Chapter 71
[Play FF7 Remake Integrate OST Murmurs From The Darkness]
All For One had his hand on a slate of some sort and as his palm glowed red, he could feel the Search quirk that he had just acquired leave his body and move into the slate, before it was sealed tight in a jar by the Doctor. "Okay. Now it's time to duplicate you." The Doctor said to the jar as he went to one of his many machines in his lab.
"While you're doing that Doctor, I will go check up on Tomura from here." All For One told him.
"Of course, Master." He replied. "The monitor is where it always is. Make yourself comfortable."
"I will, dear Doctor." The Villain responded before he walked into another dimly lit room, sat down on a chair in front of a turned off T.V. monitor and turned it on to see eight of the nine active members of the League Of Villains in the bar, with Katsuki Bakugo in heavy duty restraints. He seemed to come conveniently at the correct time.
[Silence]
"Dabi, let him go." Tomura instructed.
"Huh?" The blue flame user looked towards his boss in confusion. "You know he'll just fight."
"It's fine. We're recruiting him, so we should treat him as an equal." Shigaraki assured him. "Besides, he's smart enough to know that he can't take us all, right?" He looked back at Katsuki. "After all, U.A. students are so clever."
Even with that logic, Dabi was not to be the one to do it. "Hey, Twice. You do it."
"Sure thing!...NO WAY." Twice replied.
"Do it." The flame user repeated.
"AW MAN..." The S rank hesitantly went over to the explosive teen.
"I do apologize for such forceful methods." Mr. Compress spoke up. "But please understand that we aren't some kind of unruly mob, committing crimes without a third act in mind. We didn't kidnap you by accident."
As the restraints were being undone, Bakugo's expression was uncharacteristically calm. He just watched his restraints get taken off while Tomura spoke to him. "Even though our backgrounds are different, everyone here has suffered. Because of people, rules, and Heroes who try to hold us back. I'm sure you're the same."
Katsuki rubbed his wrists for a brief moment and didn't make eye contact. When Shigaraki walked closer to him and Twice's guard was down, the explosive teen immediately sprang into action, quickly kneeing Twice in the face and blasting Tomura directly with an explosion from one of his palms, knocking the hand that was there off.
All For One watched quietly from the screen, curious about how his successor will handle this predicament he got himself into. "What will you do I wonder?"
"SHIGARAKI!" Twice called out, while the other Villains were on guard.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Villain]
"I'm done listening to your endless talking." Bakugo finally replied to the League Leader. "Can you not get to the point, or do you just like your own voice?" Tomura didn't move an inch while his attacker continued to talk down on him and the smoke began to clear out. "Basically, what you're saying is you wanna cause some trouble, and you want me to join you." He had a murderous glare in his eyes. "Well, fuck you." He then had an aggressive smile on his face. "I like to win. I want to win, just like All Might. No matter what you have to offer me, that will never change. Do you understand? And there's no way I'm letting you get away with what you did to Sora!" He had his palms up, ready to attack anyone who would try to attack.
Shigaraki just glanced towards the hand that fell to the ground and lightly uttered out "...Father…"
[Silence]
As that happened, the TV monitor that was turned back on thanks to All For One, played the conference that was still being held. "You spoke about keeping the students safe, Eraser Head. But according to our information, you encouraged them to fight during the attack on the training camp, putting them in grave danger." A reporter pointed out. "What was your reasoning for this?"
"I concluded that because we didn't know the full situation." Aizawa answered. "Allowing them to use their quirks would help avoid the worst possible outcome."
"And what would that outcome be?" The reporter questioned. "Do you think 26 victims and two kidnapped children is a win for U.A. high?"
"I assure you, things would have gone much more poorly." Aizawa stated. "I feared every student would be tortured and killed in the end."
"Most of the victims were harmed by the gas attack." Nezu took over. "We've determined it to be the result of a poisonous quirk, used by one of the Villains. It's thanks to the quick actions of Miss Kendo, Mister Tetsutetsu, and Mister Sora that injuries were kept to a bare minimum." He pointed out. "Additionally, we're providing mental health counseling to every student, though at the moment, we do not see any signs of any psychological trauma."
"So you found a bright spot in this tragedy." The same reporter spoke up.
"We're relieved that an entire class of burgeoning Heroes still has a future." Nezu replied.
"Can you say the same thing for the Abducted Katsuki Bakugo and Sora?" The reporter questioned.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Darkness In Heart]
Aizawa's eyes slightly twitched at that question. The reporter then continued speaking. "They both enrolled at your school with excellent marks, and went on to be the top two in the Sports Festival. Before that Bakugo had survived the attack of a powerful sludge Villain, who eventually had to be taken down by All Might and Sora had survived an encounter with the Hero Killer Stain in Hosu, who had to be taken down by Endeavor. The boys are obviously strong and Heroic."
The reporter then stopped talking about the positives and began to talk about the negatives. "On the other hand, Baguko's violence at the Sports Festival and his attitude at the awards ceremony both show that he cannot control his temper. While Sora's actions during the Sports Festival towards Bakugo solidify that the two clearly have animosity towards one another."
The reporter then brought out a very logical point. "What if this is the real reason the Villains kidnapped them? What if they're brainwashing Bakugo right now, pulling him towards the path of evil, possibly tempting him by allowing him to harm Sora, the boy he dislikes? How can you sit there and tell us they still have a future?"
The teachers knew that this reporter was trying to antagonize them, specifically Aizawa, who's always hated the media. The 1-A Homeroom teacher stood up while Vlad King mentally prayed that Eraser Head won't let this get to him. After a brief pause, Aizawa bowed his head towards the crowd.
[Silence]
"As Sora and Bakugo's teacher, I take full responsibility for not taming Bakugo's violent behavior." Aizawa stated. "However, his actions at the Sports Festival were borne of his deep seeded convictions. He's trying harder than anyone in his pursuit to become the top Hero." He pointed out. "As for his relationship with Sora, that is also borne from Bakugo's convictions. Sora is in no doubt one of, if not, the strongest student we've ever had enrolled in U.A. His power and skill are already on par with mid tier Pro Heroes and he's only been getting better. Bakugo sees that and views Sora as his biggest rival that he wishes to surpass as a Hero." He then looked up towards the crowd again. "If the Villains think they have a chance with him, then they are grossly mistaken. I can guarantee you that much."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Go Seize it]
"That doesn't amount to real evidence though." The reporter replied. "I didn't ask you how you feel. I asked you if you had concrete information."
"We're doing our best with the intel we currently have available." Nezu responded. "I have no doubt that the police will break this case very soon. We won't rest until our missing students are returned to U.A."
"Heh. Did you hear the teachers?" Katsuki spoke up to the Villains. "They get me more than I thought. I'll never join your League Of Bastards! " As he kept on his confident grip he surveyed his situation and surroundings. Thanks to the group blatantly telling him, he knew that they only wanted him to join their group and probably planned to use Sora as a bargaining tool. He knew they wouldn't kill him, but the same could not be said for Sora. He knew what he had to do. He had to take a few of them down and then escape to find Sora and get the hell out of there. "We may not be at camp, but I'm still allowed to fight!" He got ready for a battle.
"He must have figured out he's important to us." Magne spoke up. "What a clever boy."
"No." Dabi denied the latter comment. "He's a fool."
Himiko clapped her hands then said "Let me stab him."
"A clever performer would have acted like we were winning him over." Mr. Compress pointed out. "Now that he's broken character, he's finished."
"I only do what I want to and I won't even pretend otherwise. And I'm tired of being around some lame ass wannabes, who think they can win me over by torturing someone I compete against and asking me to join in." Bakugo spoke up again, confirming his views of Sora as a rival to be true.
Tomura's hand twitched and he raised his hand up. "Father…" He uttered out.
Kurogiri, extremely concerned for Shigaraki, raised his voice. "No, Tomura Shigaraki! Be calm!"
Tomura had a glare that legitimately sent shivers down Katsuki's spine and gave him goosebumps. But to his, and everyone else's surprise, the League Leader extended his arm beside him, blocking the other Villains off.
[Silence]
"Don't lay a finger on him, any of you." Shigaraki ordered his group, before he calmly picked up the hand that was blasted off his face and placed it back where it was before. "This Hero...is still a valuable piece." Kurogiri was stunned at the sudden maturity displayed while the League Leader continued to speak. "I wish you would have listened to what I had to say. I thought you and I could come to an understanding."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Master Criminal]
"What, you think we're the same?" Bakugo growled. "Not a chance!"
"...Then I have no choice." Tomura replied. "The Heroes said they'd continue the investigation of our group, so we don't have time to stand here and talk." He turned and faced the T.V. Monitor, which now displayed 'Audio Only' on the screen. "Master, lend me your power."
"Hm." All For One was pleased with that. "That was a wise decision, Tomura Shigaraki."
[Silence]
Elsewhere in Kamino Ward, the five disguised students had made their way towards a less crowded and dimly lit section of the city. Momo took point and had the track in her hand as she led the group towards a warehouse. She peeked her head around the corner of a building that was just across the street from the warehouse. "Ok. This is the spot the tracker is broadcasting from."
"So that's their hideout?" Ejiro guessed as he took a look as well. "Not a bad one, I guess."
"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't." Yaoyorozu replied. "According to the tracking history, the Villain hasn't left this location for the past day, but that's all we know. One Villain is hiding in there, but that could be it. They might have Bakugo and Sora somewhere else. We're going into this operation completely blind for the most part. Please try to proceed logically."
"I don't like this. None of us are good at sneaking around. We need Hagakure or Jiro here." Tenya pointed out. "If I think things are going to be the least bit dangerous, we're done. I won't hesitate to call the police either, to make sure my friends are safe."
Izuku simply replied to that with a "Thank you, Iida." He then began to think of a plan. "So what can we do with what's in front of us? Let me see here."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST U.A. High School Support Department]
Que Midoriya's trademark motor mouth. "The prerequisite is that we don't use our quirks to fight the villains, and on top of that we need to figure out how" As he was muttering, the other's commented on it.
"It's been a while since I've seen him this weird." Kirishima said.
"Yeah, this is truly peak Midoriya." Momo agreed.
Tenya silently thought to himself about how when Izuku sets a goal, nothing stops him from achieving it. It was one thing he respected about Midoriya as a friend and rival. But even so, there had to be boundaries, and he was going to make sure that Izuku didn't cross them. This time, Iida will protect him.
[Silence]
In two separate buildings in Hosu, the two teams of Pro Heroes were gearing up for their upcoming assault. "Why should I clean up U.A.'s mess?" Endeavor spoke up in the team one building. "I'm a very busy man, as you know."
"Get off your high horse." Best Jeanist replied through a TV monitor, as he was in team two's building. "You are a U.A. alum."
"We can't call in Heroes away from the school." Naomasa said to the Number two Hero. "There's a bigger picture, Endeavor." He then turned to face the rest of Team one, which comprised of All Might, Endeavor, Gran Torino, Edgeshot, Kamui woods, and a squadron of Special Assault teams with riot gear. "It's possible that this incident is the beginning of the end for Hero society. We'll stop at nothing to resolve this successfully."
Naomasa then looked over to Best Jeanist through the monitor, who was leading team two, which consisted of himself, Tiger, Gang Orca, Mount Lady, a Pro Hero known as X-Less and another squadron of Special Assault teams with Riot Gear. Jeanist then gave a summary of his time with Katsuki. "During the internships, I invited Bakugo to my agency, to try and reform him."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST All Might with U.A. Students]
"I've met very few as stubborn as he is. I imagine he's fighting back." He guessed. "We need to hurry."
"Not even you were able to change his behavior." Gang Orca said.
"Yes, he was inflexible. Pride sewn into his very core." Jeanist stated.
"I can say the same for Sora as well." Endeavor spoke up on team one's end. "While this wasn't made public, the boy had assisted in repelling those Heartless creatures at the Hosu event. He was also adamant about staying to fight, in spite of knowing the consequences. He is undoubtedly fighting back as we speak."
Mount Lady silently nodded at that and remembered Sora from the Sports Festival. Not only was he very skilled, but he was also very kind, buying her food, even when he had no idea who she was at the time, and later, getting more for his friends and allowing her to tag along and have some as well. There is no way that such a kind hearted kid was going to be allowed to go through whatever those Villains had planned for him.
"My comrade Ragdoll was also taken." Tiger spoke up on team two's end. "This is my chance to get her back."
"Thanks to the tracking device, set by one of the students, we now believe that there are two separate hideout locations." Tsukauchi went over the plan one last time with the teams. "We know from our investigations where the kidnapped victims are located. We'll send the bulk of our forces there. Retrieving Sora and Bakugo is our priority. At the same time we'll gain control of the other hideout. This will cut off their paths of retreat. We'll arrest them all at once."
"Toshinori." Gran Torino spoke to All Might. "If they're recruiting old men like me, then..."
"What are you suggesting? You're still Gran Torino." The Number one Hero pointed out. "And with such staggering stakes at hand, we can be sure that HE is involved."
"All For One..." The old Hero said, having a bitter look on his face.
"We have the element of surprise. These Villains will not succeed! At the press conference earlier, we had Principal Nezu act clueless, to deceive the Villains. He feigned ignorance on camera, as if we didn't have leads. After hearing his words, the Villains won't expect us to rush in on the very same day! We'll retaliate! It's time for our counter attack! Remind the world what you can do, Heroes!" Naomasa ordered as both teams immediately began to spring into action, leaving the buildings they were in and making their way towards their objectives.
[Silence]
Over at the warehouse, the disguised U.A. students were at a vending machine that was just across the street from it. "We've gotten pretty close, but I haven't seen anything move inside." Momo said.
"And not a single light is on." Ejiro added. "It doesn't look like anyone's home."
"They're hiding this lair in plain sight." Shoto stated. "It looks like any other abandoned warehouse."
"The weeds under the front door are thick and undisturbed." Izuku noted. "There must be another way to get in. Maybe someone's quirk is hiding it. We can't just enter carelessly. It could be a trap. If we could just see inside somehow..."
"Heyyyy~." Came an unfamiliar voice as what seemed to be two drunk men had approached the group and talked very loudly to them. "You lookin for a real man darlin~?"
"Eugh! I'm good!" Yaoyorozu immediately replied as the drunks were getting a bit too close to her..
"Ditch these losers and come drink with us~." One said.
The other drunk happily slapped the first one in the back of the head. "Haha~ Don't go pickin fights~."
Midoriya and Iida stepped between the drunks and their female classmate, before playing remembering what they rehearsed.
"Hey! You talkin ta us!?" Izuku said as he acted like a tough guy.
"We're just a few scoundrels cruizin for hot girls." Tenya said.
Todoroki began to walk away. "Let's get out of here." He said, prompting the others to follow him. After getting away from the drunks they went to an alleyway. "It's not crowded, but there are people around."
"We can't draw attention to ourselves, so what's our next move?" Momo asked.
"Let's go around the back." Midoriya suggested. "It might be the best chance we have to get some solid intel on this place."
The five made their way towards the side of the building and then went one at a time shuffling sideways along the narrow gap between the walls that separated two different pieces of property from one another. "This is so narrow. I might get stuck." Yaoyorozu whispered.
"Just keep moving. We have to figure out what's happening inside. No one will see us from back here." Izuku quietly said before noticing a window just ahead. "There. We should be able to get a look through that window."
"We'll be blind in the darkness." Shoto pointed out.
"One second. I'll make a night vision scope." Momo said.
"Wait, no need." Kirishima told her as he pulled one out of his pocket. "I actually brought one along with me for this."
"Whoa, really?" Izuku was surprised.
"When I thought about what we had to do, I figured we might need it." Ejiro stated.
"Sure, but aren't those models super expensive?" Midoriya pointed out. "I did some research on them when I was thinking about my costume, but they cost like 50,000 or something, right?"
"Whatever man, just drop it." The red headed student replied.
"Right. Then Kirishima will serve as our scout." Todoroki said. "Back him up, Midoriya."
"Hold steady." The One For All user said as he got on the ice user's shoulders.
"Don't lean forward too much, we may have to run at a moment's notice." The Class rep said as he let Ejiro get on his shoulders.
"Iida, can you move back a little?" He asked before both he and Izuku had their heads up to the barred window.
"Tell us what you see inside, quickly." Tenya whispered. "And be quiet."
"Got it." Ejiro quietly replied before he took a look through the night vision scope. "The place is pretty trashed. Doesn't look like...ah!" He was extremely startled by something and almost fell off of Iida's shoulders.
"Hey, you okay?" Izuku questioned.
"What's wrong? You weren't spotted, were you?" Shoto quickly asked.
"The back left." Kirishima said with a terrified look on his face, giving the One For All user the scope. "The corner, Midoriya...Look."
[Play KH BBS OST Enter The Darkness]
Izuku took a look at where he was told and what he could see shook him. He saw multiple vats that had brain-like heads sticking out of the liquid near the top of the vats. "No way..." He uttered out. "Are those all...Nomu?"
Inside the warehouse, in the dark dome on the other side of the building, Vanitas swung his Keyblade at Sora and knocked the boy away from him. As he was about to continue his pursuit, he felt something close by. "Hm?" He looked away from Sora for a moment. "Are there...?" He could feel fear coming from five people close by.
Before he could finish what he said, Sora used his flowmotion to blitz towards the distracted Vanitas and attempt a horizontal slash. The dark remnant managed to react to the swing in time and blocked it, clashing Void Gear against Oathkeeper, creating sparks from the friction as the two blades scraped against each other. Vanitas soon overpowered his opponent and pushed Sora away again, this time following up his pursuit by dashing towards the guardian of light and swiftly swinging his blade around like the master sword fighter he was, forcing the young Hero on the defensive as he could barely keep up with the flurry of sword swipes.
Vanitas kept up this relentless rushdown until he struck his opponent's blade hard enough to force it out of Sora's hands. Oathkeeper went flying up into the air, and the dark remnant took the opportunity to swing at Sora with a horizontal slash of his own.
Sora tapped into his focus energy and time had slightly slowed down on his end, allowing him to see and react to Vanitas' attack. He then jumped up to avoid the slash and then used his flowmotion to blitz towards Oathkeeper and grab it's hilt. He then took aim and called out "Fire!" Casting a Fire spell towards his opponent.
The dark remnant backflipped away from the attack, letting it strike the ground instead, before pointing his blade and casting a flurry of Dark Blizzard spells towards Sora. "Dodge this!" He challenged.
The guardian of light saw the Dark Blizzard Spells coming as he was descending to the ground. He once again tapped into his focus energy and prepared to clash with the volley of magic projectiles with a volley of his own. The Dark Blizzard volley got closer and closer until Sora threw Oathkeeper behind him and the blade began to glow a bright white color, circling around Sora's body until it spiraled in front of him, creating multiple arrows or light in a circle in front of the boy. "Sunray Blast!"
Oathkeeper kept spiraling in front of Sora as it let out a flash and the 24 light arrows it constructed, which quickly moved towards the Dark Blizzard volley, clashing with the six cold projectiles and canceling the attack out with four arrows for every Dark Blizzard projectile. The clash of magic created a spectacular flash of purple and white lights, while the sounds of ice shattering and ringing of small bursts of light echoed throughout the dome and into the pair's ears.
This was not the end however, as Sora casted out more magic from Oathkeeper. "Water! Fire! Blizzard!" He called out rapidly as he raised his blade to summon the Water, then pointed Oathkeeper forward to cast the Fire, then the Blizzard back to back. Vanitas heard the spells get called out and pointed his blade forward, preparing to counter with his own dark Magic, until he saw the guardian of light raise his blade up and heard him call out "Thunder!"
The dark remnant quickly leapt to the side to avoid the Thunder spell, then noticed the three other spells converging towards him. Vanitas acted fast and jumped up to avoid the Water and Fire spells, letting them clash with each other, then he enveloped Void gear in Dark Thunder magic and swung his blade at the Blizzard spell, letting the streak of Dark Thunder destroy the last projectile.
While Vanitas was descending towards the ground, Sora took the opportunity to heal himself, casting Cure with the last of his current magic pool, putting it into recharge. Until then, he needed to last 30 seconds before he could use his magic again. The dark remnant knew this and blitzed towards the guardian of light.
Vanitas swung Void Gear hard, clashing with Oathkeeper and quickly overpowering Sora's strength, forcing the boy to the edge of the dome again. The dark remnant quickly closed the distance again but when he swung at Sora, The guardian of light quickly dodged out of the way and went for a back attack, only to swing through an afterimage while Vanitas appeared above the boy and attempted a slam attack with his blade, only for that to miss as well, due to Sora's quick reflexes, and the fact that they had already done this exchange before.
Sora tried to attack while Vanitas' blade was still on the ground, but the dark remnant once again left an afterimage for his opponent to hit as he tried the slam attack again. The boy saw it coming and once again dodged the attack and went for another counter swing, once again swiping yet another afterimage, prompting him to dodge a third and final slam attack, this one being powered up by ice magic, as it created an ice spike on the ground when the tip touched the floor.
The guardian of light jumped in the air and over Vanitas' body, before swinging his blade down to try a slam attack of his own. The dark remnant saw this coming however and raised Void Gear up just in time to block the slam and push Sora away from him. He then followed up with three slashes in front of him, creating a wave of dark energy with each slash. The dark energy waves all made their way towards the guardian of light.
Sora saw them coming, but before he could dodge away from them, Vanitas warped behind him and swung his Keyblade towards him. The boy turned around and blocked the attack, but could not push his opponent away as the three dark energy waves got closer and closer, until they were just inches away from Sora's exposed back. Luckily for Sora, he still had a trick up his sleeve as his body quickly erupted with a bright white light, temporarily blinding the dark remnant and dispelling the dark energy waves behind the guardian of light.
When the light subsided, Sora's body had a sparkling white colored aura around it, signaling to Vanitas that the boy did yet another form change, this time to Light Form. The dark remnant wasn't impressed. "Just like the last seven times you tried it, changing form's won't make a difference."
Sora didn't respond to that comment and just went on the attack, slashing at Vanitas multiple times, who blocked the assault with minimal effort. The guardian of light then twirled Oathkeeper in his hands and held it in reverse grip, before attempting Zantetsuken against the dark remnant again. Vanitas jumped over Sora to avoid the attack and prepared to strike the boy's back.
To the dark remnant's surprise, his opponent actually jumped up as well and then slammed the tip of Oathkeeper into the ground, creating a shockwave of light that forced Vanitas to put his guard up. The guardian of light then turned around and did a powerful overhead slash, clashing with Void Gear and finally breaking the dark remnant's guard again. Sora then summoned five beams of light under Vanitas, erupting from the ground and all striking the dark remnant simultaneously. The guardian of light then twirled his body and made the five beams disperse from each other, sliding in five different directions while Vanitas was launched up into the air. Sora then tapped into his focus energy again and went for another shotlock, but this time a fully charged one.
Once Vanitas reached the height of his launch, Sora had finished charging and zoomed up above the dark remnant, glowing a reddish gold light around his body while dozens of orbs of light had formed around Sora's body. "Light of a Guardian!" He called out as he let the orbs of light rain down all around the area that Vanitas was at, while he descended with the orbs and flew away from the barrage as the orbs of light began to explode on contact with whatever they struck, creating a chain reaction as a massive series of explosions of light went off at the center of the barrage where Vanitas was at.
When the explosions stopped, Sora had reverted back to normal due to using up his stockpiled energy in that last attack, and looked to see that the dark remnant had managed to put up his barrier and avoided taking any significant damage that would have been caused by the explosions. When he dispelled his barrier Vanitas spoke up. "Nice light show."
Sora growled before he went on the attack again, feeling his magic pool was fully recharged, prompting him to cast out another flurry of spells. "Water! Fire! Blizzard!" He casted those three back to back again, but when the dark remnant was expecting to avoid a Thunder spell he instead heard "Aero!" and was swept off his feet and into the air when the spell was conjured in front of him.
As Vanitas was spiraling through the air uncontrollably, the other three spells rapidly closed in towards him. The dark remnant managed to gain enough control of his momentum to balance himself out and cast a Crawling Fire, which quickly split into five fireballs and took out the other three magic projectiles.
Sora saw two fireballs rapidly approach him and he then raised his blade and called out "Thunder!" summoning a bolt of electricity in front of him, and destroying both fireballs that approached him. As that happened, the Aero spell had worn off and Vanitas had quickly recovered from the mix-up.
[Silence]
Sora quickly casted Cure on himself again to put his magic into recharge, as well as to keep himself in the fight, as he was still aching all over and not at full strength, due to the series of events that happened prior to this fight. Vanitas saw that happen, and for no reason other than to be a massive douche, he casted Curaga on himself, in spite of not being anywhere near as banged up as Sora was.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST All For One]
As the boy saw the green hue of Curaga fully heal Vanitas of any damage that was done to him, the dark remnant spoke up. "I told you that I would heal myself whenever you healed yourself. In fact..." He then casted a second Curaga on himself to account for the other time Sora healed himself. That completely unnecessary action had actually disheartened the boy a bit, as Vanitas also showed that he could heal himself whenever he wanted and didn't have to recharge his magic pool, like Sora did. "It's finally settling in now. How hopeless your situation is." He got into his battle stance. "About time." He then charged towards Sora again.
Back over at the bar, when Shigaraki had requested for his Master's assistance, Katsuki spoke up. "A master? I thought you were the boss around here. But you're a sidekick."
"Kurogiri. Compress." Tomura spoke to them. "It's time to put him back to sleep."
Mr. Compress sighed. "I can't believe he's such a bad audience member. It's almost impressive." He began to walk towards Bakugo.
"If you want me to listen, then get on your knees and beg!" Katsuki told the Villains with an aggressive tone of voice. However, he knew that he was in a tricky situation. He wanted to blow them away with maximum firepower, but the warp Villain is way too fast for him to handle. He had to think of a way to somehow make an opening and get to the back door, but as Compress continued to approach him, he still didn't know how to get himself out of this situation.
[Silence]
There was a knock on the back door, which actually surprised everyone in the room as they stopped what they were doing and looked towards it, hearing an unfamiliar voice come from the other side of the door say "Hello? I got a pizza delivery here."
Everyone in the room was still and not a single person responded to whoever was on the other side of that door. After about five seconds of no movement, Spinner was about to move from his spot, until something, or rather someone blasted his way through the wall of the bar, yelling "SMASH!"
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Trinity]
All Might made his entrance into the bar, catching everyone by surprise. "What the!?" Spinner said as he hit the ground.
"Kurogiri! Gate!" Shigaraki ordered.
Before the Warpgate Villain could do so, Kamui Woods swung in from the opening All Might had made. "Preemptive Binding Lacquered Chain Prison!" He used his quirk and bound every Villain in the area with wood to restrain them.
"Heh. That's it?" Dabi began to emit blue flames from his body.
Gran Torino then blitzed through the opening and kicked Dabi hard in the back of the head. "Don't do anything foolish!" He said as he knocked out the blue flame user with that kick. "It's in your best interest to cooperate with us!"
"JUST WHAT I'D EXPECT FROM A COMPETENT NEW HERO, AND A VETERAN PRO WHO MOVES FASTER THAN THE EYE CAN SEE." All Might complimented his allies' actions. "YOU CAN'T RUN ANYMORE, LEAGUE OF VILLAINS. UNDERSTAND? BECAUSE WE ARE HERE NOW!"
"Right after the press conference?" Compress realized. "They had this ruse planned the whole time!"
"Tree man! You're hugging me too tight!...HARDER!" Twice said while Himiko was letting out pained grunts as she was being squeezed as well.
"One tends to neglect defense when they're on the offence." The voice from behind the door spoke up, as he revealed himself to be Edgeshot when he used his Foldabody Quirk to slip through the crack of the door and enter the room. "But we didn't come alone. Take a look." He opened the door to reveal a Special Assault team with their guns pointed at the Villains. "You're surrounded by the police, not to mention powerful Heroes, like Endeavor."
Just outside of the bar, Endeavor was standing outside with Naomasa and the other squads of Special Assault teams. "Tsukauchi! Why does Edgeshot get to rush into the fight, while I'm stuck here with you?!"
"Because if someone slips out, we'll need you to capture them immediately." The detective told him.
[Silence]
Inside the ransacked bar, the TV Monitor that had said Audio Only was destroyed, but the person who was on the other end of that interrupted voice chat had already known what was going on, the moment that he heard All Might's voice, prior to the call's abrupt end.
[Play FF7 Remake OST Hojo Observes]
All For One stood up from his chair and walked back into the lab area. "Doctor. Have you finished the duplication?"
"I just did, master." The Doctor answered as he gave the duplicated Search Quirk to the Villain.
"The timing could not have been more appropriate." All For One stated as his palm glowed red and he once again acquired the Search quirk. "It seems that All Might has decided to once again attempt to disrupt my plans. He's apprehending Tomura Shigaraki as we speak."
"So what do you plan to do now, Master?" The Doctor questioned.
"Tomura is too important to lose, so I will make sure that he is not taken into custody." The Villain said.
"And after that?" The Doctor.
"Knowing All Might, he'll try to stop Tomura's escape, so I will make sure that he doesn't." All For One answered.
"You might not make it back this time." The Doctor pointed out.
"I might not." The Villain agreed. "If that happens to be the case, then I will need you to look after Tomura Shigaraki in my stead. Make sure that he grows to become the next me, like we planned."
The Doctor was hesitant at first, but he eventually said "Yes, Master." He then watched as All For One's body was enveloped in the black liquid of his warp quirk. "I will do my part." As the Villain left, the Doctor went back to his studies.
All For One was now back at the warehouse. He then took a portable life support helmet, put it on his head, and simply waited for what he guessed was going to be an attack coming here. If the Heroes were as predictable as he thinks, then there will be one coming any second now.
[Silence]
Back at the bar, All Might noticed Katsuki was there and spoke to him. "AH. YOU MUST HAVE BEEN SCARED, BUT YOU STAYED STRONG. I'M SORRY. YOU'RE SAFE NOW, YOUNG MAN."
"WHAT!?" Bakugo replied. "I WASN'T SCARED! NOT EVEN CLOSE!" All Might just gave him a thumbs up as a response.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Threat Incoming]
"After I went through all the trouble of preparing this. The final boss goes and shows up on my doorstep." Shigaraki growled. He analyzed his situation seeing that everyone was restrained and that there was no easy way to escape with their current numbers. "It can't be helped. So they've got backup, huh? Well we do too." He then sent out another order. "KUROGIRI! WARP OVER AS MANY AS YOU CAN!"
"THE NOMU, RIGHT?" All Might spoke up.
Outside the warehouse, Ejiro heard something and turned to see what it was. When he did, he was surprised. "Hey!" He spoke up to the other four students, who then looked to where he was looking.
"Is that...?" Izuku saw a truck being lifted up by what looked to be a giant foot.
The person responsible for this was a gigantified Mount Lady, as she lifted the truck with her leg and above the warehouse before slamming it through the wall, creating a massive opening, allowing Best Jeanist, Gang Orca and Tiger to immediately jump in and attack the Nomus that were climbing out of their vats, while X-Less was outside with the squads of Special Assault teams, prepared to deal with any Nomus that slip past the other four Pros.
The five students barely had enough time to brace themselves for the shockwave that came from Mount Lady's attack, but Midoriya and Kirishima still fell off Todoroki and Iida's shoulders.
Inside the dome, the sound of the wall to the warehouse being destroyed was heard and it caught both Keyblade wielders by surprise. "What the?" Sora said.
"Did someone just...?" Vanitas began to question before he could feel a conflict happening outside the dome for a brief moment. "You know what? It doesn't matter." The dark remnant then once again charged at the guardian of light.
Sora blocked another attack but was once again pushed back by Vanitas' strength. He skidded to a halt near the edge of the dome and his breathing was starting to stagger from his growing fatigue. Even with his Cure spell he wasn't going to last much longer. He could only hope that whatever that crashing sound was would help him get out of this situation. Until then, he could only keep fighting.
As the guardian of light pushed himself back to his feet, he could feel that he had enough energy in Oathkeeper to go back into Light Form, but he already knew that it wouldn't help him that much against Vanitas, but then he remembered something else. Before he got Oathkeeper, he had fought with Oblivion and stockpiled energy in that blade too. Dark Form wouldn't be able to help him that much on his own either, but maybe put together, he could actually get somewhere. It's really the only chance he has left.
The dark remnant sent out a Dark Fire spell towards Sora, but the boy wasn't blasted away by the spell, as his body enveloped in light once more. When the light faded, the left half of Sora's body glowed the Dark Form's light purple glow, while the right half of Sora's body glowed the Light Form's sparkling white glow. That wasn't the only thing that was new though, as Sora now held Oblivion in his left hand and Oathkeeper in his right hand. Sora's final trick up his sleeve was Double Form, and he wasn't going to let it go to waste as he charged towards Vanitas.
[Silence]
Back at the bar, Tomura noticed that no Nomu were showing up. "What are you waiting for, damn it?!" He questioned Kurogiri.
"I'm sorry, Tomura Shigaraki." He apologized. "The Nomus were supposed to be in a fixed location, but...they're gone."
"Huh?" The League Leader was confused.
"IT SEEMS YOU HAVE A LOT TO LEARN, SHIGARAKI." All Might said as he put his arm around the rescued Katsuki. "YOU'RE STILL GREEN." Tomura growled while the Hero spoke to him. "YOUR LITTLE LEAGUE UNDERESTIMATED ALL OF US. THE SOUL OF THIS YOUNG MAN, THE POLICE'S DILIGENT INVESTIGATIONS, AND OUR RIGHTEOUS FURY."
Back over at the warehouse, Best Jeanist reported on his team's progress, while having a large amount of the Nomus bound in fabric, with the rest of them restrained by the other Pros present. "We have control. The Nomu are neutralized." he said.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST I've Come]
Back at the bar, the Number One Hero spoke up. "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. YOUR GAME HAS COME TO AN END, TOMURA SHIGARAKI." All Might's confident glare sent shivers down many of the Villains' spines.
"Ah! All Might, please!" Spinner tried to reason with him. "You're the only Hero Stain respected! You are worthy!"
"You think it's over? Don't be stupid. I've only just begun to play." Tomura replied to the Pro Hero while forcing himself to stand up, in spite of the wooden restraints tightening from his resistance. "Justice. Peace. You created a garbage society by lifting up such ridiculous ideals. That's why I targeted you, All Might. It's why I started gathering people to my cause. You think this is the end, then you've lost. KUROGIRI!"
Before the Warpgate Villain could react, a tiny red streak went through his body and the Villain went limp. "Aaaah! What just happened!? I couldn't see anything! Did they kill him!?" Magne frantically asked.
The red streak then spoke up. "I played around with his insides and made him fall unconscious." The tip of the streak then formed Edgeshot's head and neck. "Nimpo, Thousand Sheet Pierce. He was such a nuisance. He had to sleep."
"Weren't you listening earlier? You'll all be better off if you take us seriously." Gran Torino spoke up before looking at Magne. "Kenji Hikiishi." Then to Compress. "Atsuhiro Sako." Then to Spinner. "Shuichi Iguchi." Then to Toga. "Himiko Toga." Then to Twice. "Jin Bubaigawara." This surprised those specific members, wondering how he knew all their real names. "Though they had little time and information, the police worked through the night to discover your true identities. Do you understand? There's nowhere left for any of you to run." He then turned to the League Leader. "So, Shigaraki. One question. Where is your boss hiding?"
[Silence]
Back at the warehouse area, the five students outside had just recovered from the sudden commotion and got back on their feet. Though Shoto lost his wig, Ejiro had lost his fake horns, and both Izuku and Momo had lost their glasses. "Did the building just come down?" Tenya wondered.
Kirishima and Yaoyorozu got on Iida and Midoriya's shoulders to look through the window again to see what happened. "Gang Orca and Mount Lady? Whoa, even Best Jeanist is here." The red headed student recognized some of the Pros present.
"And Mr. Tiger too." Momo saw him there as well.
Inside the warehouse, the group of Pros were keeping the Nomus restrained. "Eugh. Are these gross dudes really alive?" Mount Lady questioned as she held the Nomu with the tracker on it's back in her hand. "I thought we'd be in for a fight, but this was super easy. Maybe we should have left this to the police and gone with All Might."
"Difficulty and importance are two very different things, rookie." Jeanist told her, before directing his attention to one of the Special Assault teams. "Riot Squad, get the transports ready. There could be more of them. Be on your guard."
"Yes sir." One of the squad members said.
Tiger had found the unconscious Ragdoll and held her in his arms. "Come on, Ragdoll! Wake up for me!" He knew she was alive, but had no idea what happened to her. "What have they done to you, my friend?"
Outside the warehouse, Tenya spoke to the other four students. "Everything's fine. The Heroes were on top of this way before we were."
"This is great." Ejiro was relieved.
"Now then. Let's get back home." The class rep suggested. "At least we won't have to explain ourselves."
"It sounded like All Might is somewhere else." Izuku noted. "Does that mean he's rescued Kacchan and Sora?"
"If All Might is on the scene, then there's no reason for us to worry." Momo said. "Let's go, quick."
"Right." Todoroki replied as he and the others began to follow Yaoyorozu back the way they came, until Midoriya had stopped in his tracks and had a feeling of uncertainty, which caught the other student's attention.
Over at another part of the warehouse, Gang Orca had spotted a dark dome and spoke up. "Found something! This might be another container for the Nom...wait." He could see inside the dome and managed to make out two people inside it in the middle of a battle. One was a masked figure that he couldn't recognize, but the other one in the dome he recognized as Sora. "Over here! I found one of the kidnapped children! Sora, by the looks!"
That prompted Mount Lady and Tiger to move over to where Gang Orca was at and look themselves. They saw Sora struggling to fight against a masked figure, who swung a gear themed sword at the boy hard enough to get him to slam his back into the edge of the wall that they were watching from. "He's in trouble!" Tiger said as he used one of his legs and tried to kick the dome to break it, only to be repelled away. "Gah!" He skidded back to Best Jeanist's location.
"What happened?" The Number 4 Hero questioned.
"Some dome up ahead is keeping Sora trapped with another Villain. Most likely the black cloaked member we were warned about." The brown Pussycat stated.
"Vanitas." Jeanist remembered the name back at the debriefing when the police shared the identities of as many of the League Members as they could. "Are Gang Orca and Mount Lady still over at the dome?"
He got his answer when he saw Orca get repelled back towards him, and Mount Lady staggered back after she tried and failed to break through the dome herself. The two were not pleased with themselves. "Damn, that dome is tough." Mount Lady commented. "We might need Endeavor or All Might to come and break it."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST All For One]
Footsteps could be heard in the shadows close to the back of the warehouse and a voice spoke up from the shadows towards Tiger. "I'm sorry Tiger, but Ragdoll's quirk was so useful. I just had to take it. How could I not?"
The pros looked in the direction that the footsteps and voice came from and Gang Orca spoke up. "Are you with the League?"
"Somebody get us a light." Tiger ordered.
"Since my body was mostly destroyed, I haven't been able to stock up on quirks." The voice said as an adult male figure in a suit began to step out of the shadows.
"Stop there!" The Number 10 Pro ordered, but the figure didn't stop approaching them.
Best Jeanist didn't take any chances and used his Quirk to control the fibers in the adult male's suit and heavily restrain him, which actually startled Mount Lady. "Hey! You can't attack like that! What if he's just a bystander?"
"Think about the situation! A moment of hesitation could decide the fight!" Jeanist told her as he continued to tighten his grip. "We can't let these Villains try anything!"
As the fibers began to tighten around the man, he quietly responded to the restraining of his body by bulking it up, forcibly breaking free from the Pro's attempt to contain him. The Number 4 Hero staggered back and realized that he wasn't going to be able to stop a devastating attack from happening, and he had to act fast.
[Silence]
From inside the dome, Sora and Vanitas clashed once more in the center of the area. As the two pushed against each other, they felt a tremor, catching both by surprise and causing them to break from their clash and jump back away from each other. The sound of a massive shockwave was heard from outside of the dome. The dark remnant had a rough idea of what was happening outside when he no longer felt the negative emotions of all but six people anymore. He had a pretty good guess as to what had just happened, and he smiled under his mask.
Sora was uncertain of what was happening, but he was beginning to believe that something bad was happening outside of the dome and that there was nothing he could do to stop it. Before he could regain his focus, he felt his neck get grabbed and his back was slammed to the ground, while Vanitas had his hand on the boy's neck. "I think it's time that we take this outside."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST The Power Of All For One]
Outside of what used to be the warehouse, the five children were frozen in absolute horror, as they listened to the man responsible for the destruction speak to the Pros he had just attacked. "Tomura has finally started thinking rationally and making decisions by himself. I do wish that you hadn't gotten in his way."
The children dared not make a noise, holding their breaths and keeping their mouths shut tight, some of them even clinging to their chest. They were all absolutely terrified. It had happened in an instant, a microsecond. This person had undone everything the Pro's here did with little to know effort, and probably killed them. They didn't know. They were too scared to move and check, and rightfully so. Only one thing rang through their minds at that moment, they felt death, even though they were alive. They could vividly see themselves on the ground, limp, drenched in their own blood while the red puddles of bodily liquid mixed with each other on the destroyed concrete. This detailed view of their potential and very likely ends had petrified them, and it was caused by this one man.
While the five children remained absolutely still, behind the broken wall that still hid them from view, All For One began to hover off the ground and simply ask one question. "Now then. Shall we begin?"
And now we have arrived at the point of no return. All For One has made his presence known and will begin his counterattack against the Pro Hero teams that came to disrupt Tomura's growth as a Villain. Meanwhile, Vanitas has finally begun to crack Sora, as even with Oathkeeper returning to him having Light Form, and relearning his Cure spell, he still can't hold a candle to Vanitas' overwhelming power and clearly superior healing. The next chapter is going to be a bit special. Remember how I wrote all of the Hosu events in one chapter and had a chapter twice as long as normal? I'm gonna do the same thing here. The true battle at Kamino deserves the respect of not being cut into multiple parts. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and until I decide to upload again. ;)