Heroes in the Dark chapter 50

Darkness swirled endlessly in his head, suffocating his thoughts and numbing the countless injuries his mortal body had sustained. The world felt cold and empty, but if he focused hard enough he could dimly feel the faint morning sunlight beginning to spill over him. Tokoyami was only vaguely aware that he was still, miraculously, alive somehow. He hadn't splattered onto the ground like he thought he would in the fleeting seconds that had occurred between his state of control and utter self-defeat. It was difficult to rejoice over his victories due to the position he'd been left in. At least. He thought he won. Even so soon after all that had happened, Overhaul's face was blurry. He couldn't be sure if this was the result of being unable to see him through a thick veil of hatred or if this was him losing consciousness.

Without Dark Shadow holding him together, he felt so much emptier. Every bit of power he'd had was so thoroughly depleted that he wasn't even sure if he'd ever be able to move again. At the moment, it sure didn't feel like it. He could feel the wounds he'd sustained sapping the life from his body. The shadowy threads that had stitched the wound in his abdomen together during the power rush were long gone. Even if he could move his head to see the extent of it, he wouldn't want to. It probably wouldn't look too good. Did his body even matter anymore? It was in shambles. He wouldn't be any good to anyone.

…It would be nice if I could die a hero.

Tokoyami picked up on a whispering voice. His first thought was that Dark Shadow was trying to speak, so he sunk deeper into his own mind to pry at the quirk that lay there. But when he called the quirk's name it didn't speak. It was unbearably small in his mind, and it didn't move or give any indication that it would ever respond to him again. Not now. Not after everything he'd put it through. And the whispering couldn't be heard anymore. There was only a painful silence left for him now.

Tokoyami brushed aside his hurt at the quirk's silence – he should've expected this, after all – and turned his senses back to the real world, where he felt so much more vulnerable. The sound of voices came back to him, steadily becoming clearer, and when he cracked his eyes open he was immediately blinded by sunlight. Everything was dull, and he couldn't do anything, but steadily his senses were starting to come back to him. Enough so that he could make out what was being said.

"—and just what do you think I can do about this? We're not done fighting! We need to run while we can! We – ahh!"

Who… came for me?

"No, it's fine, it's – shit, shit that's more blood than I was expecting."

I know this voice. It's… oh.

"I thought you could deal with that," the other person responded in a mocking matter, before his demeanor changed. "Oh god, we can't joke at a time like this, he's going to die at this rate!"

"Are you suggesting he's still alive?"

"Don't say that! I wouldn't blame him if he was…"

"N-no, just help me get him down!" she commanded. "Ahh, Tomura's gonna be so pissed~"

His vision came into focus, the world swirling around him in a way that made his head ache. But sure enough, he was greeted by the most unwelcome of sights. Toga and Twice had come to his side before anything else could be done. After everything that had happened, and whatever misdeeds they had pulled off while Tokoyami had been facing his own problems, they didn't look any worse for wear. But Toga's usual smile was clearly strained, and Twice's face was filled with worry. His… face. This was his first time seeing him without that mask. Focused long enough, he realized that Twice had quickly changed into normal clothes as well. If he didn't know any better, they could easily pass for normal civilians, and not the vile individuals they actually represented. But that's… not entirely fair either. Even though I might hate them for it.

In Tokoyami's condition, everything felt slow. He knew the League members were struggling to free his damaged body from the wretched branches of a bush that had cushioned his fall, and he could feel their hands tugging desperately on him, the twigs scratching him and tugging on the tattered rags of his almost nonexistent cloak. But he could barely react – his head flopped limply when they pulled him free and into their possession, he didn't wince at the small pains that afflicted him now, and so drained was his body of life that it was all he could do to follow their movements with listless red eyes.

"See! He's still alive!" Toga insisted, even knowing that the doubt in her voice was apparent.

Together, they dragged Tokoyami from his place of rest and onto a cold concrete ground. Toga had a hold of his shoulders, gripping him lightly. But Twice let go of him the moment he could, allowing his legs to fall the last few inches onto the ground. Twice's hands flew to his head. The villain was breathing hard, fingers digging into his scalp, and he was shaking. Much like Tokoyami, it looked like he didn't want to be here right now. Only here, his signs were loud, his movements more desperate than anything Tokoyami could ever hope to manage. Although whatever obstacles they went through left the two villains relatively unscathed, they were both still reeling from everything that had gone down. It had been a long week, and they wanted nothing else to do with this place and the problems associated with it.

"It hurts so much I don't know how to handle this. Can we just leave?" Twice whimpered before his voice turned harsh. "That's right, run away like cowards! There's nothing left for us anyway."

Tokoyami felt the grip on his shoulders tighten, and he let out a small noise at the discomfort. Toga had a hold of him like she was unwilling to let go, as though it was on her now to ensure that he found himself back into the cruel hands of the villainous league. He could feel her frustrations in the way she sank her nails into him. It didn't matter if she realized how much this was hurting him after everything else because in the end it was nothing.

But for some reason Twice persisted, as though even he had grown tired of this whole ordeal and didn't care if it got him in trouble with the League. They were all tired. "Toga…m-maybe we should give him back to the heroes. I don't want to see the kid like this anymore."

"Why would you say that! I thought you liked having him with us!"

"I do, but I don't want him to die! Ahh, I don't want to deal with this bloody mess. Shit, this isn't me."

"I know it's not," Toga sighed in what he imagined was mock sympathy. "But this little bird has nowhere else to go. Would you really trust those so-called heroes with Tokoyami after everything that happened? He'll get the same fate that any one of us will get, all because we were rejected by society. Jin, I know you don't want to end up in prison. And I know you also care too much to see Tokoyami end up there too."

Twice started to mutter something, but quickly gave up and looked away, his face twisted in personal defeat. Regardless of whether or not Twice was in the right state of mind while saying this, Tokoyami silently swore not to forget this exchange. Twice was the spitting definition of mixed emotions, and it was evident in the way his eyes darted from side to side and his fingers continued to twitch that he was facing his own internal battles as well. Until he settled for words that could be said, something that actually did make sense to him in this crumbling world. "Togaaa, you need to call Mr. Compress. Please don't leave this to me, I can't take much more!"

The girl stayed unusually quiet. Tokoyami looked up weakly at her, just barely able to catch the expression locked in her eyes. Her lips were pressed together into a thin line, and her cat-like gaze was fixated on something he couldn't see. He wondered if she had a response at all to that. Please, just listen to Twice. Get out of here and leave me for the heroes. You've already done enough.

But those words would never escape him, and even if they had they would've fallen on deaf ears.

In the split moment when he saw her eyes shift suddenly to the side, he felt one of her hands leave his shoulder and lash out, quick as a viper. A knife from her pocket sliced through the air. It pierced into a bush lining the street with sinister intent, seeking out a target. From the shadows of its invasion came a blur as the hidden onlooker dodged out of the way of the blade and into the open street. The bedraggled purple-haired boy that was forced onto the scene looked between the three of them with wild, sleep-deprived eyes. Separated by a mere twenty feet, Tokoyami could only look on uselessly at the precarious situation that his old fellow student had been thrust into.

Shinsou's breath was labored, his attempts to keep quiet after running to locate Tokoyami's position foiled. He held his hand close to the capture weapon wrapped around his neck. As much as Tokoyami wanted to appreciate Shinsou coming for him, the situation didn't feel any more hopeful than before. It would save him the trouble to just surrender now. Until there were more heroes on the scene, he wasn't sure what Shinsou would be able to do here. Unless…

Toga bent her head low to Tokoyami, another knife already in her hand and eager to find a target while her eyes never left the new little hero on the scene. "Heeey, Fumikage, you know him from school, don't you? Why don't you save me some trouble and tell me his quirk, hmm?"

Tokoyami lifted his head as much as he could, something that almost surprised Toga. But his beak stayed close, no attempt to speak necessary, and instead of giving her an answer he gave her a glare filled with contempt.

Toga bit her lip, unamused, and shifted position so that she could face this unexpected opponent. With a sly movement, Toga put herself behind Tokoyami's battered body, using him as a shield. The feeling of a cold blade pressing through the fabric wrapped around his neck and into his exposed throat sent a feeling of dread through him, and he gave Shinsou an apologetic look. I'm sorry I couldn't have just stayed at your side when you used your quirk on me. It probably would've saved us both a lot of trouble.

"Toga!" Twice objected loudly. "We didn't get Tokoyami back just to slit his throat! He's already been hurt so much, what's another injury to him anyway?"

Toga ignored the comment, her interest never leaving the person who'd dared to stand in front of them. "Hey, Jin, you wouldn't happen to know that boy's quirk, would you? I ran into the punk earlier today and he was a real pain to deal with, but I don't think he ever revealed what his power was. I feel like I recognize him, but he just doesn't stand out very much. I think he was in the Sports Festival like Tokoyami was, right?"

Twice looked like the conflicting parts of his head were bickering heatedly with each other, and he looked between the two parties uncertainly. "I, u-um, he was definitely there but – but he also shouldn't be here. I can't believe this guy thought he could sneak up on us. I'll kill him! Nooo, enough people have suffered today as it is, can't he just pretend he never saw us and walk away?"

Shinsou was regarding the situation as calmly as an intern walking into a villainous hostage situation could. He moved his hand slightly, hovering it over his capture scarf, but Toga took that as a threat against her, and that was something she couldn't possibly tolerate. Her knife bit deeper into Tokoyami's throat, and he let out a pained gasp that made Shinsou and Twice tense nervously. "Ohhh, you don't want to do that now! I know what those scarves do. And I think Eraserhead would be awfully disappointed if you came back with a dead birdy, don't you think?"

Shinsou spoke for the first time in the stand-off, and Tokoyami looked to him hopefully, willing the villains to fall under the influence of his quirk. "It's a bit extreme to threaten killing him. Don't you think? I thought you villains wanted to keep ahold of him?"

Toga gave him a bitter laugh. "If it's between killing him or having him spill the League's secrets, I'd rather –" And all too quickly, her face fell to be replaced by a blank expression. Her eyes glazed over as the brain-washing quirk took hold of her, and Tokoyami took a deep, raspy breath as the pressure on his throat lessened just enough to give him room.

Twice, noticing something wrong, turned to her in bewilderment. "Toga?!"

Shinsou raced towards them, taking his first chance to close the gap between them. His scarf was in his hand and already being thrown forward, aiming to contain Twice. But even in his surprised and splitting state, the trained villain was up and ready at a moment's notice. He yanked the razor-sharp tape-measurers from his bracelets, and when the scarf raced towards them he reflected them with ease. Tokoyami had seen the capture weapon in use plenty of times before under the careful precision of Aizawa, but here the difference in their experience was prominent.

Tokoyami watched it all unfold listlessly, his body slumped against Toga. If he'd had the ability to move, he would've. Guilt welled in him for not being able to help Shinsou, or even do anything that might've been useful in this situation. He was all but dead weight now, and the idea that someone like him was being so actively fought over even now burdened him.

Shinsou fell back a few feet as Twice's weapon lashed out angrily. Tokoyami hadn't seen Twice fight like this before, and the man fought with a ragged determination, as if he couldn't afford to be injured even once. At the same time, he could tell that Shinsou was trying hard to keep his composure, his breath haggard and mouth dry. But he persisted. "D-don't you want to know what I did to your friend?"

Twice stepped in front of Tokoyami's vision. With his tape measurers bared, he stepped quickly to their side, never taking his eyes of Shinsou. "Toga, what did he do…? Ah, don't make me face him alone. Hey!"

Shinsou darted towards them, trying again with his scarf. "What are villains like you even doing with all these yakuza? Isn't it kinda weird?" he goaded, trying to fish a response out of him.

Again, Twice fended it off, but this time not without stumbling backwards. He knocked into Toga, who in turn squirmed back to life after being jarred from her trance. That… was probably my best chance that was lost right there, Tokoyami thought with dismay as the brainwashing effects were jolted from Toga and she returned to her senses.

With a gasp, she assessed the situation they were in. "Jin, what happened?"

The man, torn by his morals as he was, breathed a sigh of relief. "You came back! I thought something was wrong. Why didn't you respond to me, dammit?!"

Before she could say anything, the capture weapon targeted her. Twice slashed away at it again, but this time Toga slipped between it all and grabbed onto the scarf before it could return to its user. Gone from his side, Tokoyami was left to fall onto the ground unattended. Shinsou's brow furrowed as his control over the scarf was abruptly halted and the two villains steeled themselves in front of his target.

Her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "Hey, Jin, what was the last thing that happened before I stopped acting?"

Twice looked between her and Shinsou in bewilderment. "Heh? Ah, I guess you were just talking to that kid and then you weren't? Should I be worried about you? You're never that quiet!"

Toga licked her lips. Shinsou started tugging on the capture scarf that Toga had gripped in her hands, and she patiently let it drag her forward a couple of feet. "I have a sneaking suspicion… that we shouldn't talk to that kid anymore." And on that note, she yanked harshly on the scarf, jarring Shinsou off balance over on his end.

A flash of panic crossed his face. For whatever training he'd endured up till now, facing the real deal threat now and also being outnumbered was unmistakably dangerous. On top of that, he'd been stripped of his element of surprise, and Tokoyami was sure that Toga already had his quirk figured out. This was the sort of disadvantage that he didn't want to see Shinsou succumb to.

He's already outmatched. He… Tokoyami glanced numbly between the two villains, and a sickening thought occurred. Oh god. They wouldn't try to capture him, would they? If they know his quirk… how useful it is and what evil misdeeds could be wrought with it… then Shigaraki would definitely…

Toga and Twice began to close in on him, coming from either side. Shinsou tried saying anything that might give a response, but neither of them took the bait and Toga remained firm in a tug of war between them. So in a spur of the moment, he tried sending out the other end of his scarf towards Twice. But the villain, experienced with such weapons as he was, ensnared the fabric in his tape measurers. Shinsou looked between the two villains, one on each end of his capture weapon but fully in control.

"Tokoyami!" Shinsou's voice rang out clearly, filled with desperation. "Can you move? Can you talk? Answer me!"

Ah. I wonder what the limits of his quirk are. I answered him last time and my body was able to move, but I'm not sure if his power can override the exhaustion that cripples me so. I can't let him keep fighting for nothing, though. I owe that much to him, and to everyone else who represented the heroes here today.

Tokoyami made no attempt to respond, his beak held firmly shut as he focused on the fleeting ability to keep his wits about him. His throat stung where Toga had held her knife, and his head pounded with the concerns that Twice had voiced. But now he was left unattended. And still his efforts meant nothing.

"Aizawa sent me after you! We need you back with us. You shouldn't have to be trapped like this!" Shinsou said, almost pleadingly. But then he was forced to keep his full attention on the villains lest he make an unforgivable mistake.

Knowing how gravely the balance of the fight had shifted, Shinsou yanked the scarf from his neck and dashed to the side in the hopes of tripping them up one last time. A knife flashed through the air, as if Toga had disappeared only to reappear right next to the hero student, and the razor edges of Twice's tape measurers ripped the scarf the rest of the way from his grasp.

The scuffle was thrown out of Tokoyami's line of sight, and he strained to lift himself just enough to shift to where he could face what was happening.

He was disappointed by what he saw, but not surprised. Shinsou was clutching his arm, blood beginning to well from a fresh cut that had torn easily through him. Regardless of whatever Shinsou had done to get here, Tokoyami was all too familiar with the lethal tenacity of Toga's agility and drive to stab anyone who stands before her. With a sinking realization, Tokoyami knew that without his quirk, this was never going to be a fair fight for Shinsou.

Toga and Twice had their backs turned towards Tokoyami. If not for the new object of their attention, he would've been grateful that they'd momentarily left him alone. But now was not the time to think such things. The last thing he wanted to do after everything he fought for was to give the villains a chance at victory.

His every nerve screamed at him to give in, to pass out and rid himself of these waking turmoils. His throat was like sandpaper and he couldn't ignore the metallic taste of blood on his tongue. But if he'd already given so much of himself so that the heroes could win, then he was willing to relinquish whatever meager scraps were left if it meant giving them the peace of mind they deserved. It was his way of repaying them for all the trouble he'd caused, all the worry and controversy that followed his very name.

Tokoyami lifted his head, every inch a timeless struggle that begged for him to stop. He dragged his arm beneath himself to stay propped up, a movement that in his mind just felt far too slow. His beak splintered open to speak, but the first noises to come out were weak rasps that couldn't even be heard. The cool morning air filled his lungs, and a spark of life jolted through him. Nursing that spark, he knew it wouldn't last long, even if he tried to cling to it. So instead he used it without remorse, knowing it would fuel a few words and nothing else. "Shinsou… get out of here! I'll find the heroes again. I won't… give in. But even still… I'm sorry."

Everyone was looking back at him in shock. Tokoyami saw Shinsou mouth something, but he was already backing away. Toga turned back quickly, not one to be distracted, and Shinsou bolted away with the girl ready to give chase.

And then Tokoyami crashed back into the ground with a muffled thud. The last thing he registered was Twice running back towards him while Toga wavered on the edge of pursuit or regrouping. Then his sight blurred until he shut his eyes tightly against it, pleading for the sickening feeling to leave him. The feeling of life draining from him, of his own futility and weakness. A feeling that he recognized by now, after feeling it at the hands of Overhaul and all who had wronged him.

His vision stayed dark. A ringing sound echoed in his head, making it difficult to hear what was going on around him. The taste of blood in his mouth became more acute, and everything felt so utterly wrong. Something about this drawn-out process of losing functionality was so much worse than that awful feeling of death that Overhaul had given him. And yet he felt nothing but calmness spreading through him, as if it were somehow okay to just give up now.

"Jin, make a Compress clone! We need—"

"I didn't even want to be a stupid yakuza…"

"Jin! I'm calling the others, okay? Just like you said and we can… we can…"

Voices fell into muffled whispers tinged with panic. But at least they weren't after Shinsou. If it was only him, that would be enough. And if somehow he made it out of this… he didn't know what would come after.

After what felt like forever, a time he spent suspended in nothing as he felt himself beginning to fade, a hand touched his shoulder and the warm breath of someone kneeling next to his head rustled his feathers.

"Don't worry, Fumikage. Our ride will be on their way, they just have to make a lil' pit stop first, m'kay? So hold in there just a bit longer! We'll get you to the nearest villain hospital. You can hate me all you want, but only when we get you out of the woods. So until then… just…"

Out of the woods? Tokoyami thought bitterly. That's where you villains took me from the first time. I don't want to go there. I don't want…

Before he could finish his thought, Tokoyami lost consciousness within the hands of the villains.