Chapter 33: Yaoyorozu vs Imasuji

As it turned out, Momo's idea was about half-right.

The original plan she presented was to send Dark Shadow away to Dryadalis so Tokoyami could tell Hatsume and the rest of the elves of what the fuck was going on. Sadly, there were a few flaws with this: One, since Dryadalis was on the other end of the continent, it would take him roughly a week to get there, which the resistance didn't have. And two, Dark Shadow was able to fly and Tokoyami could use magic, which would give the resistance an advantage.

Momo argued that Dryadalis could come to them with relief aid alongside weapons to take down the mercenaries, and if the resistance didn't last that long, then Hatsume and her elves could at least avenge everyone at the Collibus Hills. Additionally, Tokoyami wasn't that powerful of a mage: The most he could do was blind people with smoke and fire some dark crystals.

Eventually, Aizawa relented and sent Tokoyami to play messenger to Queen Hatsume. With that out of the way, the actual plan on how to take back the city now had to be thought up.

Bakugou's suggestion of blowing up everything to hell with a magical explosion was immediately ruled out; even in the state the Collibus Hills were in, they were still people's homes. Thankfully, Tsunotori was able to come up with a less catastrophic strategy: She and her minotaurs (it was gruesome to think she was now the last one here) helped in the construction of the town, so she knew how all the routes connected and where they were located, to a much better degree than either the JSDF or any of the mercenaries. This would give them the advantage.

The petite minotaur's idea was this: Every single lane in the town followed into one of the bigger main lanes in one of the four cardinal directions: North, south, east, and west. These four major streets all had exits that lead to the outside world, and in the north-center of the town was the JSDF base and buildings, and right above those, was the gate to Japan.

The plan was to have four separate teams at each of the town entrances, and make their way to the center, killing any mercs they came across. Once they all met up together at the center, they would storm the military base together, and hopefully, take back the gate.

Was this plan flawed? Absolutely. Were people gonna die? Without a doubt. But there was one thing Momo and her team could do to reduce casualties: Scout the enemy's movements.

Momo had been trained in the Ranger Course, which meant she knew how to do reconnaissance and mountaineering. Taking a small team with her, they spent all of yesterday observing the patrol patterns of the mercs, and what sort of weapons they had on them.

Their scouting mission actually did bear some fruit: Their weapons seemed to be a mix between military-issued assault rifles, handguns, and a few various personal weapons that most sane armies in the world had abandoned, such as, say, customized mustard gas grenades.

Yeah, the grenades happened to be Momo's first clue at who exactly they were dealing with. A few hours later, she also encountered a bald guy with way too many knives across his uniform, and Momo immediately recognized him from an old file Aizawa had lying around on his desk: Moonfish; no other known identity, just a mercenary going by the name Moonfish.

Remembering the other files on Aizawa's desk and following their train of logic, that meant the guy with the gas grenades and steel helmet was Mustard, and, while she didn't see the others, it was safe to say that the likes of Magne, Rappa, Nemoto, Tengai, Hojo, and Tabe were here.

Which meant that the leader of this little operation was none other than Goto Imasuji.

Momo read the file on him the most. Born in Japan, but moved to America when he came of age, and became one of the most infamous mercenaries in the world. Not because of whatever firepower he carried with him, but because he had the highest job completion to failure ratio of Japanese mercs, and also because of his sadistic personality. As in, "murders children for fun" kind of personality. Momo was fairly sure that the man became a mercenary just to fund his lifestyle choice of hunting whoever he felt like hurting, especially JSDF officers.

Yeah, after reading his file, Momo had heard a few rumors and urban legends here and there about Imasuji's immense hatred for the Japanese Self-Defense Force, and by extension, most of the world's militaries, who hated him in kind. She didn't know why, but she just always just assumed that Imasuji was fully aware of the concepts of good and evil, and he simply hated that the world's militaires tried to play the good side. There were also rumors that he hated one officer in particular, but Momo never knew who it was. It was probably Aizawa, in her opinion.

Despite that, the international community hasn't been able to press charges, much less arrest the man. Officially speaking, he has never done anything illegal, as Imasuji's paper trial was always well-hidden, and whatever governments around the world could find wasn't incriminating. Plus, the UN couldn't exactly use rumors as evidence to convict a man, and no witnesses were ever present to speak up about the things he might have done.

Mostly because there were never any witnesses found.

Anyways, sadistic international criminals aside, they did also learn of the patrol patterns of the mercs, along with the perfect time to jump them without getting spotted. Now, traditionally, the best time for an ambush would be in the dead of night, around four, but no one he really had night vision, so the next best option was at the crack of dawn: There would be enough light to see, and several of the mercenaries would still be groggy from waking up so early.

With that, Momo and her small team went back to the trenches, and told Aizawa everything they found out. His face looked like he had just bit into a sour lime when she told him that Imasuji was most likely responsible for the atrocities recently committed, but he still kept it professional, and relayed all the info to the other people hiding all around the Collibus Hills' forests.

Kodai had gone around every stronghold during the last few days, healing everyone she could to tip-top shape, which increased their numbers considerably. Unfortunately, while Yoarashi did wake up, the same couldn't be said for Melissa. Kyoka Jiro offered to keep an eye on her while her husband and the rest of the resistance went off to fight, and Momo accepted.

Now, it was game time. Everyone was up and awake eight hours before the big moment, preparing themselves. There was a good chance a lot of them wouldn't come back.

Despite that, they were still gonna fight.

The first phase of the plan went without a hitch.

As it turned out, having multiple mages, demi-humans, and who-knows-what-else fighting alongside trained soldiers of the JSDF made whatever punk-ass mercenaries that came across them regret every signing up to take this job. Between Kurose's black holes, Uwabami's petrification, Shoto's ice, and so many other surprises, none of them stood a chance.

Another small bonus was the fact that magic, alongside monstrous physiology and unarmed combat, was nowhere as loud as bullets. So, the chance of any of the mercs lounging about in the main military base hearing the gunshots was lowered significantly.

Meeting up in the center of the town was slightly harder. They were able to use Hagakure's illusions to make them all invisible, but it was only a matter of time before they would have to split up to take back the base, along with dropping their cover. So, they decided to use it as best as they could for now, getting themselves ready to take back the JSDF base.

They silently made their way towards the base… and it was a total wreck. Broken windows, burnt walls, Momo was pretty sure she even saw some graffiti there. The only thing that still seemed to be standing was the metal fence and the entrance checkpoint.

"Hmm…" Aizawa analyzed the area around them. "The checkpoint's definitely gonna be guarded. "We could burst through the front, it has the biggest doors, but if we're too loud, we'll be fish in a barrel. Maybe we could use a distraction to draw the guards away…?"

Momo looked over to her boyfriend. "Shoto, can you create some distractions?"

"There is one long-range spell that, if I use continuously, might be able to cause some heads to turn," he said. "However, I also do have a mid-range spell that would create a bigger spectacle with only one use, but it might end up affecting the path towards the building."

Momo thought over what he said. Beyond the metal fence was the base in its entirety. The original plan was to split into three teams and have two of them surround it while the third went to the gate. But if what Shoto said about his attack was true, then he would end up creating an iceberg in the middle of one of their paths. Maybe he could place it elsewhere…?

"What about the roof?" Ashido suggested. "Could you create your ice up there?"

"That is doable, yes," the peppermint-haired prince said.

The roof? Momo supposed that could work. It would definitely cause a few heads to turn, but it still wasn't far enough to lead the guards away from the fence. They needed more. Maybe something that could send the mercs into a panic? Something that… isn't really there…

Momo looked over at their potential trump card. "Hey, Hagakure…"

Goto Imasuji loved it when he won.

He had done his job, as asked. Once the media found out about the horrible tragedy that happened here under the nose of the JSDF, the President of the United States would be able to weasel himself into getting control of the gate, and Goto would be handsomely paid.

And all of that while enjoying the screams of innocents! Bonus!

Sure, a few of the details were still a bit sketchy. Goto knew that he and the boys just had to keep the Japanese military forces on the other side of the gate out of here until big powerful America could take matters into their own hands. Once that was done, Goto and his fellow "terrorists" would "surrender peacefully" and be taken to "Guantanamo Bay."

Fat chance. If he smelled even the slightest hint of a double-cross, Goto would let the whole world know that it was President Samuel Abraham that sent him to commit this wholesale slaughter. He wasn't stupid. Goto was smart enough to know that, even if he did get locked up for life in some prison, just shouting through the bars who his employer was would fall upon deaf ears. No, he had a back-up plan in case the plan went to hell in the form of a little hard drive.

Being a mercenary was a dangerous career choice; there were no people you could trust. However, there were people you could rely on to do what you wanted them to… for the right price. So, he had two of his associates, some European assholes by the names of Anna Scerbino and Giulio Gandini (he was pretty sure the two of them were fucking) to hold on to his precious hard drive. They owed him a favor, and he was now cashing in: If President Sam sent him to prison after this, the drive would be sent into the internet, and everyone would know that the leader of the free world was the one who gave him the order to burn this place down.

Hell, they had the order to release all the evidence he had in the event that he just up and died, regardless of how the mission went. Goto just liked hurting others, simple as that. And to be able to strike a blow like that to the goddamn President? He couldn't pass that up.

Anyways, that was future Goto's problem. Right now, present Goto was enjoying putting his feet on top of General Aizawa's desk. It made him feel like a cool businessman. And he was pretty sure Aizawa was an ex of that Sosaki bitch (he was still pissed that she somehow got away), so rubbing his ass on her former boyfriend's seat felt like a personal victory. All he had to do now was wait, maybe kill Sosaki if she popped up, and get then become rich beyond all –

BOOOM!

What the hell?! Goto fell off the chair, as the entire building seemed to shake for a few seconds. Outside, he could hear his goons shouting about something, but he wasn't sure what. Looking out the window, he saw something massive flying around, roaring, and shooting fire.

IS THAT A FUCKING DRAGON?!

Momo couldn't believe her plan actually worked.

It was a long shot, one that only complete idiots would have fallen for, but it was all they had. So, really, thank goodness for Imasuji hiring complete morons for this operation.

The plan was pretty simple: Shoto would create a mountain of ice spikes on the roof of the main military building, grabbing everyone's attention. While they were distracted, Hagakure would drop the invisibility spell around them all, and instead conjure up an illusion of a dragon. A big and scary dragon that would fly around and cause a panic amongst the mercenaries.

With the mercs completely in a panic, the resistance would bust through the front gate, kill any of the bad guys currently distracted by the fake monster above their heads, and then split into their three teams to take back the base. Naturally, there were some issues with the plan, such as, one, wouldn't the mercs question why none of them saw the dragon coming, and, two, wasn't the iceberg similar to the one that intruder made a few days back?

Thankfully, it seemed that all of the mercenaries were scared shitless of the dragon. Momo had to admit, it looked pretty realistic. While it had the build of a traditional dragon, it had a few distinct differences, such as its back and limbs being covered in fur, its face looking like a skull, and having crooked horns. It sort of resembled a mix between an undead bat and a dragon.

Regardless of the flaws in the plan and Momo's artistic critiques, the dragon worked, and no one noticed how the font gate was broken down, or the multiple newcomers that began killing any mercenaries in sight. "Alright, we'll split up here!" Aizawa said. "You all know what to do!"

Momo, along with the rest of the resistance, nodded. They had been split between the three generals: Momo herself was going to be under the command of General Kayama, alongside Kendo, Sato, Tsunotori, and a few others, and would take back the inside of the building.

Before they headed off, Momo called out to her boyfriend, "Be careful."

"I will," Shoto said, before adding, "Be sure to kick some ass."

The black-haired soldier smiled at that. "I will."

Shouta Aizawa, along with the rest of his team, ran as fast as they could towards the gate.

When this all began, he had to admit, he was not a fan of this. Magic, dragons, alternate dimensions, it was all bullshit to him. He liked things in perfect order, to make sense, and then this place shows up and wrecks that all. But now…? Ehh, he had gotten used to it.

Which was why he was so pissed off at these mercenaries right now.

His face may not have shown it (mostly due to the sleep deprivation), but he was pissed. He had finally gotten used to the idea of this fantasy world, and things were going well: They had created a town, the Todoroki Empire wasn't gonna be a problem, and they had a potential economic boon with the Dryadalis Kingdom. Everything was going smoothly…

And then those assholes decided to fuck it all up.

All of that unnecessary death and suffering, sending him and everyone else into hiding underground, like a bunch of rats. There were few ways to genuinely make Shouta Aizawa mad, and these mercs managed to do it. Their prize? As soon-to-be kick in the balls.

TINK! TINK!

As the team managed to see the gate near the horizon, two grenades fell in the dirt in front of them, releasing a bunch of gas. Aizawa knew whose trick this was. Mustard…

"A frontal assault? Really? I can't believe you thought you could win with such a sad strategy," the helmeted merc said, his voice modulated by his gas mask. The man was casually walking up to them, handgun out, as more mercs followed behind him. "Shouldn't you be smarter than that, Aizawa? Ah, it doesn't matter. Soon, my toxic miasma will touch your skin, and –"

"URARAKA! KUROSE! NOW!"

""CAVEM NIGRUM!""

Two black holes suddenly appeared in the middle of the battlefield, and began sucking in the mustard gas, along with a couple of the mercenaries who got too close. Shouta knew it was a gamble to have both their gravity mages in his party, but it was safe to assume that Mustard would only use his gas attack in an open place, so his fellow mercs wouldn't be affected.

Glad to see that that gamble paid off.

Honestly, he wasn't sure what to make of Anan Kurose when she first arrived at the Collibus Hills. According to the reports, she was some kind of fairy that had lived for centuries, which was unnerving enough, but another thing that made Shouta feel a little concrete was the fact that whenever he was out and about, she would be following behind him, watching him.

He would have assumed Kurose was a stalker, but then during the attack, she saved his life by blasting a couple of the mercs with her magic, before getting a bullet to the abdomen while the two of them were running. Maybe she had some kind of crush on him?

Regardless of what it was, she was on Shouta's team along with Uraraka, and now, Shouta was glad that the stoic fairy lady was on his side. At least her magic saved them from the gas.

Mustard, meanwhile, was absolutely livid. He not only lost his trademark attack, but also several of his groupies. Plus, his preferred weapon of choice didn't even hurt them. He pulled out his handgun to try and shoot someone in his frustration, buuuuut…

BREEAM-POW!

"Thank you, Private Aoyama."

"You're very much welcome, General," the blond Frenchman said.

"Uhh…" Mustard raised his hands into the air. "I surrender?"

"Smart choice," Shouta said. Looks like the gate was theirs once more.

Hopefully, everything was going smoothly for everyone else, too.

Dodge, hit, dodge, hit. That was the routine Eijiro was beginning to fall into; dodge the enemy bullets with a mix of parkour and luck, and then try to hit them back, either using his gun or his fists, depending on how close the enemy was to him. So far, it seemed to work.

"Alright, this corner of the building is secure," General Yamada said. "Bakugou, Yoarashi, you're with me. Kirishima, Ashido, you guys stay here and keep the place secure."

"Understood, sir!" Eijiro gave his superior a salute.

"Don't die," Bakubro said in Latin. "Either you."

"Hey, he actually acknowledged me!" Mina cheered.

"SHUT UP! No I didn't!"

With the rest of the group now turning the corner, both he and Mina were now guarding the south-western area of the military base. It was relatively quiet (they could hear gunshots all over), but the two of them weren't talking. They were still on high alert.

There was a chance that any second now, someone could attack them –

"ACIDUM SAGITTA!"

Eijiro felt the sensation of Mina's hand pushing his face, and the rest of his body, towards the ground, as a knife suddenly flew towards where he was just standing. Thankfully, his girlfriend launched an arrow made of acid towards the knife, safely dissolving it before it hit her.

"WHOA! Look at that! The lizard babe can shoot some really noxious stuff, huh?!"

How the hell did these guys get the drop on us?! Eijiro took a good look at the two mercs that just showed up; one of them was a big dude, with wavy brown hair going all the way down to his neck, and the other guy was a bald creep with way too many knives on his person.

The redhead knew who they were. "Kendo Rappa and Moonfish…"

"Oh, shit! You actually know us!" Rappa said. "I mean, yeah, I guess we're pretty well known, real identities or not, but whatever! Here's how this is gonna go down: Either we use guns and magic to kill each other, or we use fists! Or, well, in Moonfish's case, blades. Your choice!"

The soldier looked back to his girlfriend. She had no gun to speak of, and he was pretty sure magic wouldn't be able to react fast enough to bullets. "I choose fists and blades!"

"SWEET! I'm taking you on!" Rappa pointed at Eijiro. "Moonfish, you wanna…?"

Moonfish pulled out his two swords and muttered, "I'll cut her up real nice… flesh…"

Yeah, that totally wasn't concerning. As Moonfish started to look more and more like a Deadpool wannabe, Eijiro looked over at Mina, who nodded. "I get the basic gist of what we're doing."

The artificial redhead nodded, as he backed up to one side of the building, leaving plenty of space for his girlfriend to spear Moonfish in the face, as Rappa turned to face him.

Melissa woke up to see that she was… underground?

The last thing she remembered was that massive blast that incinerated Takami, her head hitting something, and then… something about crashing? The planes…? The airship –

"Please, don't move," a familiar voice said, holding her down. "You just woke up."

"Huh? Jiro-san?" Melissa looked over to see the pregnant Jiro matriarch next to her. "Where are we? And while I'm on the subject… Where is everyone else? What happened?"

"You've been out for a few days," Kyoka said. "Your comrades were able to return you back to the Collibus Hills, but… something bad happened while you were all gone. These men appeared with weapons… slaughtered everyone in sight… we had to flee… But with the Arms of Fire now back, they've all left to retake the Collibus Hills. They left me to look after you…"

Someone attacked the town? Momo and the others left to stop these invaders? No. She couldn't stand by and do nothing. Melissa got up, to the dagon's panic. "Stop! You need to rest –"

"I've rested enough," the fallen angel said. "Now… where is the door out of here?"

BLAM! BLAM!

"Excellent shooting, Mineta!"

"Thanks, I've been practicing!"

Momo wasn't sure if that meant he'd been practicing before everything went to shit, or that he got incredibly good with a gun while she and the rest of the SREU was away, but General Kayama was right about the gnome's shooting being praiseworthy.

With those last shots, both Tengai and Tabe were dead, and the top hallway was clear. At the moment, the rest of Momo's team was busy taking on the rest of the mercenaries that were still on the floors below them, but still no sign of Imasuji. Which left only one place…

"General Kayama, permission to scout the roof?"

"Granted, Sosaki," the older woman said. "But take Yaoyorozu and Tsunotori with you."

Right, her. Colonel Shino Sosaki. She was the fourth-highest ranking person right now, as anyone else who wasn't either Aizawa, Kayama or Yamada was dead now. Momo remembered seeing her back before she left for Japan with Fuyumi and the others, something about a meeting between all of the high-ranking officials. But… she was pretty sure she also saw her before that, too. Like, before Momo departed for the Special Region… but when…?

Her thoughts snapped back to reality as the brown-haired woman ordered her and Tsunotori up to the roof with her. They walked up the stairs that led up to the roof, opening the door, and the three of them walked in to see ice everywhere. The majority of Shoto's iceberg was still in place, but it seemed like somebody shot chunks of it off in a panic. Maybe someone was here?

The three of them remained silent, as they slowly walked around the roof, trying to see if anyone was here. Hagakure's dragon illusion was starting to disappear, and the sounds of gunshots were beginning to quiet down. Maybe that was a sign that this was over –

BLAM! BLAM!

"AAAIIIIIEEEEEEE!"

Momo turned around in horror as she saw her friend fall to the floor, her breath escaping her body as she saw the two bullet holes in the minotaur's stomach. "PONY!"

Before she even had a chance to run to her friend, a punch hit Momo squarely in the jaw, as she fell, tumbling towards the edge of the roof. "Well, I have to hand it to you, you're a bigger pain in the neck than I ever thought possible. You even surpassed Sosaki in that category!"

Momo looked up to see a man wearing one of the mercenary outfits, covering his massive build, with blond hair adorning the top of his head, and an eyepatch covering his left eye.

"Goto Imasuji…"

"You know me? I'm flattered," the man said. "And you must be Momo Yaoyorozu, the rich bitch that somehow became the mascot for the JSDF's recruitment posters! What, you don't know about those? They started printing them out after your little stunt in Musutafu…"

Momo grunted, as she got back up on the roof, only to see Colonel Sosaki down, just as much as Pony was. "Oh, her? Don't worry, she just took a bullet to the knee, she's still alive… but she'll wish she wasn't once I'm through with her. But first… to take care of you…"

Shit, this was bad. Momo could see her handgun tossed to the side of the roof, and not only that, but Imasuji just tossed his, too. Looks like they were doing fisticuffs. Despite the fact that this guy was clearly out of her weight class, Momo had no choice but to take on Imasuji.

The black-haired woman threw a bunch at the mercenary, who simply grabbed her fist in his hand, and then sent it back into her face, essentially doing the whole "stop hitting yourself" joke, only less funny, before Imasuji proceeded to kick Momo in the stomach, sending her reeling.

"I consider myself an even-tempered man, it takes a lot to get under my skin," Imasuji said, as Momo struggled to get back up. "But congratulations, you just won the solid gold cup!"

Looking up, Momo could see that the mercenary pulled something out of his pocket. A really, really, big knife. "You know, I didn't always look like a pirate," Imasuji said, pointing at his eyepatch. "This was Colonel Sosaki's handiwork. Came across her on a mission, tried to kill her, she gouged out my eye, and I barely escaped. So, when I got the job to wreck this place, you wouldn't believe how overjoyed I was to see her back here! But first… I gotta deal with you."

Momo may have been on all fours, but she was still skilled enough to evade Imasuji's wild knife slashes, as he kept monologuing. "I'm not too sure what the relationship between the two of you is; maybe you babysat her kid one time, or maybe you're her boyfriend's top student, but whatever it is, I know the two of you are related somehow. I just know."

The young woman dodged another slash, as Imasuji's knife embedded itself into the floor. "I wonder what sort of face Sosaki will make when she sees how I've torn you to pieces? Heh, even if I am wrong about the two of you having some sort of connection, she's still your superior, I know she's gonna feel awful when she learns she failed to save one of her subordinates!"

As he pulled the knife out of the wall, Momo quickly thought fast and snatched a small spike of ice. "Oh, what's the matter, Yaoyorozu? Tired?" Imasuji asked, as he grabbed her by the throat, and lifted her into the air. "BECAUSE I'M JUST GETTING WARMED UP!"

SHUNK!

"YAAARRGH!" Imasuji roared in pain as Momo jammed the ice spike into his shoulder, causing him to drop her. The black-haired woman quickly scuttled away, as Imasuji fell down on all fours, and began crawling towards her like he was a possessed gorilla. "You little bitch –"

SLASH!

"AAARRR!" Imauji suddenly screamed in pain again, as Momo turned to see Pony, whose blood was still leaking out of her abdomen, having just thrown her ax at the mercenary.

"You leave… Momo alone… you bastard…"

The mercenary hissed in pain, as he stood up, removed the ax from his shoulder blade, and stared down the injured minotaur. "That's it! I'm turning you into hamburger meat!"

"No, you won't."

"Huh –?!"

SLASH!

Everything was quiet for a moment. Momo was still holding onto Pony, who had just collapsed from pain after she sent the ax into Imasuji, but she could see that someone else was with them. Someone who had just wounded the mercenary in a way that made him pause.

Wait… blonde hair… white wings… a bloodied sword…

"Melissa…?"

The angel smiled. "Momo… I'm glad to see you're not dead."

Imasuji, meanwhile, just stood there. It looked like a mix of confusion and pain, when he suddenly looked down towards his pants and saw a massive red stain… and nothing else. It looked like a surgical strike, completely clean, almost as if there was never anything there.

"YAAAAAARRRRRGH!" Imasuji suddenly screamed like a banshee, as his arms dove straight towards his waist, trying to hold in the blood that was now spilling. Momo looked around the roof, as she could see the mercenary's… ahem… frank and beans… now on the floor. Honestly, Momo had no idea Melissa was capable of something so brutal. She must have been pissed.

Imasuji, meanwhile, kept screaming. "AAAAAAAAAA! AAAHAAHAAA! AAAAA–"

"Shut up."

SLASH!

Melissa slashed Imasuji across the chest, almost bisecting him, as the blond mercenary tumbled off the roof, and fell five stories down, onto the ground. "AAAAAAAAAA–"

SPLAT!

Momo stayed silent, as her mind tried to comprehend what just happened. However, instead of asking questions, she hissed in pain. Right, she was getting her ass handed to her before Melissa showed up. God, she really wished Kendo was on the roof with them.

"Keep her still," Melissa said, as she began to heal Pony. "She'll be fine."

A few minutes later, the angel did the same for Colonel Sosaki, but both she and the blonde minotaur were out of it. The pain really did them in. Momo, who had the least amount of injuries, was the last to be treated. "I apologize for sleeping in for the last few days…"

"No, it's fine," Momo said. "But… that angel… who was he –?"

"Ah. We've finally found you… Melissa Shield."

Before they even knew what was happening, a creature of black smoke and yellow eyes suddenly appeared, and grabbed Melissa. In the span of a few seconds, Momo watched as what she could only describe as a demon of shadows engulfed the angel. "MELISSA!"

In less than five seconds, Melissa Shield was gone.

Momo's knees gave in, as she fell to the floor, tears in her eyes.

She had just lost her friend. And she didn't even know what to do.

Pony, on the other hand, who saw the whole thing, only whispered one thing.

"D-D-Demon Lord…"

When Melissa opened her eyes, she was in a dark room. A massive dark room that she was familiar with, along with some familiar-looking individuals, eyeing her from all around.

The Demon Lords.

A mass of shadows with yellow eyes. A wererat. Two people with humans, who at the very least, looked human. A dark elf. A demon with various animal characteristics. And with them…

…a man with green hair and eyes, standing closest to her. He could be mistaken for a human, if it wasn't for the fact he possessed two red horns atop his forehead. And given what he was wearing, it was safe to assume that this was none other than the Demon King himself.

All Melissa could do was stare as the green-haired demon approached her. When he reached her, he knelt down… and embraced her in a warm hug. One that she gladly reciprocated.

"Izuku..." she whispered. "It's… really you…"

The demon smiled. "Welcome home… darling."

Author's Note: HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Anyways, the majority of Imasuji's crew here consisted of Shie Hassaikai goons, some of Wolfram's lackeys, and what I dub the "M-Crew" of the League of Villains (Mustard, Moonfish Magne). Now, for the comments!

Tykronos: Trust me, there's gonna be a lot more Atlantis references in the future.

Anyways, back to the regular old shilling…

I'm pretty sure as you all know now, I have also made a Twitter account to post my art, so if anyone is interested in checking it out, /ErnaloreProf is the link.

If you want more content, visit my Discord, the link is /3PFYSt8Dqz. You can chat with others, post memes, fanfic recommendations and prompts, role play, fan art, and we even have a writer's corner now! I'll also drop by with announcements and chat with you all every now and then! Also, if you want to add me as a friend, my username is Ernalore#8663! Just please make sure to follow the rules.

Thanks for reading, and once again, see you next time!

- Ernalore