Heroes in the Dark chapter 7

Tokoyami was trembling at what his actions had caused. The walls that Dark Shadow had destroyed were now piles of rubble, under which laid the person on which all hope rested. His quirk flicked fresh blood unapologetically from its claws, sneering down at all the villains and heroes that were now viewing it in all its horrible power. Worst of all was the student's inability to subdue the colossal shadow beast himself, his mental instability a weakness in the eyes of the sentient beast. A voice, garbled and not at all like the Dark Shadow he was accustomed to, spoke to him and only him. Hey, hey, you should be proud that you're able to show how strong you are to all your peers.

"Dark Shadow, you need to stop! This isn't what I wanted!"

The quirk hunched down and turned to glare at its master with disappointed amber eyes.

"Everyone stay down!" An intertwining web of heavy branches came seemingly from nowhere and pinned the dark monstrosity to the ground with intentional force. Kamui Woods worked brazenly to get the situation under control, but his focus was on the thing wreaking the most havoc. "All Might, are you okay?!"

The villains were already beginning to adapt to the situational changes, unexpected as they were. Dabi lashed out at the hero, black flames rising readily from his hands to burn away the source of the wooden cage. "You think wood will-?" he began to say, but he was swiftly dealt with as Gran Torino knocked him into the ground with a well-placed kick.

"Behave if you know what's good for you!" the aged hero growled. He landed nimbly and looked to where All Might had been sent crashing into the wall. "We can't afford to falter, All Might! Can you still fight?!"

A fist broke through the pile of debris and the hero hoisted himself up. He was smiling, as usual, but it felt pained and hard to maintain. His other hand clutched his side, where blood could be very visibly seen, and yet he stood tall and proud, as though he hadn't just been horribly injured by his own student. "Justice always prevails! Something like this…is nothing!"

Tokoyami fell to his knees, awash with exhaustion and shame. He internally begged his quirk to recede, to go back, but while it faltered and decreased in size it would not completely listen to him.

More heroes and military forces filed through what was now multiple holes exposing the lair of the Villain Alliance, which was now in shambles. Everyone was disoriented from the succession of events and the unexpected ferocity that was Dark Shadow, but it had hit the villains hardest and they were quickly suppressed through the efforts of the dispatched rescue team.

Dark Shadow growled at all the people swarming the building. "Stay clear of it until it can be dealt with!" All Might shouted.

With little warning, a fiery red fist connected with the shadowy mass, burning away the wooden cage and the seething darkness within, leaving behind the crackle of embers and a hiss of dejection. Tokoyami sighed in relief as the sight of his quirk dissipated into nothing, but in his mind it was still adamantly voicing its complaints and he wished desperately for it to stop.

The persecutor of his quirk turned to face him. It was the number two hero, Endeavor, his hands twin fists of fire ready to be used at a moment's notice. "I thought you'd have this under control but I guess not," Endeavor growled.

All Might laughed, although it was evident that it caused him pain. "Nonsense! Sure this took an unexpected turn, but there was no need for you to intervene." His voice became more personal as he delivered a reminder to the hero. "In any case, you're supposed to be outside in case anyone tries to escape. I had this under control."

Endeavor huffed in response, in doubt of All Might's claim. But as it was, all of the villains were now either secured by cuffs or tightly bound by the ability of Kamui Woods, who was muttering about how much effort he'd had to put into pinning down Dark Shadow just to have it be burned away so easily by Endeavor's Hellflame.

The many people of the rescue team were calling back and forth to each other, taking account of the situation. It was jarring how quickly everything had changed.

Bakugou started to stand nearby, having hit the ground hard to avoid the rampage that he had inadvertently caused. All Might was by his side in a moment, offering the student a hand that was gratefully accepted. He was trembling ever so slightly as All Might gave him a reassuring thumbs up. "It must've been scary, but you did well to endure! I'm sorry this ever happened to you, my boy. Everything is okay now!"

Bakugou stayed uncharacteristically silent. Was there really anything that needed to be said in this situation?

But that didn't stop Shigaraki from speaking up instead. From the wooden bindings, he screamed about how he would unleash his noumus on them all and wreak havoc even more devastating than anything a mere kid can do.

All Might brushed of the villain leader's ravings, however. "No need for that. All your plans have already been foiled, not just by us but other heroes in your noumu factory. No more games; it ends here, Shigaraki Tomura!" More heroes streamed in to secure the villains, identifying them by name and ensuring that they didn't pull any tricks.

All Might's words of reassurance, that everything was under control and nothing more could go wrong, brought comfort to Tokoyami. He staggered to his feet and began making his way towards the hero and student, all the while muttering what felt like useless apologies for his actions. "I never meant to…I didn't want to…you're hurt."

All Might turned to acknowledge him, but the way his usual smile flickered for a moment into a grimace made it seem like all he saw was the monstrous quirk that had caused so much damage. Bakugou also appeared to be resentful of what he'd done judging by the way he glared at him. Tokoyami had been warned by the symbol of peace not so long ago at the Sports Festival that it would be a problem if he were to continue relying so heavily on his quirk. All Might probably never foresaw something like this happening, though. But so long as nobody had to fight anymore, then they could put this whole ordeal behind them. Tokoyami could still be the kind of hero that didn't have to hurt anyone.

Gran Torino stepped forward and brought attention to himself by confronting the constricted Shigaraki. "There's nowhere for you to run. I figured now would be a good time to ask. Where exactly is that boss of yours?"

The villain was shaking in rage from where he stood wrapped tightly in wooden bindings. He was muttering incomprehensibly to himself. "Nonsense….this….this…Not like this…Nonsense…Get out of my sight…Vanish."

All Might was starting to grow weary listening to the gibberish. He turned away from the students, still cradling his wounded side, and bellowed at the villain "Answer me, where is he right now, Shigaraki?!"

Shigaraki Tomura let out a hissing breath before screaming up at the hero with all the audacity of a child not getting his way in an unfair world "I…Hate…YOU!"

Without warning, the fabric of space was ripped apart by dark, blob-like explosions erupting from thin air and heralding the arrival of an all new yet achingly familiar threat. Noumus flashed into existence, letting out their vaguely human cries of agony and anger, as though cursing their own disturbing reality. They ripped their way into the room, targeting anyone and everything in a spontaneous cavort of destruction.

The heroes were thrown instantly into a panic as the room filled with the monstrous beings.

"They're coming from nowhere! What's this black liquid?!"

"Who's creating these portals? I thought Kurogiri was stunned!"

"It's not his doing, but they just keep coming!"

This dark liquid that had appeared in the midst of the noumus was circling around them as though it had a life of its own, its malicious intent evident with every movement it made. The heroes were disorganized, left unaware in a situation that had been flipped around on them with no indication of what was going on. But there was a good guess of who was behind it and why it was happening. And yet all it took was All Might losing focus for a moment to survey the situation, a moment that left the students vulnerable.

Black sludge pooled around Bakugou, drawn to him, and Tokoyami watched in horror as it seemed to devour the student (although it occurred to him that this wasn't the first time Bakugou had been attacked by sludge). "The hell is this…it smells," was all he could say in all the confusion before the liquid warped and left behind no indication that he had ever been there but for a puddle of darkness on the ground.

All Might grabbed desperately at him, but he was already gone. Once again, he had disappeared beyond his grasp, and there was no greater failure than that. "Bakugou, my boy, nooo!"

And then Tokoyami watched as it come for him. The darkness crowded in around him, and the futility he felt with nowhere to run and no hero watching over him left him too distressed to act against what could only be inevitable. He didn't want to be put through any of this anymore. He didn't like how there was always darkness coming for him, and nothing he could do against it.

Tokoyami found himself backed against a wall that had yet to be destroyed. The sludge was starting to envelope him with such fervidness that his desperate attempts to claw it from him left no impact. "Get away from me!" he roared, even knowing that the sludge taking him was not capable of obliging or even listening to him. But All Might heard. He pulled himself away from the frustration of losing Bakugou long enough to realize that he had left Tokoyami in the same situation, one that just maybe could've been avoided had he noticed mere seconds sooner. Whether or not that was the case, the hero reached out to him as the darkness wrapped around his face, obscuring his vision. He heard All Might call out to him desperately, but it was made evident a split moment later that his efforts had been for naught, and Tokoyami gritted his teeth in anger as he fell back into the hands of the villains. And yet this too must surely be his fault. If All Might had been faster. If he hadn't been injured. But that now felt like wishful thinking. The villains wanted him so badly. Or was this just the second act of him being involved with their true target, and he was just an unfortunate byproduct? Either way, the darkness was swirling around him, he could feel it, and a wave of nausea washed over him as he was yet again transported away from the outstretched arms of the people he feebly hoped were still willing to save him.