Heroes in the Dark chapter 10

Tokoyami had hoped that he would be too tired to dream, but still he recognized in the frayed edges of sleep that the claws of night terrors would clutch at him throughout this time. Nothing that he could fully comprehend, although it was easy to think that maybe it was his quirk harassing him in his sleep. And yet when he finally did awake they dissipated just as quickly, leaving him with a sense of ominousness the source of which he couldn't quite pinpoint. There were many things to dread in the days to come, though, so he didn't linger long on the troubles of his sleep. He had other problems, as eventually he'd have to face his first day with the villains. It still left him shell-shocked to think of just how much happened over the span of a single night. It seemed as though he'd lost everything, but because that thought did nothing to help him, he ignored the forlorn feeling welling up inside him. Instead he focused back on the scenery outside the dirty window, of a bright sunny day that showed no sign that anything was ever wrong. The sun had already traveled far across the sky, indicating that he'd been asleep for a long time.

He wondered how long he'd be able to stay like this before someone came and bothered him. On second thought, probably not very long. He was starting to get uncomfortable.

He shifted ever so slightly to look at the rest of the room. It was empty except for the lizard-man, who was peacefully asleep on the bed next to his and snoring faintly. Tokoyami sat up slowly on his own bed, muscles protesting with every movement after the events of last night and a fitful sleep. When he mustered himself to stand up, he staggered and clutched the windowsill. He could see his reflection in the grimy glass, disheveled and haggard. His red eyes looked even redder than normal, and with a sigh he ran a hand through his feathers.

Whatever happens today, everything will work out. I'm not going to be here for very long… And that means that you're going to have to work for me, Dark Shadow. No response from his last comment, but he figured as much. He wasn't about to get his hopes up so soon.

Tokoyami gathered his bearings and made his way to the room entrance. Peeking his beak into the hallway, he saw nobody else. The villains probably should've left someone else here to keep an eye out. Since they didn't, he figured that must mean they trusted Spinner enough not to fall asleep on the job, or (more likely) they trusted him not to be foolish enough to sneak off in an area where they had much more control. Damn them.

Tokoyami walked back to where Spinner was sleeping, blissfully unaware of anything around him. He shook his scaly arm gently, and the villain shot bolt upright, mostly awake in an instant and reaching instinctively to his utility belt for a knife that wasn't there. He stopped grasping for nonexistent weapons when he realized who it was. "Ah, kid! I thought you'd never wake up." He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "But, uh, what do you want?"

"There's a restroom in this building, right?" he mumbled.

Spinner took a few seconds to think about that. He seemed a bit slow, but in all fairness he was just abruptly awoken. "Yeah…I mean, yes, of course! I will, uh, escort you there." Tokoyami followed him into the hallway, watching as he carefully adjusted the sword straps across his back. It didn't take long to find the restroom, and he was relieved when he could enter while Spinner waited patiently outside.

Tokoyami opened the door back up after a short while, startling Spinner, and looked down the hallway to where voices that were becoming increasingly familiar could be heard. "Are the others down there?"

"If it were someone else, we'd be in trouble, so I'm going to say yes!" Spinner began making his way towards where the rest of the league were conversing in another room. "Oh, and if anyone asks, I was doing my job and was awake the moment you were. I think Stain would agree that being able to properly fulfill any mission given to you is essential to creating a true hero society!"

Tokoyami had to do a double take. "Pardon? Are you referring to the Hero Killer Stain?"

Spinner turned to him excitedly, suddenly a lot more enthused. "Who else! He accomplished so much good in his time active. But this world is already starting to regress back to its old ways of supposed "heroes" manipulating the way this world works. Stain needs people like you and me to carry on his will. It may look bad being called the League of "Villains," but that's just a name to scare away false heroes and strengthen the resolve of true ones. Ya see?"

Tokoyami didn't. If anything, the foundation that the self-proclaimed vigilante had built all his ideals on seemed like one constructed of misguidance and falsehoods. If this was the only justification he had to carry out all the actions he and the league have done, then he was clearly in the wrong frame of mind. But he wasn't about to say that. If this strange character had enough sense, then hopefully he'd be able to figure out that he was being used by Shigaraki within due time. But for now, this wasn't the time or place to start an argument.

They ended up back in the room they had first been dumped in not hours before. Sure enough, they were deep in discussion. Shigaraki was nowhere to be seen, and in his stead was Kurogiri giving out orders. When they came in, the mist-cloaked man turned to greet them, although it was clear from the tone of his voice that he was still very tired, and Tokoyami wondered if he had been able to get any sleep at all beyond being in a comatose state.

"Oh, you two are awake. Alright just give me a moment." Kurogiri massaged the area where his temples might be and sighed. "Toga, are you sure you'll be alright? I can transport you to the city limits but if anything happens to you we'll all be in trouble."

The little vampire girl smiled cheekily. She was wearing something resembling clothes now. It was an outfit of blue, threadbare pants and an oversized matching shirt, standard hospital attire that was left in this building. She shared a remarking resemblance to an insane asylum escapee, and for all he knew he might not be too far off the mark. "Yeah, old man, I've done this before. You couldn't keep me in this building if you wanted, so you may as well hand over some cash and let me run those errands for you. No need to worry though! I'll lay low; nobody will even know it's me~."

"That's why I have to have you do it in the first place," Kurogiri muttered wearily, handing her a stack of money. "All I ask is that you please be responsible and come back safely to the same place I drop you off. You have four hours, and I would certainly hope that would be enough time."

Toga plucked the bills from his hand, humming in approval. "I think this will be just fine." She pocketed the money and turned to acknowledge Spinner. "Oh, Scaly, did you need anything?"

"Wait, let me think. Er, I'm going to need a new phone charger, I guess," Spinner said, ignoring the nickname given to him.

"That's strange, wouldn't you need to have a phone for that?"

"What! No don't tell me – "

Kurogiri interjected. "Toga, don't be cruel. Spinner – thank you for allowing Shigaraki to use your phone. It's a little worse for wear, and it ran out of power, but at least it's not broken." He handed the phone to a visibly relieved Spinner. "Now that that's out of the way, we can proceed."

Everyone stood back as Kurogiri made a portal.

Tokoyami found that Toga was standing awfully close to him. He shifted away cautiously, and she took notice. "Oh? And did you want something from me? Speak now or forever hold your peace."

Tokoyami took a few steps away from the rest of the villains and Toga followed, facing him head on. "Last night, I have to know. What did you do?"

Her eyes gleamed. "Oh! You saw, didn't ya? Pretty cool, right? I was able to turn into you, if only for a moment – "

"I don't care about that," Tokoyami hissed through his beak. "I mean what you did, up in the air, when you – you took my escape away from me. What did you do to my friends?"

"Those were your friends, hmm?" She asked like she didn't quite believe it, and her smile twisted into a dissatisfied grimace. "Well, I was trying to plant my knife into sweet little Izuku. Between you and me, I know he wants it. But then that bastard had to get between us, the same one holding onto Bakugou. I would've been just as happy to cut him up, too, for trying to take our new villain member away from us."

"What?! Who was it?"

She looked at him quizzically. "How am I supposed to know who that rando was? All that matters was that when I tried to cut up that red-head I couldn't even pierce his skin. Urgh! It was so damn annoying. I was so close too!"

Kirishima, huh. So she wasn't able to do any actual damage. That's a relief.

She sighed wistfully. "But I'll get them someday, sure if I won't. That's what's so great about being in the League, even if it's a bit bleak now. But anyway, I must be off. Wish me luck~."

"You'll get what you deserve for your crimes someday."

"I could say the same to you, ya know," she laughed, flicking open a pocket knife as she stepped through the portal to be on her merry way.

Tokoyami scowled as she vanished. "She doesn't actually think I'm as bad as her, does she? I'm supposed to be a hero in training."

Tokoyami thought he'd said that to himself, but Kurogiri addressed him as he closed the portal behind her. "Not quite. She holds some truth, and I'm sure you know more than anyone that you did your fair share of damage last night as well."

"That…was an accident," Tokoyami rasped, averting his eyes.

"Even so, the nature of your actions are already very well known. Speculation has started to arise that if not for what…Dark Shadow had done, All Might might've survived the fight against All for One." He was careful not to place the blame entirely on Tokoyami, but even still he knew that it was his own fault for the unforgiveable wound he had given to All Might.

Tokoyami balled his fists, filled with guilt and resentment. "So All Might really is…"

Kurogiri nodded solemnly. "It is unfortunate for the hero world yes. Similarly, All for One has been placed in high security prison. Neither side is particularly happy with this outcome. We've suffered some major blows over the course of a single night. But let's not dwell on that now. What's more important is that we prepare and build ourselves up, and that starts with training you."

Tokoyami raised his head sharply, taken aback. "What's this all of a sudden? I never agreed to that."

"Look, kid," Dabi growled, stepping forward with his hands in his pockets, "It's pretty clear you're not going back to school anytime soon. You're as good as a villain now, so you may as well embrace it and learn to control that quirk while you're at it. Otherwise you'll just keep being a problem for anyone involved."

"You're not sugarcoating this, are you," Tokoyami mumbled dejectedly.

"I wouldn't have anything to gain from that."

Kurogiri clapped his hands together. "I'm glad we've reached an understanding. Dabi, I leave you in charge of his training for today. See that he can get his quirk to work for him. And if anything gets out of control, well, I'll trust that you'll be able to handle it."