Spinner rushes forwards, blades flashing—only for the metal to clang off of a glimmering yellow barrier.

It must be an emitter Quirk, keeps out physical objects and people. All physical objects or just things considered weapons? Doesn't keep in the noise, and dust seems to pass through it. Lots of paper build up at the edges, so it keeps harmless objects in too. Does it have some sort of size limit? It seems to encompass this entire block with ease, but I can't tell how large it is because of the smoke. If there is a weak point, it would probably be at the top. Maybe I could fly up there and hit it from the top? Or we could dig under it? No, that would take too long. If I did fly to the top, I would definitely get noticed, but it would be a good diversion...

Izuku's muttering is abruptly cut off when he sees a dark, hulking figure rise through the smoke.

Gigantomachia..?

"DOES YOUR RAGTAG GROUP OF FOOLS WITH NOTHING BUT DESTRUCTION ON THEIR MINDS THINK THAT THEIR AMBITIONS COULD POSSIBLY OUTWEIGH OURS?"

Izuku's skin prickles, One For All's humming spiking as he stares at the dark, hulking figure, ears aching from the sheer volume of their voice. Dark smoke swirls around them, and watery sunlight filters down on their pitch black body, revealing a grinning face and small, dark eyes. Their arm is outstretched, holding something high in the air.

"WE ARE THE ONES WHO HAVE FOUGHT FOR LIBERATION FOR GENERATIONS! WE ARE THE ONES WHO HAVE FACED PERSECUTION, WE ARE THE ONES WHO BEAR THE WEIGHT OF THE MOTHER OF QUIRKS LAST WISH! YOU ARE NOTHING ."

Something...someone.

He freezes, breath catching in his throat as a ray of sunshine illuminates the person pinched between the hulking black figure's fingers.

Greyish-blue hair, a stained red coat, hands adorning his body and the gleam of bright red blood trickling down his bare arm.

Tomura.

Dabi has always had a sixth sense for danger. He's not entirely sure why he has it—maybe his bastard father's reflex training was useful for something other than getting burned, or maybe it's the result of growing up in an unstable household—but it's saved him from dying several times over the years. He'd learned to pay attention to the clenching in his gut, to the hair raising on his unburned skin and the gentle chill down his spine.

So when he feels a chill down his spine, he stiffens, blue flames licking his feverish palms as he looks around for the threat—

Bright colors flicker around the green clad figure, and the hairs on the back of Dabi's neck stand straight on end when he sees a glowing hand reaching for the kid. Something is wrong. Every single alarm bell is going off in Dabi's head, telling him to run, to hide, to get as far away as possible.

How much did his Quirk mutate?

Ozone stings his nose as he struggles to breathe under the immense pressure suddenly weighing down on him. All around him, pieces of debris begin to float and the cement beneath his feet becomes a web of cracks. Faintly, he registers someone shouting something, but it's drowned out by a low, all encompassing hum that makes his fingers feel staticky and his teeth chatter.

Still, his eyes are fixed on the figure in front of him. Izuku radiates light and power and so much pressure that his body shakes from the stress of just holding himself upright.

Dabi opens his mouth, hand reaching for the hero student—only to be blinded by a flash of light then blown backwards, tumbling head over ass into the front of a parked car. He hisses in pain as his bruised ribs collide with the grill, the afterimage of the flash still burned into his closed eyelids.

BOOM!

He cracks his eyes open.

Pieces of yellow light rain down like shards of broken glass, hitting the ground and shattering into a million pieces as a brilliant white light streaks through the clear air like a shooting star, heading straight for the hulking black figure.

BOOM!

A clap of thunder echoes through the clear winter skies, and Re-Destro braces himself against the sudden onslaught of wind and smoke.

Shards of yellow light rain down from the sky, dissolving the moment they touch the black stress swirling around him. The smoke that had obscured his vision before had cleared, revealing the full extent of damage that Shigaraki and his little followers had done to his city.

His dark eyes narrow, lips curling downwards as he tightens his grip on the man's already partially crushed arm—

Re-Destro's skin prickles as the sound of high pitched whining gets closer and closer, making his ears ache. He barely has time to look over his shoulder when what he can only describe as a figure made of pure light apparates right over him.

For a moment, time freezes as he meets furious green eyes ringed by brightly glowing stars.

A chill goes down his spine, and he freezes, eyes widening—

CRACK!

Pain blossoms in his cheek, and he stumbles forwards, falling to his knees as he clutches his cheek, shouting in agony as the taste of warm copper fills his mouth. His head spins, and the sharp tang of ozone makes his nose burn.

What was that?

He's falling. Falling and falling and falling and he can't do anything to stop himself, head swirling with muddled memories he's been suppressing for years.

"You're such a useless child." Father sneers, kicking him out into the cold after he'd dared to mention heroes at the dinner table.

His stained, ripped red coat snaps in the wind as he falls, cheeks numb from the cold.

"Don't take it personally, honey. Your father just gets frustrated sometimes. Just make sure to stay out of his way, and nothing bad will happen, okay?" His mother caresses his bandaged cheek gently.

She was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong .

"Tenko! Look what I found!" Hana chirps, waving an old, faded photograph as she skips up to him.

A woman with a serene smile and a bright white cape. For some reason, he can't quite remember what her eyes looked like.

Something grabs him out of the air, violently jerking him out of his memories. He looks up, warm liquid trickling into his eyes and making them sting. He blinks, clearing his vision just enough to realize he's being held by a hero. The blue haired man lashes out with his good arm, hand landing on the hero's metal mask and dissolving it in a matter of seconds.

His fingers find freckled flesh, and Shigaraki cries out when he sees Decay begin to crack the face of a very familiar hero student. He yanks his hand away, but the damage is already done.

Blood wells up in the cracks of the hero's face, dripping down his jaw and lips as the cracking slows down—then stops, as if halted by some invisible force.

Ozone sears his nose as he stares at the green haired boy's face in wonder, images of his families dissolving bodies overlapping with the hero student.

"Brat?" He asks, voice sounding shaky, even to his own ears.

Everything is starting to catch up to him. It's cold, his stomach is churning, and his skin is uncomfortably sticky with residual sweat from his fight with Detroit. His head hurts, and the bright light only makes it worse.

Black spots start to swim in his vision, and the last thing he sees is a small, reassuring smile spreading across Izuku's cracked, bleeding face before everything goes dark.

Izuku soars through the air with a limp Shigaraki in his arms and fury pumping through his veins. The man had passed out before he could explain anything, but considering he can see the white of bone sticking out of his injured arm, it's a miracle he was even conscious enough to attack him.

He carefully cradles Shigaraki's bloody arm between himself and the man to avoid further damage. From what he can tell, it's already partially crushed and will definitely need professional medical help, if not a specialized doctor to get it functioning anywhere near normal in the long run.

The green haired boy's eyes grow cold, the lights ringing them growing brighter in response to his anger as he soars back to where he left the League. He needs to get Shigaraki to safety before that giant person recovers from his kick to their jaw. Dark grey smoke pours out of his glove, and tiny electric shocks make his arm muscles spasm, letting him know that the bracelet Hatsume made him is toast. He'd gone well over All Might's level of strength, and she'd warned him weeks ago about the consequences of doing so.

As he flies back to the area he came from, he notes that the barricades at the end of each street are under attack. Hundreds of clones of Twice push back against the people defending them, and despite how rapidly they're becoming puddles of goop, there are so many of them that they're slowly beginning to overwhelm the darkly clothed figures.

Danger Sense flares.

From behind.

Izuku twists, using his body to shield Shigaraki as he shoots into the air—

Too late.

Something slams into his back, sending him tumbling through the air as blood fills his mouth. He coughs wetly, wiping blood from the uninjured side of his face. Regeneration is already taking effect, and he can feel the pain in his back easing as he turns around to see the dark, hulking person already on their feet and grinning.

His lips peel back in a soundless snarl as he darts underneath another attack, shielding Shigaraki's body as he notes the dark smoke that sweeps across the destroyed field and hits the buildings nearby, making them crumble like a child's building blocks.

Izuku grimaces at the sight.

Thank god I shielded Tomura from that.

He could deal with the hits, even if they were painful and kept knocking him off course. Shigaraki is most likely in shock due to the severity of his injuries and probably can't take anymore damage without dying.

And that goes for the rest of the League...

If he did try to get any closer to them, there's a high chance that they might get crushed under a falling building. Or worse, get hit by whatever kind of attack this person is using to break buildings with ease.

"So you're the bishop my Lieutenant was fawning over. I was wondering if any of Shigaraki's little group would show up to rescue him."

The green haired boy tilts his head, eyes narrowing as he assesses the person in front of him. Now that the smoke is cleared, their height is rather impressive, and considering they could take a punch from One For All and not pass out or die, they must be powerful. Or, rather, whatever that black stuff is must be powerful. Though, now that he's got a better view of them, he can see a cut on their lip, partially hidden by the black smoke that swirls around them.

Danger Sense flares, and he flicks a finger, sending himself and Shigaraki upwards so fast that his ears pop. A black coated fist swipes through the air where he was seconds ago, and he twists to cradle the blue haired man in his arms despite his half-healed ribs protesting.

"You seem to be rather loyal to him despite your obvious differences in strength. Not many can take the brunt of my Stress Output and continue to move, much less use their Meta Ability."

Meta Ability...does he mean Quirk?

Something blue flashes in the corner of his vision.

"Speaking of which, you have a rather unique one. Even Skeptic couldn't figure out the full extent of it—"

Mr. Compress.

Lightning crackles around him as he aims a kick at empty air, sending himself rocketing towards one of the partially destroyed side streets with Shigaraki's limp body secure in his arms.

Whoever this person is, they're important, and clearly interested in him. If he can just keep their focus on him, he can make sure 'Stress Output' isn't used on any of his much less durable friends. However, considering what they'd been shouting at Shigaraki, they're going to be more focused on killing him than on Izuku, so he needs to get Shigaraki out of the picture now.

And—there!

The green haired boy deactivates Float, gravity taking a hold of his body like an iron fist as he plummets behind the remains of the top of the formerly shiny tower. He lands hard enough to make the ground crack, sending vibrations up to his knees, but Shigaraki remains unconscious.

Almost instantly, Mr. Compress appears, holding out his hands.

"Whoever that person is, they're interested in me. I'll keep them busy, and you guys find Jin." He says, feeling the ground tremor beneath his feet as he hands Shigaraki to the performer.

"Be careful. We'll call for retreat once we find the real Twice."

"Got it—"

Danger Sense flares again, and his eyes sharpen as he dives in front of the two men, using a combination of Black Whip and his own body to throw them out of the way of the blast. It hits him square in the back, knocking him out of the way of the falling debris and sending him crashing through several solid structures so quickly that all he can register is pain.

"Now, now. Don't be rude, I wasn't done with our discussion yet!"

Himiko's new, super big knife flashes through the air as she darts around the mean people with ease, spilling their blood all over the dirty floor. Heat warms her back, and blue light catches the edge of her blade, letting her know that Dabi just used his Quirk to get rid of more meanies.

Dozens of Twice's fight with them, but no matter how much she asks, none of them know where the real one is! Plus, people keep on interrupting them, which is super annoying.

Her eyes narrow as she ducks under a spray of bright orange liquid, watching it hit another meanie and making them scream loudly. She grins, darting towards the person who attacked her—

Only for them to crumple under a hit from Magne's magnet.

"Big Sis! That was my kill!"

"Sorry sweetheart." Magne smiles apologetically before using her Quirk to fling several oncoming meanies into the sides of the van, making the metal crumple with a loud CRUNCH.

Spinner dashes past her, his katana's flashing as he charges a larger group overwhelming two melting Twice's with a scowl on his face. Himiko grins and rushes after him, indignance forgotten as she jumps into the fray.

The ground rumbles again, and another blast of air sends the blonde's bangs fluttering as the dark, hulking person begins to walk away from them, black stuff swirling around them.

"Did you really think that one piece with a semi-decent Meta Ability would turn the tides in your favor? How foolish. You're nothing but unrefined wastes of Meta Abilities." A crackly voice comes from one of the big speakers sitting on top of the van, sounding smug.

Himiko tenses, the smile on her face dropping as she shoves her knife into the gut of a nearby enemy.

Are they talking about 'Zuku?

Her eyes narrow as she stares at the tinted windows of the van with the speaker, anger bubbling up at the way the person is talking about her friend.

"No one talks bad about 'Zuku." She hisses, pulling the knife out of their gut and lunging forwards with a deadly look in her eyes.

Izuku pulls himself out of the wall, dust and pieces of rock tumbling off of him as he staggers to his feet. Pain shoots through his body at even the slightest twinge of muscle, and Regeneration is in overdrive.

It's already having a hard time counteracting the effects of Decay, but getting all of these extra injuries is just slowing my healing down.

At least he isn't carrying an injured person around anymore. It'll be easier to avoid attacks if he isn't worrying about another person's wellbeing.

"You are rather sturdy, aren't you? I'm surprised you can still move with all that damage. Then again, you did survive Stress Output."

They walk up to him, footsteps making the ground shake as they speak.

"Rule One of fighting someone bigger than you. Don't get caught underneath their feet."

The green haired boy grits his teeth, activating One For All and darting into a side street that's too narrow for the hulking person to follow him. He can feel his injuries worsening and then healing again, and the sheer stress of it makes him want to scream.

Gotta keep them distracted.

"WHO ARE YOU?" He yells over his shoulder, leaping over a particularly large piece of rubble and landing on a low rooftop.

"I am Re-Destro, the Grand Commander of the Meta Liberation Army." Izuku silently gags at the level of pure self-importance in his tone, but holds still, even as the ground's shaking gets more intense.

Suddenly, it stops, and silence falls over the street, punctuated by faraway sounds of fighting.

"It's rather rude to leave me without an introduction, Bishop."

Danger Sense flares, and One For All activates in a burst of white as he rockets into the air, body creaking and groaning in protest of the power that flows through his veins. He activates Float, slowing to a hover as he watches Re-Destro retract his large hand and looks around for him.

Re-Destro...

"You're the one who kidnapped Twice."

Re-Destro's head snaps upwards, and their eyes meet. A smile spreads across his face, and he pushes himself off of the building he was leaning on, which promptly collapses in a cloud of smoke and paper.

"It was necessary for my cause."

Shigaraki's eyes snap open, and he nearly moves—

But is quickly stopped by a firm pair of arms.

"Izuku—"

"I'm afraid he's occupied at the moment." Mr. Compress responds, his grimace clear despite his mask.

The blue haired man tenses, head whipping around. They're currently surrounded by crumbling buildings, but even the unstable structures can't hide that damn bureaucrat's hulking final form. His back is turned to them, but that black stuff is still swirling around him, and it looks like there's even more than before.

"He's currently distracting Re-Destro. We need to find Jin and get Izuku out of there before he gets himself killed, so if you could kindly point me in his direction..."

The sentence hangs in the air, and Shigaraki's eyebrows furrow.

"I don't know. I got him out of the Quirk Suppressing cuffs and then he went crazy, creating a bunch of clones of himself. He completely destabilized the tower, and then he jumped out of it with me and used more clones to make sure we didn't die. By the time the tower finished collapsing, I was covered in goop and so angry that I couldn't focus on anything but that Detroit bastard. Why is the brat here?"

The performer sighs, darting around a large piece of rubble that blocks part of the street while maintaining his high speeds.

"Apparently Spinner called him and told him to call the Doctor, which went about as well as you would expect. He's been running around the city and finding us for the past hour and a half."

Shigaraki blinks.

"You mean he's been collecting you guys like Pokémon cards?"

"What are Pokémon cards?"

The ground shakes, making Mr. Compress stumble. Shigaraki bites back a cry of pain as his injured arm is jostled roughly, head already turning back to glare at Detroit—only to pause when he sees a streak of light rocketing towards the bureaucrat, black rope trailing behind it, wrapped around—

"Is that a whole ass building?"

His party member turns around right as the building slams into Detroit, knocking him over and into the smoldering remains of a city block. Shigaraki snickers as the giant man grabs at one of the buildings, then proceeds to fall as it crumbles beneath his weight, making his teeth rattle when he hits the ground.

That's what he gets for messing with my party members.

Suddenly, the ground begins to shake again, harder than before. The street beneath them begins to fold inwards, opening into a dark chasm that Mr. Compress narrowly avoids by leaping onto a narrow windowsill.

"—THEN I SEE NO REASON TO HOLD BACK!"

Shigaraki watches with wide eyes as several pieces of metal fly out of the hole and straight to Detroit, who's formerly grinning face has turned into a grimace. Other pieces of metal glint in the sun as they fly towards him from all different angles, each slowing before they touch him.

Slowly, they begin to slot together, and the blue haired man tenses when he realizes that Detroit is going to use an entire, fancy ass suit of armor to fight Izuku.

"STRESS OUTPUT, 150%!"

"NO!" Izuku's scream cuts through the cold winter air as white lightning—not green, why isn't it green it was green before what the hell is going on— wreathes his body. He shoots through the air like a falling star, moving in front of the black cloud headed straight for them, body twisting to take most of the attack—

He's going to die.

Shigaraki doesn't know how he knows this. He doesn't know how to explain the feeling lodged deep in his bones that the green haired hero student wouldn't survive this attack.

He's going to die.

The blue haired man's eyes widen, static filling his ears as he watches the cloud of black smoke creep towards Izuku in slow motion.

He's going to die.

His uninjured hand reaches out, stretching, even though he'll never get there in time—

"IZUKU!"

The air splinters and cracks like glass, making Shigaraki's ears pop as the entire city block decays, along with the black cloud. In the middle of all of it, still hanging midair, is the hero student. Entirely whole and untouched despite the decay around him.

Red eyes meet green, and Izuku smiles—and then gets swatted into the ground by an armored fist.

He hits the ground hard, gasping for air as the wind is knocked from his lungs for the second time today. His body screams at him, telling him to rest and let Regeneration do it's work, but he can't rest, he needs to keep Re-Destro focused on him to help the League survive.

Izuku groans in pain, forcing himself to sit up. His injuries from earlier are mostly healed, but Regeneration is still working on healing Decay and a couple of his ribs. Add onto that the fractures in his arms from using such a high percentage of One For All...Well. He's slowing down, and the sharp pain in his side tells him that he's received yet another injury from his sudden descent. He should've been paying more attention to Danger Sense.

Useless.

The green haired boy grimaces, then winces at the pain in his face as he reaches behind himself and grasps what feels like a metal pipe. He gets a firm grip on it, then pulls it out of his torso with a wet squelch.

Izuku bites back a yelp of pain, tossing the bloody piece of metal aside as he curls up around the wound, the metallic smell of his own blood making his stomach churn. The ground is rumbling, and he knows that he needs to get up, to continue his fight with Re-Destro and buy his friends more time.

He gets to his feet, arm wrapped around his bleeding torso as he activates Float, flying up into the air and bracing himself to fight the giant man again—but Shigaraki's stunt alerted Re-Destro of his position, and now he's charging down the narrow side street, knocking over buildings as easily as paper as he bears down on Shigaraki and Mr. Compress.

Black Whip lashes out, reaching for the giant man's torso—but his aim is off, and it catches his leg instead.

The giant, armored man falls forwards in slow motion, his arms flying out, completely destroying the block as he tries to stop gravity from taking it's hold on him. Blue flashes again, and Izuku's eyes widen in horror when he sees Mr. Compress trip and fall.

He stumbles forwards, One For All thrumming through his veins as lightning bursts from his body—

Too slow, you're too slow and useless even with six Quirks—

He sprints forwards, body screaming in protest—

Please—

"I wish..."

I need—

"...that I was strong enough..."

One For All thrums throughout his entire body, the sensation so strong that his hands go numb.

"To kill him."

Everything sharpens into painful detail, and his mouth opens in a soundless scream—

"To see him again."

TO SAVE THEM—

Two glowing figures appear in front of him, features indistinguishable as they stretch their hands out to him. People are shouting in the distance, warning him about something he can't quite hear. Their voices blend together into a choir of fever pitch screaming as he lunges forwards—

And takes them both.

Pure force explodes from the center of Deika City, instantly vaporizing all buildings nearby. All fighting screeches to a halt as every occupant of the city braces themselves against the blast, their screams lost to the brilliant white light that washes over them.

Something wraps around Re-Destro, yanking him out of his fall and high into the air. He thrashes around violently, still partially blinded from the earlier blast as he tries to escape the confines of...

The orange haired man's eyes widen when he sees two sets of black tendrils wrapped around him. One pure black, and the other glowing with molten red light, like the cracks in the surface of a lava field.

What—

Before he can complete his thought, he's slammed into the ground so hard that he sees stars. He blinks, head spinning as the tendrils twist around him, flipping him so he can see the clear blue sky above him. Stress swirls around him, and he shudders, preparing to unleash another attack—

And stops, eyes widening.

A white haired figure wreathed in crackling white light hovers over him, bright red blood dripping from every orifice in their face. They glare down at him, a look of feral rage etched into their glowing features.

When Yotsubashi meets their eyes, it's like looking into a galaxy of stars, all exploding and reforming at once within a single heartbeat. He trembles like a leaf beneath that furious green gaze, his heart hammering as he stares up at them with terror.

The figure tilts their head.

He feels like prey under the intense scrutiny of a hungry predator. Frozen. Trapped.

Ozone sears his nose as the figure begins to descend, and he subconsciously shrinks away from them, pupils blown wide.

A glowing hand reaches out—

And he screams in agony as his world is torn apart.

His red boots touch the ground as the echo of Re-Destro's scream dies out. Warm liquid trickles down his face and neck, blurring his vision. His head aches, and his entire body feels tingly and numb at the same time.

Wind brushes against his face, a gentle caress.

"—UK—IZ—"

Someone...is calling me?

He turns his head towards the sound, blinking the blood out of his eyes as black spots swarm his vision and his headache intensifies. One For All is gone, leaving him empty in the wake of the overwhelming power that flooded his senses.

"IZU—"

He looks up, squinting at the orange and blue blobs coming towards him. Someone's hand is reaching for him, but he can't tell who's it is.

"—uku? Are—kay—?"

The ground rumbles beneath him, and he sways, world tipping sideways. He barely feels it when he hits the dirt, his already throbbing head bouncing off of the hard surface in a way that only intensifies the pain.

Someone...

His head throbs, and everything sounds muffled. Far away.

"—can't—wai—pleas—"

I'm sorry.

He closes his eyes, plunging the world into darkness.

Eri...