Happy Holidays everybody!
Apologies that this took long to get out, multiple storms in my area have knocked out power several times and I have been addicted to Darktide as of late. I don't care what other people have been saying about it, it's the best 40k game I've ever played! That is until Space Marine 2 comes out next year. On the subject of Warhammer, I'm getting an Ultramarines Redemptor Dreadnought model for Christmas!
Anyways, enjoy the chapter; it's focused on the League of Villains!
DOOM, My Hero Academia and Darksiders belong to their respective owners. I do not own either of them.
Beta read by Zeroth17.
Chapter 24
Scum and Villainy
MUSUTAFU
The sound of feet crushing shattered glass broke the silence of the deserted streets. A man wearing a long black trench coat and matching fedora tried to avoid the glass all over the sidewalk but there was so much that it was borderline impossible. The stranger continued to trek throughout the empty section of Musutafu while taking in the chaos around him. The citizens had either evacuated to designated emergency centers or stayed indoors.
As he rubbed his chin, his phone cell started to buzz and he reached into his pocket to pull it out. It was a text message from one of his contacts: Curator.
He hit a button to read the text.
The mission was a failure. The Vigilante destroyed the entirety of the Steel Sabers organization. We were unable to retrieve the Quirk Amplification Headset and the VX gas rocket has been disarmed. Wolfram and the others are now presumed dead. We were forced to scrub the mission and retreat from I-Island, we are heading back to All for One as we speak. Return to Kamino and inform the rest of the League.
"Huh...didn't think you of all people would fuck this up." He said to himself before pocketing his phone. He picked up the pace down the sidewalk until a police siren announced its arrival. The stranger came to a halt as the police car parked itself next to the sidewalk and one of the officers got out of the car.
"Excuse me, sir? Are you lost? Do you need help?" A blonde policewoman helpfully asked. Her partner, an officer with a plaid-colored skin complexion, leaned out the diver window. The stranger clicked his tongue in annoyance before turning around with his fedora tipped downward to conceal most of his face.
"Why, everything is just dandy, officers!" He greeted in a jovial tone. "I was just on my way to my buddy's apartment to check up on him. Enjoy the rest of your day!" He cordially dismissed as he turned around to leave.
The cops looked at each other, concerned with the man's apparent dissociation from the destruction around him. "Are you sure? We can give you a hand." The other officer offered.
"Really, I'm completely fine." The man assured them with his back turned. "You should go resume your patrols or grab a donut, whatever you cops do." He waved them off and went down the sidewalk. The officers were becoming very suspicious of this man and their gut instincts were telling them to investigate further.
"Excuse me, sir." The officer with blonde hair repeated, but this time in a demanding tone. This caused the man to stop in his tracks. "We highly advise that you let us escort you to the nearest emergency center instead. It's not safe around here."
"Also, we're going to need to see some identification." The multicolored officer added as he stepped out of the squad car.
The stranger's shoulders sagged as he let out a bored sigh. "Y'know, I was hoping you boy scouts would take a fricking hint when it was handed to ya." He started rubbing his left thumb and forefinger together, the skin turning a deep shade of purple and forming a tiny marble-sized ball between his fingers unseen by the cops.
The officers were now on edge; the plaid officer slowly reaching for his sidearm.
"I've always been a pro at evading the authorities but you two drips ended up breaking my perfect record." He turned to face them and lifted his fedora to reveal a man in his mid 30's with a lean facial structure, slick black hair gathered in a ponytail, and a scar running diagonally across his face. "I guess I'm slipping."
The officers gasped in horror when they instantly recognized the man. "It's-It's you!" The plaid officer exclaimed as he fumbled, yanking his pistol from his holster as did his partner. "You're-!"
The stranger flicked the ball at the squad car and as soon as it made contact with the hood, it enveloped the car and the officer in a blinding explosion that engulfed both of the officers, killing them instantly. The stranger began twirling his hands in the air like he was conducting an orchestra as the vehicle burned along with the maimed bodies of the cops.
"~And a partridge in a pear tree!~" He sadistically sang before laughing heartlessly. "Well, that's two less pigs in the world."
The stranger heard a gasp and glanced to his left to see a young high school girl standing at an intersection. The girl had a terrified look on her face with her hand clamped over her mouth. She then bolted in the other direction as fast as she could while taking out her phone to call for help until the left side of her throat was slashed open! The girl gurgled in pain as she clutched the side of her neck; blood spurting out from between her fingers. Her eyes darted over to the trenchcoat-wearing man now standing a few feet away from her, twirling a karambit knife in his hands. But wasn't he down the street a few seconds ago?
"Sorry, it's not in my nature to kill random people but..." He then moved faster than the human eye could follow and slit the right side of her neck, spraying more blood across the sidewalk. "Loose lips sink ships, y'know what I mean?"
He then shot towards her again almost instantaneously and sliced open her jugular while also carving the initials C4 into her forehead. The young high-schooler, who had done nothing wrong in her life, collapsed to the ground as blood flowed from the gashes around her throat; the light fading from her eyes. The stranger then strode past her corpse with a smile as his foot stepped into the red puddle forming around her.
Rokuro Nomura, formerly known as the Semtex Hero C4 and now All for One's enforcer, continued on his merry way before activating his secondary Quirk to sprint through the streets at blinding speeds, zipping through intersections in the blink of an eye. He was always thankful to AFO for giving him another Quirk. He was putting it to far better use than O'Clock did...
KAMINO WARD-LEAGUE OF VILLAINS HIDEOUT
SEVERAL MINUTES LATER
Twice took a long drag of his cigarette as he stared at the cityscape in the distance. Sitting on top of the roof of the League of Villains hideout, or rather a repurposed bar, the multiplying Villain turned his gaze up to the clouds above. So much had happened in the last couple of hours that none of the League members got a wink of sleep. Their television was broken when the I-Island explosion shattered the screen; Spinner volunteered to venture outside into the chaotic streets of Japan to "procure" a replacement. It didn't take long for the Stain fanboy to nab an undamaged flatscreen from a looted electronics store and haul it back to their hideout. It was times like these Twice wished their phones had access to the internet and news sources but they were strictly regulated to contact LOV members.
Nobody in the League knew what was happening over on I-Island but it was apparent that the Vigilante, the same one who tore off Tomura's arm, was the culprit. Twice grew sick when he was the others watched the Vigilante slaughter the Sabers on live TV before he threw a severed head at the camera and he had no witty comment for that. Unsurprisingly, Toga was squealing in glee at the horrendous sight. After the explosion shook the whole bar, he excused himself to the roof to collect himself.
Deciding that he had lingered on the roof long enough, Jin Bubaigawara flicked the cig away, slipped his mask back on, and went towards the door that led back downstairs. He went through the exit and down the stairs to a hallway until he heard the telltale sounds of knocking coming from the back door a few feet away from him. Twice cautiously reached for his wristband and pulled out a long strand of razor-sharp measuring tape that he occasionally used as garrotte wire.
Whenever someone asked him why he used measuring tape of all things, he would confess that it reminded him of the times when he used to work as a tailor.
He edged near the door and prepared himself for anything when he heard a series of rhythmic knocks on the other side of the door. He immediately recognized it as a secret knock that every LOV member was taught to memorize when entering a base of operations owned by them. To ensure that it was one of their own, Twice responded with another series of coded knocks. The person on the other side used knocks that were morse code. Twice recognized the password and the Villain sighed in relief; it was one of their own.
Twice unlocked the door and opened it to reveal Nomura standing in the doorway.
"If it's cookies you're selling, we'll take the thin mints! IF IT'S A CHEAP VACUUM YOU'RE SELLING, YOU CAN TAKE A HIKE!" Twice spontaneously alternated between himself and his split personality.
"It's always a treat to see you answer the door." Rokuro smirked as he stepped inside and placed his coat and hat onto a rack.
"So what's been happening out there? I gotta know the deets!" Twice asked as C4 walked past him.
"Well, it's pretty hectic out there so far. Cops and Heroes are all over the place, civvies are panicking and the lesser Villains are grabbing anything that isn't nailed down." C4 listed off as he and Twice walked down the hall. "In short, everything's gone nuts, something you have in common with. Know what I mean?"
"Oh yeah, I do! I'M JUST A WILD AND CRAZY GUY!" Twice bombastically agreed before noticing a small streak of red on C4's cheek. "Say, is that blood? Or ketchup?"
"This?" He replied as he wiped the blood off his face. "Oh, I just offed two cops and some kid."
Twice jumped back in shock. "Y-y-y-y-you what?!"
"Yeah, some cops held me up and a random high-schooler was gonna rat me out so I made sure they wouldn't tell any Heroes I was in the area." C4 explained with a cruel smirk. He noticed the horrified expression Twice had and sighed. "C'mon, Twicey Boy, the League has to try to remain hidden. We can't let everyone know where we are or know our plans. And besides, this is all for a better world for guys like us!"
He placed a hand on Jin's shoulder with a cheery smile. "And that's what you and everyone else want, remember? A society that doesn't rely on attention whore celebrities for help and one that doesn't throw guys like us to the curb if our Quirks are seen as a threat. And you don't want to go through that kind of pain again, do you?"
Twice looked down and nervously twiddled his fingers together. "I mean, no but-"
"That's the spirit!" C4 interrupted, patting Twice on the cheek. "So where are the others?"
"Uh, they're in the rec room. Spinner thinks he's a TV repair man." Twice pointed down the hall.
"Nice." C4 said s he resumed walking down the hall until turning a corner. This left Twice alone in the hallway, dreadfully conflicted. Twice heavily disliked the current State of Hero Society and would want nothing more than the system to be torn down and rebuilt from the ground up with something better...but not through other people's deaths. Giran swore to him that no one would be no deaths before he joined the LOV but this was the first time someone in the League outright admitted to killing 3 people. Also, he did not like C4 at all. Not because he was a former Hero, but because of what he did before becoming a Villain.
Twice shook his head and followed after C4. So maybe one of the members was a murderer, something he would have to bring up with Giran, but surely none of his other friends in the League were killers too, right?
Right?
"C'mon, man. I'm getting antsy here." Muscular grunted as he tapped his foot.
"I'm doing the best I can..." Spinner grumbled as he fiddled with the connections. "I swear, they make these things harder to set up nowadays."
Everyone waited for Spinner to finish hooking up their new TV within the League's breakroom. The room was fairly medium-sized with a large couch in the center, a pool table on the right side, and a table on the far left. There was also a bookcase but no one in the LOV ever bothered to read any of the books. Muscular, Magne, and Mustard sat on the couch, Mr. Compress was seated at the table, Dabi leaned against the bookcase with his arms folded and Moonfish was over in the corner, drooling and mumbling incoherently. The only one that wasn't present in the room was Toga. C4 and Twice entered the room just as Spinner got done with the last plug.
"Okay, that should do it." Spinner dusted off his hands as he placed a pair of batteries into the remote. He tossed it over to Twice who caught it out of the air.
"We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming! Roll that clip, Johnny!" Twice said humorously as he turned on the TV via the remote. It took all but two channel changes to get to the news network.
"-We currently have very little information coming from I-Island but will inform you as soon as we receive an update..."
Twice decided to switch to a different news station in the hopes that there would be more info.
"-No news coming from I-Island for the last two hours, leaving many to question whether or not-"
He changed the channel again.
"-We have no information regarding the I-Island siege but will be keeping you up to date on available emergency centers-"
He changed the channel one last time.
"-For those currently joining us, we will keep you informed of any updates from our official sources reporting on the I-Island incident-"
Twice pressed the mute button after it became apparent that no other news station had any valuable information.
"Man, no one in the news knows a thing?" Magne scratched her chin; her eyebrow raised. "You'd think with all the chaos going on, they'd at least got something to blab about."
"It's the HPSC covering things up as usual." Mustard sighed, fiddling with the gas valves of the stahlhelm gas mask sitting on his lap. "They always try to downplay the truth whenever something doesn't go their way."
"Are you positive about that claim?" Mr. Compress questioned behind his patterned mask. "This does not appear to be an incident they can simply sweep under the rug."
"Yeah, I had to dodge patrolling cops and Heroes all over Kamino trying to get a working TV. I doubt they're going to cover all this up." Spinner added, looking outside their broken window. "You guys think we should start repairing the windows? I mean, the police might-"
"Don't sweat it, Spinny. The cops in Kamino are on All for One's payroll." C4 assured him. He then snapped his fingers. "Which reminds me, Curator and the Volcano Thieves got back from I-Island and they relayed some info to me."
"Is that so?" Dabi said with a grin, his interest piqued. "What did helmet head and hot head have to say?"
"They oughta cane you for that." C4 pointed at him. "Anyway, the mission on I-Island is a failure. The Steel Sabers organization has been wiped out."
"What?! You're joking!" Spinner almost jumped back in surprise as everyone's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "They're all dead?!"
"Yup." C4 nodded, drawing more shocked looks. "Courtesy of our green friend."
"Wait, that guy...killed them all?!" Magne blinked in disbelief.
"Bullshit!" Muscular shouted. "There's no way that's even friggin possible! The Sabers were the best Hero killers in the world!"
"But we did just see him kill some of them on TV a while ago..." Mustard gulped.
Twice looked down at his feet apprehensively. He wasn't sure why anybody in the League looked up to those psychos, let alone Stain. He didn't like Heroes as much as the next Villain but he certainly didn't want them dead. Jin decided to stay silent for now.
"Well, they were. Curator's never given me bad info so I trust his word. He and the Thieves are reporting back to All for One, better start praying for them." C4 snarked.
"If I may ask, what of Wolfram and his men?" Mr. Compress inquired.
"Oh, they're all dead." C4 replied carelessly.
"D-d-dead?! As in, 'gone the way of the dodo' dead?!" Twice gasped. Those guys may have been jerks but they were still valued members of the LOV.
"Pretty much. Honestly, I'm glad they're dead! They bought us nothing but trouble." C4 laughed. Twice blinked several times at him in horror.
"Likewise. I was sick of those assholes talking shit about me behind my back." Magne seethed.
"I would've loved to crush those fuckin' asspains with my bare hands." Muscular flexed his fingers as layers of muscle fibers began wrapping around his fingers. "Looks like that Vigilante prick beat me to it."
Mr. Compress and Mustard nodded in agreement. Twice did a double between everyone, mortified at their complete dismissal of the death of their comrades. This had to be some kind of joke they were all playing, right? "But-but-but-but they were still a part of the crew! They helped our butts out a dozen times before!" Twice reasoned as desperately as he could, hoping to find some sympathy out of his friends.
"Honestly, they didn't feel like team players in the League and only helped us if it benefitted them." Spinner reminded Jin. "They weren't really our friends, Twice."
"I second that." Dabi yawned as he cracked his neck. "Take our word for it, Twice. Wolfram and his crew were too slow and too stupid to be a part of the League. All for One should've kicked them out a long time ago."
"Well, they're kicked out now if you get my meaning." C4 winked at Dabi. This did not ease Jin's distress at all. "To make matters worse, the VX Gas bomb that was supposed to kill everyone on the island once we were done got disarmed."
"Gas bomb?" Twice paled underneath his mask.
"As I said, can't let anyone know about what we're doing nowadays." C4 shrugged with a smile.
"Wish I could've been there to see it go off. The most deadly gas in the world...one day I'll command that kind of killing power at my fingertips." Mustard shuddered with glee at the thought of it.
Twice was officially freaked out. He needed to find a way out of this conversation and out of the room now. He just needed to find a good excuse until he noticed that Toga wasn't anywhere in the breakroom. "Uhhhh, Say does anyone know where Himiko is? Where is our darling little vampire pal?" He rapidly asked while trying to stay as inconspicuous as he could.
"She went upstairs to her room a while ago." Mr. Compress answered as he pointed up to the ceiling. "The poor girl was having another one of her headaches again."
"Thanks, I'll go check up on her. GOTTA GO FAST!" He hollered before running out of the room as fast as he could. Everyone was left staring at the empty doorway in silence. Muscular glanced at his comrades before settling in his seat on the couch and watching the TV. "All right, I'm just gonna say what's on everybody's mind: he's gonna puss out on us."
Spinner, Mustard, Magne, and were taken aback by Muscular's harsh words while Dabi showed no reaction. The horribly burned Villain regarded C4 with a focused gaze. "You really think Jin's up for this?"
C4 Shrugged. "He did just join the League a week ago so he's bound to be a tad rough around the edges. Giran put in a good word for the guy but if he does start to show some hesitation-"
"Woah, woah, woah!" Spinner stopped C4. "Sure, Twice is new but he's already committed to our cause! He just needs more time to warm up to how we do things here in the League of Villains. Plus, he's already become our friend!"
"An accurate proclamation, dear Shuichi!" Mr. Compress theatrically agreed as he sat up from his seat and posed stylishly. "Twice simply has stage fright is all. If taught with grace and glamour, he'll be a peak performer before you know it!"
Magne was a bit weirded out by Mr. Compress but she too came to her friend's defense. "Honestly, Jin's Quirk has been helpful so far and he's a pretty fun guy to have around."
"Yeah. He's cool." Mustard nodded his head, giving C4 a thumbs up.
"Bite, bite, bite." Everyone heard Moonfish drone as the straightjacket-clad serial killer gnawed on the wall in the corner of the room. "Must eat more to bite, bite, bite. Sharpen teeth to bite even more..."
Everyone sweatdropped uncomfortably. Why the hell was this guy in the League?
"Riiiiight." C4 cleared his throat. "If you guys can vouch for him then I'll give him some time to adjust. Does anyone know where Kurogiri is?"
"He's with All for One." Dabi answered. "Smog head recovered Shigaraki's arm and brought it back to the doc."
C4 smiled at that bit of good news, Dr. Garaki was capable of anything so reattaching Tomura's arm would be a piece of cake. "That's great to hear. Is Shigaraki here by any chance?"
"He's in his room." Magne said before her expression turned to worry. "But I wouldn't go bothering him right now."
"I don't know if you've noticed but this fiasco is kind of a big deal right now so I need to go inform him whether he wants to listen or not." C4 gruffly replied. "I get what happened to him fucked him up a little but he's gotta hear this."
"No, Rokuro, we're being serious. You do not want to-" Spinner instantly stopped speaking when he saw someone standing at the breakroom entrance. The Villains turned around to see that it was Tomura Shigaraki. He was clad in a black shirt and pants with a disembodied hand attached to his face but the sleeve of his shirt was buttoned up where his left arm used to be. Silently, Tomura plodded into the room and towards the couch which prompted the three Villains to get up and move away from him. The news was showing a security camera playback of the Vigilante's charge through the port of Tokyo. He placed a hand on the couch and stared at the TV.
"Out." Tomura commanded, glaring at the Vigilante.
The other Villains did what he said and started to leave the room but C4 did not budge. "Tomura, I have important news to-"
Shigaraki tightened his grip on the couch and the furniture turned grey before slowly disintegrating. "Oooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuut." He breathed heavily as he began to scratch his neck excessively.
Needless to say, this didn't take much for the group to quickly vacate the breakroom with Moonfish scampering out of there like a dog. C4 scowled in annoyance as he exited, which left Dabi as the last one out. As he walked out into the hallway, Dabi noticed something out of the corner of his eye. The TV was now showing new footage of the Vigilante clotheslining Endeavor and slamming him into the pavement. Dabi's hand reflexively twitched as his eyes narrowed at the Vigilante. After a few more seconds of staring at the screen, Dabi left Shigraki to his own devices.
The news report switched to a playback of the mall incident and Tomura felt his anger rise with every passing second. He scratched at his neck harder and harder; blood dribbling down his neck and coating his fingers. The phantom pain of his missing arm was driving him insane and no amount of morphine dulled the searing discomfort. The footage then paused to do a close-up of the Vigilante's head; the way it was positioned made it look like he was staring at Tomura.
"Hate you. Hate you. Hate you. Hateyouhateyouhateyouhateyouhateyouhateyouhateyouhateyohateyou..." Tomura repeated his madness mantra over and over again through his clenched teeth. His eyes were wide with pure anger until he finally snapped.
"I HATE YOU!"
Twice walked up the steps to the third-floor living quarters of the LOV members. As he neared the door to Toga's room he paused for a second before slumping against the wall. Sweat poured down his face and his heart thumped rapidly. To hear his friends dismiss the deaths of one of their own and learn that they were going to gas an island full of people was a huge blow to his trust in the League.
Giran told him that this was a noble group that wanted to put an end to the imperfect Hero society that affected unlucky people like him. He didn't think the League going to such extreme lengths! He wasn't sure what to do at all. Should he talk to his friends more? Should he go to Giran and ask him what was up? Should he try to get an audience with All for One and try to make some kind of appeasement for less violent methods?
Twice gripped the sides of his head as he tried to calm himself down. The stress over this situation was dredging up bad memories of how he ended up the way he was. Jin grew embittered over the hurtful recollections of his past as he clasped his hands together. He was not going back to that chapter in his life.
"It's all for a better society, it's all for a better society..." He repeated to himself though he began to doubt his own words or if what he was doing was in the right. Looking towards Toga's door, Twice got back up and walked over to it. His hand was inched away from the knob when the door was suddenly swung open and smacked him square in the face!
Toga's head popped out from behind the door as Jin lay flat on his back; spirals in his eyes.
"Whoops! Sorry, Jin!" Himiko apologized as she knelt down and helped sit him up. "You still alive?"
"Yeah, dandy. It's allliiiivvveee!" He croaked as he shook his head to dispel the dizziness. "How are you feeling?"
"Much, much better!" Toga answered happily. "Just had to wait till those uncool headaches stopped bugging me."
Twice felt nothing but concern for his friend. Toga was prone to painful headaches, once every few days apparently, and she had to be left alone until they subsided. He remembered the time when Muscular tried to poke her when she was having one of her headaches and she went absolutely ballistic. It took him and several of the others just to try and pry her off of a man who was ten times bigger than her. Hopefully, Giran knew somebody who could supply her with some aspirin.
"So what's been going on?" Toga tilted her head. "Tell me, tell me, tell me!"
Twice scratched his chin "Well, that depends. Do you want the bad news? Or the really bad news? Spoiler warning: it's pretty bad...or not!"
To be continued...
And that's the last chapter for 2022!
I wanted this to focus on the Villains side of handling things and I think I should explain more about the Villain in the prologue.
C4 is not a Villain I made up, he is the primary antagonist from MHA Illegals known as Number 6. Since this is an alternate universe of canon MHA, i gave him some interesting additions. Instead of being a prototype Nomu, he is a bad Hero gone worse who joined up with AFO and was granted a secondary Quirk thanks to him. Personality-wise, I based him on Clarence Boddicker from Robocop. More info about him will be revealed as the story goes on.
Twice and Toga are intriguing characters but all I can say is that I have very big plans for them. I think the hardest part was trying to capture his split personality.
One announcement I have to make is that I will be renaming this arc. It will be a few more chapters before we get to the Slayer's warpath due to my writing schedule so this gives me more room to work. I will be back in 2023 with a longer chapter!
Have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, a Happy New Year, and thank you all for the support!
Don't forget to review but please don't flame.