Midoriya took a deep breath as he stared at the night sky. The fresh mountain air was. Refreshing change of pace when he compared it to that of city air he was used to. The cool breeze felt amazing as he watched the stars in the sky illuminate the night. He wanted to enjoy this moment for as long as possible.
A cough came from behind him ruining his moment of peace. "I'm sorry Phoenix, but we are on a time limit, so shouldn't we start?"
Midoriya sighed as he took one last look at the sky before turning to face everyone. "Sorry, it would be such a shame to not enjoy a night like this for a moment."
"While normally I would agree with you, but with the stakes we have tonight it seems odd."
"Don't worry Mr. Compress. Just follow my plan and it will all work out." Midoriya pulled out a light and sparked a cobalt blue flame that danced onto his mask, fully enveloping it. "Mustard, go deep into the west side of the forest and release as much gas as possible."
Mustard nodded as he spun the cylinder of his revolver. "Consider it done."
Midoriya narrowed his eyes on the gun as Mustard put it back in its holster. A sinking feeling began to creep into his stomach.
'I'm gonna have to keep a close eye on him.'
"Twice and Mr. Compress, make your way to the building where the target is. Make sure you stay out of sight and only engage them with the clones."
"Of course."
"Sounds good to me." "This is stupid."
Midoriya turned to Toga and Moonfish. "You two go into the forest and cause a panic for the students that aren't in range of the gas. Just don't kill anyone."
"Can I take some of their yummy blood?"
Midoriya sighed as he hung his head. "Sure, just don't kill anyone."
"Deal!" Toga's face lit up with a feral smile as he twirled her knife in her hand.
"Spinner and Big Sis Mag, you'll distract the pro's that are with the students. Do you think you'll be able to buy enough time?"
"Don't worry your pretty little head sweetie. We won't have any trouble at all."
"Big Sis Mag is right. In the name of Stain, we will be victorious."
Midoriya nodded with approval. "Good, you have 45 minutes to get back here. Anyone who's not back in time will be left behind. Now get moving."
Everyone quickly left, leaving Midoriya and Dabi alone with Nomu. In his pocket he pulled out the remote to control Nomu and pressed the top button.
"Nomu, go capture the pro hero Ragdoll and bring her back to this spot alive. Also ignore any of the students you may run across."
After he let go of the button Nomu, screeched before walking into the forest. Once it was gone Dabi approached Midoriya.
"I'm guessing you left me out on purpose. Does that mean you have a special job for me?"
Midoriya nodded as he pulled his hood over his head. "Yeah, first I need you to set part of the forest on fire. We need it to look like we're trying to keep them from reaching the west east side of the forest. After that there's someone we're going to meet."
"Alright, but don't blame me if they combine with Mustard's, gas and this whole forest goes up in flames."
"They won't, I already tested it. The gas isn't flammable, surprisingly it gets pushed away from the flames."
Dabi shrugged as he followed Midoriya into the woods. The two of them walked in in silence, as Dabi lit random trees on fire. Before long they turned and began to walk towards Mustard's gas cloud. In the distance they could hear the faint sounds of combat and the soft sound of whimpering.
Dabi stopped and gave Midoriya a confused look. Midoriya could only sigh in response before snapping his fingers causing a nearby bush to catch on fire.
A scream could be heard as Aoyama jumped up and began to pull two people away from the now burning bush. Seeing this, Midoriya glared at the boy.
"I'm sorry, I know you told me to come alone, but these two were knocked unconscious by the gas. One of my classmates dropped them here before running back into gas to hand out masks."
Midoriya shifted his gaze to the two bodies on the ground. There were two girls on the ground. One had short violet hair with long jacks coming from her ears, the other was completely invisible; he could only distinguish that she was a girl from the outline of her clothes. Midoriya knelt down in between them and a flame in the palm of his hand. He slowly put the flame closer and closer to each of the girls as he watched for any kind of reaction to the flames. Once he was satisfied he stood up and extinguished the flame in his palm and the bush he set on fire.
"Kyoka Jiro and Toru Hagakure, I don't know if you two are unlucky or the luckiest people alive."
Dabi narrowed his eyes as smoke began to come from his arms. "The hell is this Phoenix? Why are we meeting with this student?"
Midoriya rolled his eyes and turned back to Aoyama. "Explain it Aoyama."
Aoyama nodded as he fidgeted in place. "I.. I'm Yuga Aoyama, and I'm the spy that has been giving information to the League."
Dabi's eyes widened as the smoke stopped coming from his arm. "Oh, so you're the rat. I gotta say I was expecting a whole lot more than some sniveling mess like you."
Aoyama tried to shake away the tears that were forming in his eyes. "I.. I'm sorry. I just don't want my friends to get hurt."
"You're friends won't get hurt."
Aoyama's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Well physically at least. I can't guarantee they won't have any mental damage."
Aoyama froze as he didn't know how to respond. Midoriya continued to glare at Aoyama. "I guess we never told you the plan. Well tonight we're going to kidnap one of the students, Neito Monama. I've heard through the grapevine that he's a thorn in the side of your class so that shouldn't bother you at all right. It's not like he's your friend or anything, so you have nothing to worry about. All you have to do is sit here and hide like the trash you are, while we do our job. If you say anything to anyone, everyone you care for will be killed right in front of you."
The flames on Midoriya's mask raged, causing Aoyama to fall down in terror. Having said what he needed Midoriya began to walk back towards the meetup spot. Dabi followed behind him.
"Was that really it? You kept me from fighting just to see that?"
"Not exactly, I brought you with me to keep you safe."
Dabi's eyes twitched as he stared down Midoriya. "I don't need you to keep me safe. I can handle myself."
"I know you can, but that's not what I'm talking about."
"Then what are you talking about?"
"Those burns are excessive, your body isn't made to tolerate your fire power. You put on a tough act, but your arms started smoking just from lighting some trees on fire. There was no need for you to put your body at risk for this mission."
Dabi grumbled to himself. "Still, I might as well have stayed at the rendezvous point after burning those trees."
"That's actually where I was going to send you. You're our last line of defense. Once everyone is back I want you to separate that area from the rest of the forest. There's a good chance that everyone will get followed, your flames are the trump card."
Dabi sighed as he walked ahead of Midoriya. "Fine, I'll do what you say this time."
"Thanks." Midoriya stopped and looked towards the giant gas cloud. "Dabi, let me get some of your flames, I'm going to check on everyone else."
"Whatever." Dabi sent a small flame at Midoriya. Catching it Midoriya fed the flame and held a fireball in each hand before making his way towards the gas.
Even though Midoriya didn't know exactly where everyone was in the forest, he knew that he'd run into someone eventually if he just followed the sounds of fighting. Still, even though he knew the students would be fighting for their lives, he did his best to remain hidden.
The sounds of explosions drew closer and as each in got louder, the temperature dropped little by little. The temperature change did confuse Midoriya at first, but once he saw the source everything made sense. He had stumbled upon Moonfish fighting Bakugo as well as the fire and ice user, Todoroki. He sat back and watched the fight between the heroes and villain waiting to see if he needed to interject, but before he even had the chance the ground began to shake. From the forest a giant dark mass appeared and squashed Moonfish knocking him unconscious. With a deep sigh Midoriya made his way deeper into the forest leaving Moonfish behind.
A few minutes later Midoriya came across a sight that perplexed him. A frog-like girl was pinned to a tree by hair and Toga was pinned to the ground by a brunette with a bob cut. He could see they were having some sort of conversation, but he couldn't make out a word they were saying.
Knowing everything that was on the line, Midoriya couldn't risk letting someone else get captured. He shrunk down one of the fireballs in his hand and prepared to throw it in their general direction. Just as he was about to throw the fireball the brunette screamed and Toga was able to break free. There was a needle stabbed into the girl's thigh and blood was being sucked into Toga's support item. Once she had enough Toga fled back into the forest leaving the girls by themselves.
Midoriya put down his hand as he took a deep breath. He was glad that Toga was able to get away by herself. With her safe he turned to head into the heart of the smoke to check on Mustard. As he started to encounter the outer bands of the gas he heard a gunshot echo through the forest. Midoriya's heart dropped as he took off in a sprint towards where the shot came from.
'God dammit Mustard! I said not to kill any of the students.'
The gas grew thicker and thicker as Midoriya continued making his way towards Mustard. Five more shots had gone off since the initial shot. Unfortunately he couldn't run anymore due to the poor visibility. While his flame mask kept the gas from affecting him, it didn't do anything for sight. Thankfully he was able to hear Mustard's voice confirming that he was close.
"My my, what a shame. I really expected more from students of UA."
Mustard was taunting whoever he had run into, but Midoriya still wasn't able to identify who he was talking to.
"I will give some credit to whoever gave the two of you those masks. They're the only reason you were able to make it this far. It's also a good thing your friend over there can turn his skin to iron, it's the only thing that kept him alive. Sadly the same can't be said about his mask, now we'll see how long he can hold his breath."
Tetsutetsu, Mustard had shot Tetsutetsu. The flames in Midoriya's palms grew as anger began to flood his mind. He had given them direct orders not to kill them and here he was shooting at the students. And not just any student, it was one of Kendo's close friends. He needed to put a stop to this, even if it could ruin his chance at getting the information, but before he could act his blood ran cold.
"You sure talk big for someone who needs a gun to defend themselves. I guess that means you're trying to compensate for your quirk."
Kendo was here. Mustard had shot at Kendo. Kendo could have been killed. Another shot rang out and everything turned red for Midoriya. His anger turned to a seething rage, the fireballs in his hand completely disappeared. Midoriya was going to kill him and he was going to use his flames to do it.
"You're one to talk girl, you have quite the pitiful quirk yourself. UA really must have been scraping the bottom of the barrel with you. And sure my gas may not be toxic but I have full control and knowledge of it. I know you're behind that tree." Another gunshot rang out. "I know your friend is trying to sneak up behind me." Again a gunshot rang out, but this time it was followed by the sound of it bouncing off metal. "And I know that we have a guest watching us as well. You can come out Phoenix, there's no need to hide. You can help me put an end to these wannabe heroes."
The flames on Midoriya's mask intensified, illuminating the outline of his mask. He made his way towards Mustard's voice and eventually found him. Where he stood now, he could faintly make out the shape of trees and Tetsutetsu who was on the ground nearby.
"It… it doesn't matter who you have with you, we'll still stop you."
Mustard began to laugh as he put a hand on Midoriya's shoulder. "This is rich Phoenix. Can you believe how deep in denial this girl is? She seriously thinks she can stop the both of us."
Sadly Mustard was right. Midoriya knew Kendo all too well. She was putting on a brave act, but in reality he knew she was trying to think of a way to grab Tetsutetsu and escape. Even though he couldn't see her, he knew she was scared and it broke his heart. With a snap a cobalt wall of flames erupted separating Midoriya and Mustard from the students. The flames helped disperse the gas, clearing up the visibility in the area.
Mustard turned to Midoriya furious. "What's the big idea Phoenix?
Midoriya grabbed Mustard by his mask and pulled him close to speak in a whisper. "I told you not to kill anyone and here you are shooting them."
Flames slowly began to come from Midoriya's hands causing Mustard's mask to heat up. "I'm sorry! I didn't think you were serious when you told us not to kill them!"
The flames began to intensify as they filled Mustard's mask. "I just killed Muscular last night, for the same reason. Why would I not be serious? Do you really think you're more valuable than Muscular? The only reason you're even here is because I told them to give you a chance. Now tell me, why did you think I wasn't serious?"
Mustard's only answer was screams. The pain caused him to drop his gun as desperately tried to pry Midoriya's hand off.
"That's not an answer. Not answering a question is a mistake when you're trying to earn a spot."
The flames continued to intensify as they shot out of the filters of Mustard's mask. Screaming was the only thing he could do.
"But that wasn't your biggest mistake. No, you shot at MY girlfriend. You could have killed MY girlfriend. That's why I'm going to kill you."
Midoriya released Mustard and snapped again. This time his entire body was engulfed by cobalt flames. Midoriya watched as he screamed and flailed in agonizing pain before falling to the ground lifeless. Midoriya continued to intensify the flames until the body was nothing but charcoal.
Letting out a deep sigh, he turned around to see both Kendo and Tetsutetsu looking at him through the flame wall horrified. This was their first time seeing someone die in front of them.
Even though the flame mask, flame wall, and hood obscured his identity; he wasn't going to take any risks. The two of them had charged head first at someone with a gun, he didn't put it past them to jump through a flame wall. With the wall still standing Midoriya started to head back to the rendezvous point.
When Midoriya returned, he found quite the pleasant surprise. Everyone had already returned and were now only waiting for Kurogiri to show up. A wave of relief washed over him as he approached Dabi.
"Mr. Compress, did you get what we came for?"
"Of course." Mr. Compress tilted his mask to the side revealing a small marble in between his teeth."
Midoriya nodded. "Good. Dabi, go ahead and put a barrier between us and the rest of the forest. I don't want to take any risks.
"What about Moonfish and Mustard?"
"Mustards dead. Moonfish was taken out by some giant dark thing. It knocked him out in one hit."
"Ah well that's a shame."
A flame ignited in Dabi's hand as he walked into the forest. Slowly flames began to rise from the top of the trees as blue flames rage. Having captured one target Midoriya needed to confirm the second. He found Nomu standing in the tree line with his arms wrapped around something. Green hair and yellow cloth became clearer as he got closer. There also seemed to be a weird mark on its back that he didn't recall seeing before, but his curiosity quickly replaced.
A second wave of relief hit him as he looked upon the face of the pro hero Ragdoll. While she was unconscious and beaten, she was still very much alive.
Joy, pure joy, was the only thing he felt as he looked at her. He has completed everything All for One asked for, all he had left to do was walk through the portal and get the information he had been searching for. Everything would be coming to an end soon.
Laughter echoed through the forest drawing everyone's attention. A confused look was on everyone's faces as they saw Midoriya on his hands and knees laughing hysterically. A few stray tears fell from his eyes but the flames of his mask kept them from even reaching the ground.
The singular moment of pure joy had faded as everything he had done finally hit him at once. He had killed countless people over the years, even tortured people for any information. He had endangered so many innocent people including his girlfriend and childhood friend. He had his girlfriend and her friend watch as he killed someone just a few feet away. He traumatized and scared all these students. He sold out one of the friends of the woman he loves to get what he always wanted.
There was nothing else he could do but laugh. He had given up his entire future to reclaim something from the past. There was no way for him to get out of all of this. Even if by some miracle he could, the guilt would haunt him the rest of his life.
When his laughing finally ceased Midoriya wiped away the last stray tear. His path had been set in stone, and he knew exactly how it was going to end. No one said a word to or about Midoriya as they waited for Kurogiri. The sight they saw had sent a chill down each of their spines.
Not long after Midoriya stopped laughing, Kurogiri's portal appeared to everyone's relief. His eyes darted around to see where everyone was, but they stopped on Midoriya who was still on his hands and knees.
"Did something happen to Phoenix?"
Dabi shrugged as he approached the portal. "Don't know."
Spinner scratched the side of his head as he followed Dabi. " He checked to make sure we got everything, then he collapsed while laughing."
Toga skipped happily to the portal, never taking her eyes off Midoriya. "It was kind of scary seeing him like that."
"Scary is an understatement." "It was hysterical."
Big Sis Mag pushed Twice through the portal. "Hush now, I'm sure he was stressing over this mission for a while."
Mr. Compress nodded as he followed them. "It can be quite overwhelming when everything hits you at once. I too collapsed after I performed my first show. Ah, the memories."
The portal closed and Kurogiri approached Midoriya, who had yet to move. Kurogiri tried to break his almost trance-like disposition with a gentle shove. "Phoenix, it's time to go."
The sudden contact caused Midoriya to return to his senses as he looked around confused. "Oh, Kurogiri, when did you get here? Did everyone else leave already?"
Kurogiri nodded. "Everyone except you, Nomu, Moonfish, Mustard have left. I take it that you and Nomu are the last ones and that the others won't be returning."
Midoriya dusted himself off as he stood back up. "Yeah, they didn't make it. Remind me to bring Shigaraki some money for Mustard."
Kurogiri sighed. "Very well. I've been instructed to send you directly to All for One. He wants a full report on everything from you."
Midoriya sighed as he grabbed the remote for Nomu. "Alright." He pressed the button to give it a command. "Nomu, follow me."
The two of them crossed through the portal and found themselves back in a familiar warehouse. After his realization of everything he had done, Midoriya was mentally drained. He didn't let the imposing feeling of uncertainty hinder him, he wanted to get this over with quickly so he could get some rest and check on Kendo.
Deep in the warehouse Midoriya found One for All sitting in his usual chair with the doctor standing next to him. A smile spread across his face as he patiently waited for Midoriya to finish his approach.
"Welcome back. I see you brought me my present."
"I thought you said I could go right away and that we'd talk later?"
"I changed my mind. Now tell me, did you get everything?"
"Yeah, and she's alive just like you asked."
"Good. Now if you'd be so kind as to give the doctor the remote for Nomu. I would like him to start his work immediately."
Midoriya looked at the unconscious pro one last time before he tossed the remote to the doctor. The man caught it and happily commanded it to follow him. The two of them went over to the vats leaving Midoriya and All for One with some privacy.
"I saw two of the recruits didn't return. What happened?"
"Something massive attacked Moonfish. It may have been a student's quirk, but nothing in our reports said anything about someone having something that powerful. If it was able to defeat him in one hit, then rescuing him would have been suicide."
All for One nodded along as he took everything in. "I see, I'll have the boy look into it. There may be another student with a quirk worth taking." All for One's expression turned serious as he leaned forward. "And what about the other one?"
"I killed Mustard myself."
All for One dead panned as he stared at Midoriya. "And why would you do that? Tomura needs as many recruits as possible. Killing one may have cost you your chances of getting that information you so longed for."
Midoriya narrowed his eyes on the man. "He was a risk. I gave them one rule and that was not to kill any students."
All for one cocked an eye in surprise. "Did he kill someone?"
"Thankfully no, the person he shot was able to turn their body to iron so the bullet bounced off. If it wasn't for that he would have, that's also not including the fact that he even wanted to kill them knowing I was watching."
"I see, so you deemed him as a risk."
Midoriya nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure you'd agree that people that don't follow commands can ruin an entire operation. I decided that he failed and silenced any loose ends."
"The time you've spent in the Yakuza has made you shrewd in your judgment. Silencing any potential leak is one of the many things that has kept them around for so long. I suppose I can accept your reason, now, tell me what about the others."
"Toga can handle herself. She went against two students and immobilized one of them. She then got pinned by the other and still managed to escape and get some blood without any help. I'd say she passed."
"Dabi was able to follow my orders and was able to play a supportive role instead of an offensive role. Because of that he's still an unknown factor to hero's that can be used to turn the tides. I also took the chance to introduce him to that rat of yours. He'll fit in fine here."
"As for the rest, I didn't get a chance to see what they did, but they all accomplished their jobs. If Shigaraki uses them correctly he shouldn't have any issue with them."
"I appreciate the insight. I truly wish Tomura would have taken a liking to chess instead of those mind rotting video games. Thinking of each piece's role and how to best use them is something that turns the tides in war."
"I normally would agree with you, but there are actually a lot of video games that could help with learning strategy and how to properly manage your partners. If he played those, it could help."
All for One tapped the arm of his chair. "Interesting, I'll look into that and see if any of them will suffice."
"As much as I'd love to help with that, can we go ahead and get to my payment? I held up my end, now it's time for you to hold up yours."
All for One smiled as he leaned into his chair. "Of course."
Midoriya sighed in relief. "Thank you."
"Is what I'd like to say."
Midoriya's eyes widened as he stared down All for One. "What!?"
"Calm down boy, you'll get it. I need to see how this student turns out first. Give us three days, I'll have Kurogiri bring you in and I'll have all the information you need and some."
Midoriya clenched his fists. "Three days."
All for One nodded slowly. "Three days. It's mere seconds compared to the years you spent searching. Besides I'm certain you wouldn't be able to comfort that girlfriend of yours once you get the name. If anything I'm doing you a favor."
Midoriya gritted his teeth. "Fine. Do you need anything else or am I free to go?"
"Do you not want to watch Tomura try and sway the mind of a would-be hero? It should be interesting."
"I'm good. I've heard his sales pitches enough to know how it will go. He'll try to entice them with offering and dreams of grander. The person he's trying to convince will make some smart remarks. Shigaraki will get pissed and try to kill them. Kurogiri will stop him. Then he'll either fail or you'll step in and do what he couldn't. Honestly using you would be the best chance given how strangely similar your quirks are. You could say you're his grandfather and the quirk mutated to be less potent."
All for One tapped his arm rest slightly annoyed. "As much as I hate to admit it, you're not completely wrong. I hate how his quirk is a vastly inferior version of my own, his quirk gets under my skin. I'm supposed to be one of a kind and now there's some rip off trying to be me. I can't stand the idea."
Midoriya sucked his teeth as he started to back away. "Oh… looks like I may have struck a nerve… well I should get going. I'll see you in three days."
All for One shook his head, ending his rant. "Ah, of course. Sorry about that, I don't know why but I've felt strangely irritable the past couple days. Go talk to the doctor, he can send you back since Kurogiri is preoccupied."
Midoriya sighed as he turned to see the doctor, having Nomu put Ragdoll in one of his test tubes. The sight alone was enough to annoy him as they had completely stripped her of any clothes.
"For the love of God, you're taking her quirk and her livelihood. The least you could do is let her keep her dignity."
The doctor looked over furiously at Midoriya. "How dare you speak to me as if I'm doing this just to look at her!"
"The boy's right doctor. We may be villains, but we still have standards. Do find something to keep her modest."
The doctor begrudgingly went to find some clothes for Ragdoll and once he had finished covering her he used one of his Nomus to open a portal for Midoriya.
Back in his apartment Midoriya made his way to his room. He tossed off all his combat gear as he turned on the TV. News of the attack at the training camp was spreading like the fires that roared in the forest it was held at. With a deep breath he grabbed his phone off the nightstand, he had decided to leave it behind. Though the chances were slim, the last thing he needed was for it to fall out and be found by the students or pros.
Much to his surprise he hadn't received any messages from Kendo. Panic started to set in. Had something happened to her after he left? Did the extreme concentration of Mustards gas overpower the filters on her mask leaving her unconscious? Had the sight of watching someone die mentally break her and now she was too scared to do anything?
Without wasting any time he called her phone to try and get an answer, but there was no answer. He left a message asking her to call him as soon as he could. He even sent a few texts for good measure, but none of them got a response. All he could do was wait and pray that she was alright.
