"Olly, why didn't you tell us about Shi?"
It was finally Saturday, and Izuku, Bakugou, Todoroki, Tsu, and Olly were at a cafe to talk. Olly seemed to not want to at home, so Izuku brought the Origami King to a more comfortable environment for him.
"Olly, you have to talk. Why are you being so quiet?"
A few days ago, Olly figured out that if he drew a line where his mouth should be placed, it created a mouth for him. He drew it kind of sloppily, so it was more of a 'v' shape than a mouth, but it was working out in the long run.
"Izuku...I'm sorry. I'm still not being honest with you. I've been being crushed with this pressure for so long..."
"Huh? What's wrong, ribbit?" Tsu took a sip of her tea.
"I'm still not being myself. You clearly didn't like the first Olly I showed you, so I gave you Childish Olly. But I know you're onto me. That's why I had to tell you."
"Th-this isn't what this is about but...Why? Why can't you just show your true self around us?"
"Because I don't like my true self! Real Olly hurt people! Real Olly brought doom onto both himself and his ancestors! Real Olly tried to fold the world! Real Olly tossed two people off a bridge..."
"Olly, I'm friends with Kachaan. I think I'll be able to handle you just fine. But I'm still wondering why you wouldn't tell us about Shi..."
"It's because everyone was so hard on them. I noticed something was wrong right away, and you only cared when Iida mentioned them missing from home!"
"I know what's wrong," Todoroki said. "You feel ignored. Invisible. You kept quiet because you thought nobody would hear you anyways."
Tears filled his eyes and he nodded.
"And that's wrapped with your real personality too, I'll bet. You were ignored by the Origami Craftsman. You were ignored by your Legion. You were ignored by your soldiers, and you were ignored by your sister."
He stared at the ground and nodded again. "Y-yes...And you were ignoring me in that conversation about Shi as well. I had to yell to get your attention."
"Sounds like," Tsu began, "you have Autophobia."
"Wh-what?"
"Autophobia is the fear of being ignored or forgotten. You probably got it after the misunderstanding with the Origami Craftsman, ribbit. You felt like he didn't care about you, which you took as why he wrote on you."
The color left Olly's face and he sat perfectly still. "B-but only Izuku and Olivia know about that. H-how do you know...?"
"Deku told us," Bakugou muttered angrily. "Learn to pay attention."
"I'm sorry, Olly, but I felt it was important that the class knew about it." Izuku took a sip of his Pepsi.
"You know what? It's fine. I don't care. Maybe you're right. Maybe I do need to be my true self. I shouldn't care so much if you like it or hate it. It matters if I like it."
"That's more like it," Izuku said happily.
Olly folded into his true form. "And this makes it much more comfortable for me. Thank you, Izuku." He bowed, still seated.
Ochaco and Olivia entered, the younger twin happily folding small as well when she saw her brother in that form. Ochaco pulled over two seats from another table for the both of them and sat down.
"Shi...They're being used. They looked so sad behind that fake smile. We need to do something to help them."
"Why don't you then?"
"Olly? Why so rude?"
"Th-that wasn't rude! I can be rude, if you really want to see that. My voice just sounds rude sometimes. I was being honest. Why don't we help them? They'll be having another show next week, I think?"
"We can't wait that long," Izuku said. "Dimentio's trial is almost over. Next week will be next month."
The TV cut to an ad break. Shi popped up on it.
"Hello everyone! As an apology for yesterday's show being a bust, we're putting on another show in the same place, today! No week-long wait of anticipation this time!"
"Their eyes..." Olly said. "Their eyes were circular before. Now they're slits."
"At five PM! Come and see it! We'll be waiting for you!"
The ad break ended with that.
"That was odd. It almost seemed like the television was listening to us...That last part gave me a chill down my folds. It seemed like a treat rather than an invitation. 'We'll be waiting for you?'" He shuddered. "Should we check it out?"
"Well, of course! That's our friend! If Shi really is in danger, we need to be the ones so save them!" Izuku downed the rest of his Pepsi. "We meet at that tent at four thirty, okay?"
"Right!" The group agreed in unison.
"Heh. We're going to end their career," Bakugou joked. "What the f$%^, I'm in."
Just as planned, they met there at four thirty. Izuku peeked through the curtain.
"Alright. We have no idea what's going on with Shi, and we're going to find out what."
"Will this work, ribbit?"
"I don't know." He faced Olly. "Where do you think their dressing room is?"
"Hm..." He closed his eyes and followed Shi's magic with his. "It's a trailer behind the tent. It's being blocked off by walls and things, so we may need to sneak through the tent to get to it."
"Thanks for that!" He faced the rest of the group. "Uraraka and Olivia can stay and keep an eye on them. Tsu and Kachaan can create a diversion so Olly and I can come through, got it?"
"H%$# yeah I do!" Bakugou slammed his fist into his palm, a small explosion puffing between his fingers.
"Great. Now we go to our seats and wait for Kachaan to give us the signal."
"What's the signal?" Olivia asked.
"Knowing Bakugou, nothing good," Tsu sighed.
They entered and took their seats. Olivia spotted that kid again, but he looked worried. In his arms, was a life-sized doll of Shi.
"Ol, is that the doll you were talking about?"
He looked over, then nodded. "Yes. That kid has his hands on one, huh?"
"Yeah. He was at Shi's last show too. He's not very good at listening."
"Tut, I would take that back if I were you. He has a hearing aid. He's deaf. He might've not had it during the last show yesterday."
"I didn't know..."
"That's alright, Livi. Some things you don't notice until it's too late."
Shi bust through the curtains, a single spotlight shining on them. They were wearing the same uniform as before. "Welcome to our World of Fun!" Their neck sparked.
Olivia noticed the kid beamed when Shi arrived.
Shi cleared their throat and the light went out. "Eyes glowing green with fangs like spikes!" They clicked on a flashlight, it angled at their face to cast a large freighting shadow on the wall of the tent. "Creeping up on the little tykes, who think they can get away with anything! Hear the Hellhound sing!"
The shadow seemed to have a mind of its own, climbing up the wall to surround the smiling kid, whose smile faded when they began singing.
"Something's definitely wrong," Olivia said to her brother. "Yesterday, their song was upbeat and made you want to dance! But this one is dark, and kind of scary."
"Hear it sing!" Shi began with a low note, holding it down and making it higher pitched until they went into a witch-like cackle. The crowd joined them, making howling sounds as backup.
"Everybody's distracted," Izuku said, leaving his seat.
Ochaco, Olivia, and Olly followed Izuku, Todoroki, and Bakugou as they tip-toed to the far exit of the tent. Todoroki, Bakugou, Izuku, Olly, and Olivia were able to make it through before a spotlight shone on Ochaco and Tsu. Izuku forced Olly to keep walking and told him they could handle it.
"Now, now; more little pests! Just what the doctor ordered! The Hellhound feasts on those who break what's bordered!" Their neck sparked again.
"Not if I have to say something about it! Come on, Tsu. We'll make it out of here."
"Gotcha, ribbit." She hopped to the bleachers. "You've got this, Uraraka! I'll step in when you need it!"
"Thanks, Tsu!"
"Fear the Hellhound!" They extended their arm to grab her.
She grabbed it instead and suplexed them over her head. The crowd went wild.
"No, no! This isn't part of the show!" They sparked when they crashed into the ground.
"Dimentio?"
"It's DOKESHI!" They wrapped their arm around her and tossed her to the sky. They grabbed her ankle and slammed her into the ground.
"Tsu!"
"Got it!" She leaped at them. "Leave her alone!"
"The Hellhound obeys nobody!" They tossed Ochaco into Tsu.
Ochaco used her Quirk to catch both of their falls. She released the both of them. "You are not the Hellhound! You're Shi! We're your friends! You don't attack your friends!"
Shi screamed and charged Ochaco. She tapped their head and they floated off the ground. She noticed their pupils changed back to circles.
"Just like strings..." They shook it off, their pupils changing back to slits. "DIE! The Hellhound feasts on the disobedient!" They screamed in anger and kicked of the top of the tent.
"Aah!"
Tsu used her tongue to grab them and toss them off course from Ochaco. Ochaco then released her Quirk and they landed on the ground.
"Th-this is the end for us...Our final curtain..." They were sparking almost nonstop now, struggling to get back up from the ground.
"Nice job, Uraraka." Tsu gave her a thumbs-up.
"W-why...? What did I do to you to deserve this?" Shi stumbled, still sparking.
"D-Dimentio?"
Their eyes returned to normal. "Ugh...Our head...Our body is in so much pain...What happened?"
"Uh..."
Bakugou peeked into the tent. "I was right, there was fighting. Shi looks pretty beat up."
"Kachaan! Help us look! If Shi's bound by contract then it might be pretty hard to break them out."
Olly held up a small mascara brush, opened it, and examined it. "Huh." He started to put it on when Izuku snatched it from him.
"Please don't! That's somebody else's! Plus, you need to be looking!"
"I am! I was just curious." He huffed and began digging through the desk again.
"What's going on in there?!" Mirror screamed, and everybody froze. She stormed past SHi's trailer into the tent. She didn't notice Bakugou.
"Dokeshi! Why did you stop? The show's not over yet!"
Bakugou scoffed. "She's playing them dirty. Being all nice when they're around."
Shi rubbed their neck.
"Dokeshi? Is something wrong?"
They looked shocked. "Wrong? Is something wrong?! We almost killed our friends!"
The crowd gasped. Somebody yelled "Ooh! Drama!"
"Shi? Those are your friends?" Chokaku asked.
"Chokaku? You can hear?" They shook it off. "Not important. You!" Their tail stiffened with rage. "You used us! You took advantage of our good nature! You were just selling us! Just like we thought! We're done being used from people like you! We quit!" They tore off their hat and slapped it onto the ground. Their wavy, white hair fell to their shoulders.
"Q-quit?! You can't quit! We've gotten so far! How can you quit now?!"
"We didn't want the money! And you promised you wouldn't sell us! You broke that promise, and you broke our trust, Machigai!"
The crowd gasped again. "Machigai is the daughter of a Pro Villain!"
"She was abusing a poor sweetheart!"
"Shut up!" She stomped a foot and and marched towards Shi. "Listen here, Shi. I own you! I own everything you do! You can't leave!"
"We're not afraid of you anymore. These people have seen who you truly are."
Her eye twitched and her face turned red. "I'll end you!"
They blocked off Ochaco when she held out her hand. Ochaco heard a clean slice and opened her eyes. Shi uncovered her and faced back to Machigai. Their tail had almost been chopped off, black blood dripping from it.
"Deku?"
"What is it?"
"Shi and their producer are having a battle."
"Wait, what?!" He came to the curtain as well, Olly poking his head through next to him. Todoroki peeked around Bakugou.
"Scared? You have to use your Quirk now?"
The air seemed to harden and fired at Shi from many directions. Shi opened portals and shut them. They blocked off more with their arms.
"You're pathetic. Slow." They teleported behind her and kicked her over. "You're focusing too much on rage. Your form is sloppy. Your Quirk does nothing against us. You're overpowered."
"Shut up, shut up!" She fired at their face, a crack echoing in the silence.
A small shard fell from their mask.
"You broke our mask. You br-brok-ke ou-our mask!" They began sparking again. "I'll kill you!"
A dark mist engulfed them for a split second before being pushed away as Dimentio tackled Machigai.
"What the h%^$?!" Machigai screamed.
"She did not know about the fusion," Todoroki said.
The crowd had decided that was enough and started to leave.
"N-no! Come back!"
"You greedy pig!" Izuku noticed his eyes were glowing green, and his pupils were slits.
"Something's very wrong!" He dashed through the curtain. "Uraraka, Tsu! Get Dimentio off of her!"
Machigai screamed as Ochaco grabbed Dimentio and made his float off of her. She gasped in horror. "Deku...? Y-you might want to see this."
Izuku came over and moved Machigai's hand from her face. She had scratch marks all over it, and they were green like Dimentio's eyes. She fell limp.
"D-did she just die?"
"Dimentio?" Olive said shakily. "Are you okay?"
"Kill, kill..."
Izuku turned. "What was that?"
Dimentio's hair seemed to have gotten longer, and was completely white. His gloves were torn and his fingernails were more like claws, which were also glowing lime green. He was panting. Izuku noticed his outfit had sleeves now.
"D-die..."
"Do you have your arms back?"
Dimentio tackled Izuku with no hesitation. Izuku fought to pry him off, but he couldn't get him off. Dimentio bit Izuku in retaliation, digging his tusk into Izuku's arm. Izuku screamed and kicked Dimentio in the face, which managed to get him off. He rolled on the floor and sat still for a second.
"You...kicked me in the eye..."
"Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay? You attacked me!"
"I-I did...?" He stood and rubbed his eye. "Uhg...I don't feel very good..."
Izuku looked at the bite on his arm. It wasn't bleeding.
"That's...weird. You bit me and there's no blood." Izuku felt lightheaded. "D-Dimentio? What did you do?" He staggered. "I can barely stand..."
"Izuku? Are you okay?" He rushed to Izuku as he fell. "Izuku? Izuku?!"
"I'm fine...I just don't feel good..."
Dimentio looked at his hand. Izuku saw the green travel up his arm to his claws. "O-oh no...I-I didn't know! I'm so sorry, Izuku!"
"Sorry for what?"
"I didn't want to do this but...Ochaco?"
"Yes?" She came closer.
"We're going to have to go back to my..." He gagged quietly. "My home world."
"Wh-what?!"