Rikiya Yotsubashi frowned. Watching from on high in his tower looking down at Deika City, it was clear that the League of Villains had arrived from the wanton destruction and violence he could see from his vantage point. That, in and of itself wasn't surprising, he had demanded they come to the city and face his army. That is exactly what they had done but logically the fight should have started at the outskirts of town, where ambushes had been prepared. Instead, the League had simply appeared randomly well within the city limits and began wrecking the place.
Dressed in a fitted black suit with prominent white pinstripes, olive green dress shirt and green tie, Rikiya was the CEO of the large and respected Detnerat Corporation. He'd raised the Meta Liberation Army from the dead aiming to fulfill his grandfather's dream of a world of liberated quirk use. He was a man well use to having things go his way, whether through meticulous planning or more…brutish methods.
Watching his plans already start to go sideways was not something Rikiya enjoyed or appreciated. His 'guest', the villain broker Giren, from his spot in a chair he was tied to, seemed to notice the orange-haired CEO's discomfort and smiled before he said mockingly "What's wrong? I thought this is what you wanted?"
The question alone was enough to tell Rikiya that he'd let his emotions slip and he did his best to school his features, a confident smile gracing his lips before he turned to the bruised and battered man and replied "Indeed it is. Even if the location isn't what I had in mind, I still have a city's worth of dedicated soldiers at the ready to quash this little band of upstarts. Just be glad I had to speed up my timetable. Otherwise, we'd have sent your fingers to news stations across the country to send a message."
Giren, his white-grey hair long enough to obscure his features when he hung his head, couldn't help but scoff at the false bravado before countering "Please, you don't have to hide it. You've been caught off guard because they did something wildly unexpected."
When Rikiya said nothing, Giren took that to mean he was dead on and continued, his tone smooth, as if he was in the middle of a deal with a client "I get it, I've been there. I'll even give you a bit of info for free. Your little chaotic variable is that purple-haired prick."
The CEO frowned, his eyes still fixed on the action below when he responded "You refer to this Xellos that we picked up on about a week ago. I admit that information on him has been scarce. It took some digging by Skeptic just to figure out he wasn't dead after that incident in Kamino. That information we retrieved from your hard drive didn't have anything either. Aside from being a lighter, we didn't turn up anything. We're not even sure what his quirk is. I don't suppose you'd be willing to share what you know about him, hmm? It's not too late to take all of your fingers after all."
Rikiya fully expected his prisoner to refuse as he had every other time they had questioned him about the League of Villains. Thus he was pleasantly surprised when Giren laughed, raising his head up to look at the ceiling before turning and looking at his captor with a bitter smile. "You should know by now I don't share my client's information. Xellos, though, he's not a client, he's a competitor. That asshole seemed to appear out of nowhere and started muscling into my territory. Peeling off my informants, really putting holes in my network. So yeah, he may be working with the league but sure, here ya go."
Rikiya raised an excited eyebrow but did nothing else to reveal the baited anticipation he and the others in the room were feeling. Knowledge was power and was especially valuable in the heat of battle so anything they could learn would be extremely important.
"I don't know what his quirk is either. Some say he can teleport, others that he can create illusions and more still claim he can copy others appearance. Seems the way the league just popped in to the city, I'd say that the first one seems the most likely. Beyond that, after Kamino, that slimy worm shacked up with the Shie Hassaikai. That's when he made direct contact with the League. Promised them a bunch of shit he didn't deliver on, at least last I heard."
Rikiya's eyes went wide and he turned to his trusted lieutenant, Tomoyasu Chikazoku or Skeptic, a tall and lanky man with an angular jaw, long black hair that ran to his waist and bangs that covered his eyes wearing black pants, a black turtleneck and black formal jacket over it. Sat at his laptop, his arms held out as he typed, Tomoyasu almost looked more spider than man when his boss and leader asked him "Did we not take in the last remnants of the Shie Hassaikai?"
Annoyed that he was being taken away from trying to salvage the situation on the ground after his plan had been completed blown up by the Leagues appearance in the middle of town, the black-haired hacker tersely replied "We did. Heroes raided their HQ. That had pushed them over the line to join us. They'd been under the rule of the leader's son who was making quirk cancelling bullets and torturing his daughter. These were the members who disagreed with that nonsense. Now if you don't mind, I'm busy."
Rikiya's lips tightened as the possibilities began to reveal themselves. Had this Xellos been ahead of him? Had this virtual unknown somehow predicted all of this and planted moles in his army without him realizing it? At this point it was too late to do anything about it. All of sudden, however, Rikiya had the feeling he'd be getting his hands much dirtier than he thought he would today.
(X)
"Element of surprise you said! They won't see us coming you said! Does this look like a surprise to you!" Himiko angrily whined as she dodged a goo-like arm swinging at her before she cut the offending attackers chest open. The man moved his limb over the wound to stop the bleeding as he fell out of the way, only for another to take his place.
It was no better for the rest of the League of Villains, surrounded as they were by what appeared to be a never-ending stream of people attacking from every street, alley and rooftop that it was possible to appear from. The League was holding their own, keeping themselves in a circle. Some had little trouble, Tomura turning anyone who came close to dust with ease whole Jin just had his fists, not willing to use his cloning quirk.
Anyone who attempted to use a long-range attack was quickly delt with by Xellos, their only distance attacker, who simply pointed his finger and sent a tiny amount of explosive magic to blow up the offending person.
After having dispatched just such an attacker, who was trying to throw barbed fins from his arms atop a stone wall, Xellos replied to the blonde blood sucker "Oh but it was indeed a surprise! You don't think they weren't prepared for us to walk in, do you? This is a disorganized mob we're dealing with my dear! All the heavy hitters are still trying to get to us while we thin their ranks!"
"Yeah, that may sound great in the abstract but it still pretty much sucks!" Shuichi added, doing his best to fend off attackers with his swords and only succeeding with help from Tomura beside him.
"In my defense, I was expecting Twice to use his quirk! How was I supposed to know his using it in Kamino was the exception to his little mental block?" Xellos pointed out, dodging and then smashing the face of someone that looked like a triceratops with his staff.
"Perhaps if you weren't so keen on sharing just the bare minimum with us we could have told you." Atsuhiro countered, turning another person into a marble before catching it and flinging it into another's face, catching them in the eye.
Xellos was just about to defend himself once more with an elegant explanation as to the importance of fooling your friends as much as your enemies. However, a massive wall of ice suddenly made itself known and the mazuku had to turn his focus to conjuring a barrier over them to stop the icy wave just above them all.
"It seems I will need to step away for a bit. I trust you all will be ok without little ol'me?" Xellos said before simply disappearing.
"Where's Dabi when you need him…" Himiko muttered, fully aware the blue flame user was still off causing trouble with a high end nomu, making it impossible to get him here in time.
(X)
From his vantage point atop a piece of a piece of ice high above the melee below, Geten Himura or Iceman was briefly confused. Adorned in a long light blue parka with fuzzy white trim along the hood and black face-covering mask, none who could see him would know of that confusion. Unsure how it was his ice had been stopped, the cryokinetic was about to send another wave of frozen water from another direction, using his own men as a shield to hide the assault when a figure appeared in front of him, seemingly out of nowhere.
"Why, hello there." the newcomer said genially with a bow, his cape blowing in the wind.
Not one for small talk, Geten unleased a wave of ice at the purple-haired interloper as he cried "Die, rabid dog! I'll not tolerate anyone getting in the way of us seeing our truth realized!"
When his opponent simply disappeared and reappeared to the left of where the ice had gone, Geten frowned behind his mask. That frown grew when the other man said, his voice now lower and lacking the same decorum as before "My, my, such poor manners. And here I was hoping for a little fun, but if you don't want to engage in a little banter, I can always just kill you where you stand."
Somehow, Geten knew, deep down, that this oddly dressed man was in no way, shape or form bluffing. Despite his lifetime of training, despite the pride he took in how far he had come in awakening his quirk, he couldn't shake the feeling that it wouldn't matter against this man. He was afraid, perhaps for the first time since he was a child. Still, he had a debt to pay his leader, and a dream to see fulfilled.
Pushing past the feeling of dread that threatened to consume him, Geten replied "Just because you were able to evade a single attack doesn't mean you can so easily kill me. Still, if you wish, I will introduce myself. I am Iceman, one of the leaders of the Meta Liberation Army!"
The purple-haired man inclined his head and answered, his voice once again more cordial "See, was that so hard. My name is Xellos and I was hoping you could answer something for me."
What the hell was up with this guy? His teammates were fighting for their lives below them, and this freakishly terrifying guy wanted to have a conversation? Still, if he couldn't beat him, the least he could do was stall him while the rest could finish the other League members off. "Yes, fine, what is it?" He almost snapped, regretting how rude it sounded immediately.
Luckily for Geten, though Xellos did briefly frown, nothing else happened besides the odd man asking, "This group prizes strength above all else, does it not?"
"It does!" Geten answered as though he was suddenly pitching to a potential recruit "Since we believe all should be free to use their quirks, it only follows that those who are strongest, regardless of birth or standing, should rise to the top. There is also strength of conviction, for what good is power if you don't have the will to see it through."
Xellos' expression brightened before he snaped his fingers and replied "Ah, very good! That is exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you!"
Geten clinched his fists, very uncomfortable with where this was going but still feeling compelled to continue and reluctantly answered "Well, yes, you're welcome but why-"
A sudden series of explosions could be heard down below and Geten knew that Curious had arrived. His stalled had worked.
Looking down with disappointment, Xellos said "Oh, this won't do at all. I wasn't gone that long! Sometimes, good help is hard to fi-" the mazuku was cut off mid-sentence, finding himself encased in ice.
Despite his fear, Geten thought he saw an opening and took it, attacking while Xellos was distracted. For a moment, the cryokinetic felt relief that he had managed to avoid the fate that Xellos had promised.
Relief turned to panic a moment later when the ice simply shattered, raining ice on the combatants below. Xellos casually floated forward toward Geten, who at first stood frozen in place by fear. Realizing he was dead if he did nothing, the MLA unit leader raised his hand to move more ice to defend himself only for Xellos to raise his own hand, his pointing finger aimed at his opponent's chest.
In an instant, Geten's lung was punctured, his breathing suddenly becoming labored. He was finding it very hard to maintain the ice he was standing on. Xellos floated closer until he was right in front of the ice-wielder. Too weak to resist, Geten did nothing as Xellos raised his hand to the other's face. Geten closed his eyes, dreading what was likely his last moments. The hand got closer and closer until, instead of darkness, Geten's face was met with light, his mask having been removed.
Opening his eyes, Geten stared at the purple-haired enigma and struggled to ask simply "W-why?"
"Silly boy!" Xellos answered with a smile, "That, is a secret!" before the mazuku simply pushed the ice-wielder backward. No longer able to summon the strength to use his quirk, Geten fell seemingly to his death. Instead, Xellos caught him, then disappeared and reappeared on a rooftop, leaving Geten there.
"No sense wasting tools, now is there?" Xellos said to no one before disappearing once more.
(X)
The explosions that Xellos and Geten heard came from another leader of the MLA who had arrived on the scene, one Chitose Kizuki, also known as Curious and the head of a major publishing company. With pale blue skin, lilac hair that ran to the small of her back, black sclerae with green eyes, she cut an exotic and fashionable figure. One would be hard pressed to imagine her on a battlefield employing her landmine quirk to cause her fellow soldiers to run into their opponents and explode.
Yet that is exactly what the League of Villains faced and they were neither expecting it, nor prepared. Though none of the Leagues members were grievously injured, none were unscathed, and worse, their formation had been literally and figuratively blown up. Scattered about, the remaining League members were left to fend for themselves as best as they could.
Jin, though, had it the worst. With no weapons and unwilling to use his quirk, he was literally just a guy being assaulted by an army of people wielding their quirks to their fullest to kill him. The mentally scared cloner had only one real option: run.
And run Jin did, dodging projectiles of all sorts, from nails to beams of energy to weird smelling blobs. Those who got close took swipes with weapons, fists, legs and even a tentacle or two. Luckily for him, Jin was able to avoid them all, for the most part. Glancing blows produced cuts here and there but on the whole, he was ok, at least physically.
Emotionally, the cloner was a wreck. Beyond the simple mortal fear of death, the poor soul was wracked with guilt and shame. He felt he was truly useless. Even after he'd managed to pull off cloning himself in the heat of the moment back in Kamino, he had since found himself in the same state of paralyzing fear he usually found himself in every time he thought about his quirk. Xellos had even planned around him being able to do it and when the moment came, nothing.
Truly, Jin was an embarrassment and absolute dead weight to the friends that had taken him in when no one else cared. If he was lucky, he could at least keep those chasing him off of his friends for as long as he stayed alive. And if he died? Well, at least he wouldn't be in the way anymore. Then again, that was the problem, wasn't it? Jin was never really sure he was himself, and not one of his clones. Maybe the real him was wasting the day away in his hovel of an apartment while all this went on? There was only really one way to tell and that terrified him.
Such thoughts had become a distraction, enough that Jin was unable to avoid a heavy rubber ball that slammed into his midsection, knocking him off his feet just as those chasing him were getting close enough to gang up and beat him to death. Struggling to get up, or even breath, Jin took a moment to look up at the sky, a mix of endless cerulean with patches of grey dotting the expanse. Why hadn't he taken the time to just sit and look up more often? It…seemed so peaceful, so calm. Jin closed his eyes, ready to free his friends of his weight.
Instead of the pain of a brutal death, however, Jin was met with a chorus of screams, followed by the feeling of a warm fluid spattering on his clothes. Had Toga or Spinner come to save him again? Opening his eyes, Jin was completely surprised by who stood over him, facing the now cowering remnants of the mob that had been chasing him. "Xellos? You saved me? Fuck off!"
Bodies cleanly cut in two lay all around them, blood pooling on the small side street that Jin had run down and there stood the purple-haired mazuku, a smile on his face as he wagged his finger that the few who somehow avoided his attack. When the remainder turned and ran, Xellos' smile seemed to take on a contented air to it, as though he was savoring the moment. If Jin noticed, he said nothing, instead waiting for his savior to respond which Xellos did a moment later when he turned and said "So about that little quirk of yours. It would be really helpful if you could just go ahead and use it now."
Stumbling to his feet, Jin went from confused but grateful to incensed, angrily barking "I already told you, I CANT! If you're so strong, why the hell aren't you just laying waste to these pricks, huh? Such a loser!"
Xellos was unbothered by the charge, though his smile slipped into a confused expression before he replied, "Of course you can, you're just afraid to, right?"
Growing angrier that Xellos had completely ignored his question, the cloner bit back "Just ignore me and go save the rest, ok? I'm not worth the effort, ok! Thanks, by the way!"
Xellos sighed, resigning himself to having to explain himself if he was going to get anywhere with his newest teammate, saying "Yes, I could, but I might just take out one or two of the League in the process by accident. Precise attacks aren't exactly my specialty, you know? Besides, this Giren is your friend, is he not? He is, at best, a professional rival to me so wouldn't it be best if you all take center stage here, hmm?"
Jin crouched, gripping his head before answering, his voice pained "Don't you think I want to? I'm closer to Giren than anyone here, but I'm the weakest of the bunch! I-I just can't, ok? I can't go through that again! I-I'm not even sure I'm the real me! How could I help if I'm just a fake, huh?!"
Instead of anything approaching sympathy, Xellos made a dismissive sound and waved his hand before saying "Oh, is that all? Well, we can check that right now, can't we?"
Jin stood ramrod straight, frantically replying "What does that mean? Hey, what're you-"
Before he could resist, Jin was picked up by Xellos like he weighed nothing, holding him bridal style before the two disappeared. A moment later, the two reappeared above the same street, about twenty feet in the air. "Wait, what're you doing? You'll kill me!"
"Nonsense! At worst you'll break a leg or something! Besides, weren't you ready to die just a few minutes ago?" Xellos countered.
"Yeah, but-" was all Jin would get out before the purple-haired light unceremoniously dropped him.
A moment later, Jin landed hard on the pavement, his shoulder screaming in pain. "Motherfu-"
"See? You're still here, aren't you?" Xellos interrupted, having appeared on the ground once more.
Taking a few more moments to let the pain subside in the rest of his body, Jin sat up, his injured arm hanging limp at his side. He was in pain…he was in pain! "Its true! I'm me! It's really me! I can't believe it! I never had the courage to do it myself and I couldn't ask my friends but a bastard like you? Turns out that's all I needed!"
"And a little relocation of your arm." Xellos quipped.
"What the hell does that mean? AHH!" Jin screamed as the mazuku reached out and heartlessly popped the cloner's arm back in place, allowing Jin to move it again, even if it would be extremely sore going forward.
"There, right as rain. Can we get down to business now, Twice?" Xellos asked, impatience starting to seep into his voice.
Holding his sore arm, Jin curtly answered, "You really are a bastard, aren't you? Alright, if it's an army you want, it's an army you'll get!"
Xellos stepped back and Jin raised his arms theatrically before a grey goo began to pour out of him in various directions. Before the goo could begin falling to the ground, it began to take on his appearance. Before long, dozens of fully formed copies of Jin stood, and began making copies themselves. While this process continued, Jin flared his arm out like a general and declared "Alright mes! You know what to do! Overwhelm these assholes and let's save our friends!"
An ever-growing chorus of cheers went out before a literal flood of bodies began flowing back onto the main street and off toward the fighting.
Now on a nearby rooftop, Xellos chuckled and said too himself "Sad Man's Parade indeed. It's a good thing your fear was so potent, Jin, or I wouldn't have found you when I did. Well, now the fun can begin!"
(X)
Sadou inwardly cursed. Even though the fighting had been close enough to hear when it first started, the demon lord turned fast food manager had held out hope that the battle wouldn't spread to his store. That all changed when that publisher nutjob arrived and started throwing her bombs all over the place. Worse yet, Sadou had spotted Xellos up in the sky fighting Geten and even though he was glad to now be able to tell the commission where Xellos was, the thought of fighting him was terrifying.
It took everything Sadou had to convince his fanatical employees to stand their ground and not throw themselves into the fray until a target appeared before them. These people may be wholly devoted to Re Destro's cause but they were his fanatics, damn it and he'd keep them safe if he could.
The good news was Xellos had disappeared after he had saved the cryokinetic. The bad news? A horde of one of the League of Villains, the cloner, Twice, rounded the street corner near his store like a wave.
Throwing his arm out to his right Sadou ordered, "Run while you can! I'll hold them off! Find a place to hide and attack when you can!"
"With all due respect, sir, I'm here for the cause, not for you! We were told to kill the League and there it is!" one of Sadou's most passionate employees called back before the boy charged forward, followed by most of his staff.
"Great…" Sadou muttered. The thought occurred to him that these were all just clones so killing them wouldn't really count, now would it? With that in mind, the black-haired former demon lord reached out with his senses. As had been the case since his arrival, Xellos' magic flooded this world and Sadou did all he could to avoid it. Instead, he took in the raw fear and anger the battle was producing, using that to fuel him, as he had back on his Earth.
His power increasing, Sadou's form began to change. Not only did the rather average young man grow over a foot taller, his musculature increased significantly, producing a far more built and intimidating figure. Beyond that, Sadou's legs became goat-like, covered in grey fur and hooves in place of feet. Finally, a set of golden, bull-like horns emerged from his head, though the left one was broken a few inches above his head.
His uniform shredded, Sadou lamented he'd have to pay for yet another ruined set of company property before steadily raising above the ground. Before his employees could be consumed by the wave of Twices, Sadou raised his hand out toward the horde and unleased a blast of dark power.
The magic blast found its target, sending the McGonald's employees backward from the shockwave as Twices vaporized or were scattered in all directions, cursing and sending obscene gestures toward Sadou as they flew by. This was only a momentary break though for as soon as the area had been cleared of clones, it was filling back up again. Sadou sighed and prepared to start really working his way through the mass of "people", raising his hand above his head to charge a stronger blast.
Then, a voice whispered into his ear, saying "Not very sporting of you, follow lighter."
Sadou only met Xellos once but even back then, he knew he'd never forget that voice, the same one he heard now, at once cordial and menacing all at the same time. Instantly, Sadou floated away, spinning to face the monster that had snuck up on him and flinging the spell he'd been charging right at Xellos.
With no effort whatsoever, the purple-haired mazuku swatted the blast of dark energy away like it was nothing, destroying a house in the process. The two demons regarded each other for a moment before Xellos surprised Sadou by bowing, one hand tucked on his stomach. Though slightly confused, Sadou didn't let his guard down, instead raising an eyebrow while putting one hand behind his back to begin charging a stronger attack.
Straightening back up, Xellos spoke "What a surprise to see another lighter out here! And here I thought all of you were playing nice with the authorities! I would have never thought a neutered 'demon lord' turned burger flipper would turn out to be a revolutionary! Color me impressed! Perhaps I misjudged you oh great demon lord!"
That last part had been said mockingly and the reason was simple. In terms of power, Xellos was leagues above him. Yet, compared to pretty much everyone else here, Sadou knew he was the only chance any of them had of stopping Xellos, or at least keeping him occupied. On that note, if the rogue lighter wanted to talk, Sadou would gladly oblige him. Chuckling, the McGonald's manger replied "Perhaps you did! Back home, I lead an army of demons looking for a better life! For equality from oppression by the humans and angels! When I heard of a group seeking to free the people of this world from the government-imposed restrictions on who they were, how could I not sympathize with them? I guess I'm just a rebel at heart!"
If Xellos was buying his lie, Sadou couldn't tell. That damned smile on the mazuku's face remained entirely unchanged and Sadou couldn't help but feel a little pissed off by it. Finally, Xellos replied "That hardly sounds like the best way to get home, now does it? Tell me, have you given up on going back to your world?"
Sadou narrowed his eyes. The feeling that this prick was testing him tugged at the back of his mind. Then again, since stalling was his main goal, telling the other demon whatever was most interesting was the right answer, regardless. After a moment, Saou answered with as much confidence and charisma as he could muster, a confident smile plastered on his face, "Of course not! I just figured it would be faster to climb the ranks of this group and using them to help me would be faster than waiting around for the heroes! I've waited around long enough for them to get me home. This way I can get what I want and stick it to the government that failed me all at once!"
Xellos' smile grew larger. "Well said. It seems maybe you are worthy of your title after all. Still, I can't have you get your hands on that nomu. I don't suppose you would be willing to give up on your plan to go home and join me? Whatever riches and glory you sought back home would be ours tenfold here, I assure you."
Sadou knew then that he could stall no longer. The fight would be joined within moments and he just hoped he'd live to tell the tale because the others needed to know what was happening in this city. Awkwardly scratching the back of his head, Sadou laughed and replied "Yeah, sorry. I have a whole army of demons I promised I'd lead them to victory back in my world. What kind of demon lord would I be if I left them behind to rule another world entirely?"
"A successful one." Xellos quickly countered, putting a frown on Sadou's face. Xellos then shook his head in disappointment and added "A shame. Still, if you change your mind before I kill you, I won't think less of you."
"Gee, thanks." Sadou sarcastically quipped before catching an odd sight in the distance. Well behind Xellos and in an area not yet overrun by Twice clones, a number of people were suddenly floating high in the air. Xellos, supremely confident the McGonald's employee was of no real threat, chanced to look over his shoulder at the sight. The people were to far away to make out any identifying features.
After a moment, Xellos asked "Do you know if anyone in your new little group has telekinesis or a gravity ability?"
Sadou shrugged and answered, "Not that I'm aware of but then again, there is over a hundred thousand in the army, I can't know all of their quirks."
Then, as if their strings had been cut, everyone floating simply began falling and neither demon thought any who had been up that high would survive if they were allowed to impact the ground. Still, Xellos was still watching, as if expecting something else to happen so Sadou decided now was the time for another attack. Brandishing his massive bat wings, he shot forward so fast, he appeared as a blur, catching Xellos off guard. Before the mazuku could react, Sadou forced the charged magical blast right into Xellos' side and let loose.
The blast shot forward and out across the sky like a dark beacon cutting across the otherwise picturesque day. Yet, for his troubles, Sadou got a sudden heavy smash on his head from Xellos' deceptively heavy staff that sent his shooting downward. The horned demon lord was able to right himself while still in the sky, well above the battle below. Feeling a bit of blood trickling from his head, Sadou chanced to look back up at his opponent. Xellos was still there, looking no worse for wear. At least at first. Getting a closer look, Sadou noticed at the edge of Xellos' abdomen, right where he had directed his attack, there was a small piece missing from Xellos. No blood, or gore. It was just as if a part of his beginning was now gone.
Xellos was now wearing a decided frown and his eyes opened fully before he called out "Impressive! I thought there would be no way for you to filter out all of the magical energy that I've produced but you managed to do it and produce a blast strong enough to actually hurt me. Most impressive. But know it would be your last success, Demon Lord of McGonald's!"
"Oh shit." Sadu cursed, feeling the magical buildup within Xellos. There was just enough time to dodge the narrow, laser-like blast that shot through the space the black-haired manager had just occupied.
Sadou prepared for another blast but when he looked up at Xellos, he found the mazuku wasn't there. Just in time, Sadou realized Xellos was behind him, and again threw himself out of the way of another shot. When Xellos disappeared a second time, Saou was ready, having charged up another blast while he was evading, he turned, expecting Xellos to appear behind him. Sure enough the purple-haired rouge lighter did just that and was met with a attack for his trouble.
Unfortunately for Sadou, Xellos had let loose his own assault to protect himself and the resulting explosion sent both combatants flying away from each other. Catching himself once more without hitting the ground, Sadou righted himself just as Xellos did, the two regarding each other at a distance.
Sadou knew he had demonstrated that, at the very least, he wasn't going to be a pushover for Xellos. That did, however, mean that the purple-haired lighter was going to try harder and Sadou knew he didn't have the strength to counter.
"All of these energy blasts, so unrefined." Xellos suddenly said. "I use them because they are easy and keeps my teammates off my back about doing everything for them but I can see I'm going to have to actually fight you seriously if I want to finish this quickly."
Sadou didn't like the sound of that. Not one bit. Still, he knew what he'd gotten into when he picked this fight and he clenched his teeth, hoping he'd at least come up with a plan before he was killed.
(X)
Tomura was not in a good mood. Granted, he was very, very rarely happy about anything but being sleep deprived, forced to fight some grand-standing asshole and the plan he and the League had to combat that asshole having crumbled had done nothing to make things better.
As it stood, the League was scattered, forced to battle hordes alone. For Tomura, aside from someone attacking long range, such circumstances were trivial, his opponents turned to dust as quickly as they came. Still, he was feeling heavy, sluggish, like he could fall over at any moment. A loss of attention would be a death sentence, he knew. Yet, with days of fighting Gigantomachia and very little sleep in between, his body was beginning to fail him.
That, of course, only made him angrier. More desperate, more sure he was going to make this Rikiya Yotsubashi pay for this hell.
Having attempted to head back to where the League had started, hoping to find the rest of the of his people, Tomura was now quite lost, aimlessly going down roads and side roads at random with little more than the sound of violence to guide him.
"Shigaraki, is that you?" came a familiar voice to the side.
Indeed, Shuichi, more the worse for wear, covered in cuts, bleeding all over his body, appeared around a corner. As terrible as he looked, the lizard man had a decided look of relief on his face as he came to stand in front of his leader. The disembodied hand that had covered Tomura's face had been lost in the explosions that had separated them so Shuichi was able to see the hint of relief in the decayer's own face.
Even if it was on his face, such feelings didn't reach Tomura's words when he replied, "I take it you haven't seen anyone else then, have you?"
Shuichi wasn't offended. He'd long since gotten used to Tomura's callous singlemindedness. Such conviction was one of the things that drew the lizard man to him to begin with after all. "No, not yet. But I figure if there's still fighting, there's still someone to fight, so I kept going, best I could."
"Right. Makes sense." Tomura answered dully, almost as if his mind was elsewhere.
The response did give Shuichi pause. Engaged in a fight to the death with a whole army and his leader seemed to be losing focus. That very thought had been enough for the sword-wielding lizard to be caught off guard when half a dozen men appeared on the wall beside where the two were talking.
"SHIT!" Shuichi yelped, trying to dodge before the assault could come.
Tomura, though, didn't seem to care at all, instead placing his hand on the wall the assailants were standing. His quirk activated, and the wall quickly began to turn to dust and crumble. That was expected for Shuichi, who planned to hit the ground and roll toward the attackers he knew would fall and be open to attack as they regained their footing. No such thing happened.
Instead, all of the MLA soldiers also began to turn to dust and decay, much to their horror. It was over in moments and Shuichi just lay there on the ground, entirely shocked at what he had seen. Tomura didn't seem to care and just began stumbling forward, mumbling something about being annoyed looking for people.
Rushing back to his feet, Shuichi called after his leader "Shigaraki! Your quirk! You didn't just turn what you touched to dust, it was everyone that was touching it as well! Could you do that before?"
"Who knows?" came Tomura's mumbled reply while he continued to stumble forward.
Shuichi rushed up to Tomura, fighting to urge to grab his leader by the shoulders, twist him around and shake some sense into him. Instead, the Stain disciple opted to again try and verbally knock some sense into Tomura. "Hey! Listen, I-"
The bandana bearing lizard man was cut off when the door opened to the house they were just passing and a man stepped forward, hands out to signal he meant no harm. Perhaps aware he had just a moment to convince the two League members, the plain-looking young man quickly said "Xellos sends his regards via the true Shie Hassaikai. We know where you friend is being held and we want to help, if you'll have us."
That seemed to snap Tomura out of whatever haziness his mind was wrapped in because he snapped to attention and charged right at the black-suited young man his hand ready to decay the self-identified yakuza. "And what's stopping me from dusting you right now, you little shit. I'm not about to fall into a trap set by that arrogant CEO."
To the messenger's credit, the young man didn't seem to even flinch at certain death mere inches away and he replied calmly "Based on what I just saw, any such trap would be hard pressed to keep you contained. We at the Shie Hassaikai remember our debts and we soon as die before we repay them. We'll get you to the tower, that's where your friend is. Just follow my lead."
Shuichi had caught up by now, standing behind Tomura and added his two cents. "We're already spread all over the place. We can't afford to go wandering on a rando's word."
Tomura, though, was considering it. The way this guy had stood up to him impressed the mad decayer. Plus, Xellos had said that he had insiders here in the city feeding him info. It would make sense that the purple-haired freak had given them instructions without telling him. It was also like to Xellos go off on watching people dance around for no good reason.
"Fine. Lead the way." Tomura finally said.
"Shigaraki?" Shuichi immediately said, pleading.
"You can stay here if you want but nothing is going to end until we get what we came for, now is it?" Tomura snapped, turning to go without waiting for a reply.
Shuichi stood there for a moment as the other two stepped inside the house. That had actually made sense, and the swordsmen lizard man found himself entirely convinced by the logic. With that, Shuichi followed behind, shutting the door behind him. There were only moments from seeing a flood of Twices coming down the street.
(X)
Sadou had been prepared for stronger blasts or some sort of trap magic or illusions. He hadn't expected what, at first, seemed fairly harmless. It seemed that Xellos' idea of a powerful attack was a manifestation of the old saying "Death by a thousand pinpricks."
No matter how fast he flew, whether he dodged or teleported, the cones, those damnable cones always found him.
Sadou continued to hover high above the battle in the streets of Deika City, though battle was becoming less of an appropriate descriptor as the army of Twices began to truly flood the town. Except now, he was bleeding all over his body, having been pierced over and over again by a cloud of purple-colored cones that followed him where ever he went. This had been Xellos' escalation in their battle and Sadou found the barrage of small injuries to be so annoying, so much harder to shrug off, especially as they added up, that he couldn't counter at all.
Watching on with an especially satisfied smile on his face, Xellos commented "It's not the flashiest sort of attack, but it's highly precise and very efficient. The utter frustration and anger this attack produces is some of the sweetest I can taste. You should be honored, oh demon lord, there are few beings that have ever had to pleasure of experiencing it."
"Not-AHH!-not the word I'd-DAMNIT!-Not the word I'd use to describe it! Still, it is pretty effective and just like you, its really fucking annoying!" Sadou exclaimed before trying one last time to rid himself of the cones, sending a powerful blast of magic out from his body in all directions, his wings fully unfurled and his muscles tensing with exertion.
For the briefest of moments, it seemed Sadou had been successful, the cones no longer surrounding him. His path clear, the former leader of demon kind shot forward, every last remaining ounce of power he had left being pushed into his hand ready to run it right through the mazuku ahead of him.
Then, just out of arm's reach, Sadou saw Xellos' smile grow as wide as he had ever seen, the sadistic glee draining the hope from the McGonald's manager. Sure enough, all of those displaced cones, now stacked on each other to form a larger cone, barreled into Sadou's back, spinning like a drill.
Having charged Xellos at an angle, Sadou was sent sideways when he was hit, crashing into a nearby office building, flying clean through it and landing on the roof of another, shorter building in a heap. The taller building's structural integrity compromised, Xellos added insult to injury by giving it one more push with his magic. The impact coming at the top, it was enough to cause the whole of the upper damaged half to buckle and collapse sideways, down on top of Sadou and the building he lay broken upon.
Whether the buildings destruction killed any MLA members or Twice clones didn't matter in the slightest to the purple-haired mazuku. He'd had his fun. Rather than wait for the dust to clear, Xellos waved his hand, causing a magical blast of wind to clear the cloud. Laying there, half buried, but alive, Sadou was as broken and close to death as he had ever been. He'd come to just in time to blast much of the building falling on him but what he missed was enough to break him.
Now, in a hazy state of near unconscious, Xellos appeared standing over the deposed demon lord and said in his usual cheery voice "That was almost enough to count as a workout. Still, I like you fry man. Stick with the cause and maybe we'll talk again later. If nothing else, if I get bored, I'll let you take another swing, ok?"
Just then, the tallest building in the city, a cyclical tower with a larger, disc-like top floor began to crumble. Xellos turned and watched with satisfaction knowing his current partner had indeed managed on his own. "The boy might mature just yet." Xellos noted with a nod and disappeared.
(X)
The members of the Shie Hassaikai were able to secretly lead Tomura and Shuichi into the tower where Rikiya and Giren resided with little trouble. Before they headed into the basement floor from a connecting tunnel though, they were met by an older gentlemen. One that Tomura knew of when he was learning about the yakuza group in his dealings with them.
"So you're the old geezer that Overhaul deposed." The decayer callously greeted.
The old yakuza's eye twitched for a moment but there was no other hint to his anger at such a disrespectful greeting. "This is where you'll find your friend, up on the top level. We've done our part; the rest is up to you. Don't underestimate the leader. His quirk can be…overwhelming."
"Him and all his goons, I'm sure." Shuichi grumbled.
"It doesn't matter." Tomura hissed, "Before long, they'll all be dust in the wind."
"Fair enough." the old man said, bowing his head slightly before adding "Our debt is paid. Tell Xellos he'll always have a place in the family for what he's done."
Shuichi seemed less sure but Tomura dismissively waved his hand and said as he walked forward "Yeah, sure." before the two League members headed into the tower.
Unfortunately for the sword-wielding lizard man, he was right on the money. The tower was indeed littered with more MLA soldiers, almost literally throwing themselves at the two as they ascended the tower, no doubt giving themselves away in the process.
Sure enough, people that looked just like the other members of the League tired to attack them and throw them off their game. Though Shuichi was taken aback, Tomura didn't hesitate at all to turn what they later learned were puppets into dust along with everyone and everything that had opposed them.
Finally, the two arrived at the top floor, though Shuichi was again worried about Tomura, who clearly was starting to wear down, the many flights of stairs doing him no favors at all. Stepping through the door from the stairwell, the two were surprised to find just two people in the room: Giren, tied to a chair and blindfolded and the man they assumed to be Rikiya Yotsubashi.
With his tailored black, pin-stripped suit and green dress shirt and tie, the man before them certainly dressed like a CEO. His pointy nose and receding orange-brown hair with a deep widow's peak didn't really say evil mastermind, however. That was, until one came to his smarmy smile and calculating small dark eyes.
The well-dressed man standing beside Giren offered a clap before he said with practiced warmth "Welcome! To Deika City! My city! I must say, I'm rather impressed you made it here, Tomura Shigaraki. I had you pegged for little more than an anarchist. Little more than All for One's little rabid puppy. It would seem there is some cunning in you after all. Or, at least in that purple-haired upstart of yours anyway. That man's sent Curious into a tizzy. I had to send him off to calm him. Besides, I couldn't have him around for when the fun begins."
Leveling a sword at the CEO, Shuichi was having none of it, saying "We've survived your army! What makes you think some prick with a silver spoon up his ass is going to stop us now, huh?!"
Tomura, however, remained silent. Clearly, this man wouldn't have allowed himself to be alone for no reason. Either he had a plan…or he was just that strong.
Rikiya, though, instead burst out laughing. After a moment, he moved his hand around Giren's throat and said "Silver spoon, you say? Clearly you know who I am, but do you know where I come from? Why it is I would resurrect the Meta Liberation Army?"
"None of that matters." was Tomura's flat reply, taking the sails out of whatever speech Rikiya was about to launch into.
"In the end, I'm going to destroy everything, so it doesn't matter who you are, or where you're from. I seriously doubt you care about us or where we're from besides. No sense in returning favor. Now let him go." Tomura continued, his voice laced with murderous intent.
"Now you're starting to stress me out, Shigaraki. I wouldn't want my hand to slip now. Best think twice about your next move." Rikiya warned calmly.
"Grab Giren." Tomura simply instructed Shuichi, who took a moment to realize what was about to happen, eyes widening when he did. Without further preamble, Tomura slammed his hand on the floor, shouting "There's no thinking needed. I said I was here to destroy, and I will!"
Within moments, the floor began to crumble. Rikiya was taken off guard and began to lose his footing, and his handle on his prisoner. Shuichi wasted no time in leaping forward, grabbing Giren, chair and all and with Tomura on his shoulder he flung one of his swords forward to smash a window and was off rushing down the rapidly decaying building using his quirk to cling to the walls.
When they got clear of the debris from the building, Shuichi collapsed to the ground, Giren left to lay sideways still bound to the chair. Tomura stood up, satisfied in his work and glad to have sent that arrogant asshole's building crashing on top of him. It only took a moment for Tomura to notice the large human shaped shadow that now stood looming over them. Tomura had just enough time to get out "Spinner, move!" before a massive hand smashed down on them.
Tomura threw himself out of the way and his warning had been enough for Shuichi to shove Giren out of the way as he rolled away.
"My, my. Did you really think that the grandson of Destro himself would fall to such an easy and predictable trick?" A notably deeper, more menacing voice spoke from the dust cloud.
Tomura once more rose to his feet, just as a pair of massive hands made a thunderous clap, causing a ringing in his ears but also for the dust to be cleared away, revealing the current state of Rikiya. Now easily three times Tomura's height, the CEO of Detnerat still retained the pin-striped pants from his suit but was topless, his exposed body now covered with a darkness, tendrils of which emanating off his now heavily muscled shoulders.
"My quirk is Stress. The more of it I feel, the more of it I bottle up, the stronger I can enhance my body. This is the legacy passed on to me by my ancestor beyond his ideals. If you think I'm not willing to get my hands dirty to achieve the true freedom of quirks, then you and your league will die where you stand!"
Raising his hands, a dark sphere formed between them and the second coming of Destro unleashed it into the horde of Twices that was rapidly descending on them. The impact scattered the leading elements of the wave, slowing their approach. Rikiya quickly sent another, only for it to be batted away.
Tomura and Rikiya both watched in surprise when Xellos floated there, wagging his finger disapprovingly.
"Looks like our league may be more than you thought, you worthless bastard." Tomura taunted as he rushed forward, intent on ending the fight with a single touch. Instead, Rikiya smashed into the ground, sending a shockwave in all directions, again slowing the Twice army and sending Tomura tumbling off his feet.
Rikiya wasted no time, sending another one of his blasts, a concentrated manifestation of his stress, at the leader the League of Villains. The attack looked like it had landed true and indeed, Tomura had been sent flying into the ground some distance away, much to the distress of his lizard teammate and the Twice clones.
To Rikiya's disappointment, Tomura lived on, though he was bleeding from his head and all the remaining hands he had been wearing on his arms were now gone. "Used your quirk to decay my attack enough to survive it, did you? Impressive, but how many more times can you enduring that, I wonder?" Rikiya challenged.
"Maybe he won't have to!" a chorus of Twices said at once as they finally reached their target and began grabbing, punching and kicking as the clones began to pile on. Rikiya had been focused on Tomura and was surprised when the clone army began swamping him. The stress the swarm caused only feed Rikiya however and he began to grow larger and stronger, as he attempted to swat and stomp at the clones.
The wave had a chance to catch up to Tomura while this was going on, several helping Tomura to his feet. "You ok, boss?" one of them asked.
His vision briefly hazy, the mad League leader shook his head and looked about, seeing the endless wave of clones between him and Rikya. Still waiting for a reply, the clone put its hand out to see if Tomura was alright. With a childish grin, Tomura grabbed the clone's hand with his own and said "Never better! You couldn't have come at a better time!"
The clone screamed "HOLY SHIT!" before he decayed way, the rot spreading to the next Twice that had been forming out of him who also had been touching another and another, until the decay reached back into the wave of clones. The decay quickly spread toward those clones swarming Rikiya, who saw instantly what was happening. But it was to late, his left arm had been covered by Twices like so many bees and that arm began to turn grey and fall away. Forced to do the unthinkable, with his other hand, he smashed the limb clean off his body at the shoulder before leaping off the ground to avoid any more of the decay spreading to him.
Rikiya was reeling. High up in the air, his left arm gone and the stump bleeding out, he could see the rapidly fading army of clones getting smaller in the distance. In a few moments he's be descending again, toward the crazed lunatic waiting to turn him to dust below. With just one hand, the CEO knew he'd only be able to launch one of his stress fueled attacks and he could no longer clap to send an unblockable shockwave. That meant sending the blast as a distraction so he could focus on an earth shattering landing that would hopefully knock Tomura out so he could crush the bastard.
So worried about what would happen down below, Rikiya failed to mention what was happening above. For there was what looked like a ragged young pink-clad brunette hero floating in the air. If The fanatical CEO had chanced a glance, he'd of noticed the that half the girls face appeared ripped off, and another, blonde girl's face revealed underneath. She carried a much taller man with a torn head-covering mask and the remnants of a top hat on his head.
Throwing a marble out, mask wearing Atsuhiro called out "Now, now, there's no leaving the performance before it's over!"
A moment later, an entire five story building appeared where the marble was and descended on the shocked leader of the Meta Liberation Army. With only enough time to turn himself to meet the threat, Rikiya threw a mighty punch and was able to destroy the building, debris raining in all directions. However, he'd lost the precious time he needed to counter Tomura as he fell back to earth.
With only a split second to act, Rikiya spun and punched the ground as hard as he could, sacrificing a safe landing for a chance to defeat the League. Tomura had been ready, able to decay a trench in front of him that dissipated the energy that had been sent by the CEO's punch.
Breathing hard, Rikiya struggled to get back on his feet while the cloud of dust that accompanied his impact cleared. When he could see again, it was not just Tomura before him but the whole of the League of Villains. They were battered and bloodied but they were whole. Rikiya looked on with horrified disbelief. He'd had an army! A whole city worth of followers there to kill this handful of upstarts and yet they'd brought it all to ruin.
Then he saw it. The glint in Tomura's eye. All for One's protégé was grinning like he'd been having the time of his life. He looked…free. He had to know. "Is this what you wanted? Is this what you are after? This destruction? The world ruined for everyone, left for no one?"
Tomura laughed. It wasn't bitter. He was…laughing at the CEO, Rikiya realized. After a moment, Tomura regained himself and breathlessly asked "Are you stupid? Of course I want destruction! This world is rotten and it should be destroyed! But then, you do too, don't you?"
Perhaps it was the pain, or maybe the shock of how quickly everything had been ruined but the grandson of Destro could only think to say "NO! We want to remake the world so we're free! All of us, including you!"
"You can't remake the world without first destroying it, you idiot! Don't you get it? I don't care what you do once I've destroyed the world, I'll have gotten what I wanted. Nothing lasted forever, including me so if you want your fucking free world, you better be ready to tear it all down first. And if you're not, too bad because whether you're along for the ride or not, it is happening."
Like a bolt of lightning, it had become clear to Rikiya, so sat there, on his knees as his quirk deactivated and he shrank back to normal size. As he did so, the powerful and influential CEO bend down and prostrated himself before Tomura and the League that had come to stand before him, ready to finish the job.
His voice panicked, almost revelatory, Rikiya looked up at Tomura and declared "YOU"RE RIGHT! How could I have been so blind! I was so focused on the goal, I never truly thought about what REALLY needed to be done! Oh master! The Meta Liberation Army, I give it to you! Use it to destroy this world so that it may be reborn! Please!"
It was this scene that Gigantomachia came upon when he arrived in ruined remains of Deika City. Streets ruined, awash in blood and death. Buildings destroyed and fires all over. Yet in the middle stood Tomura, an aura of inevitability to him that the giant hadn't felt in a long time. In that moment Tomura became so much more than the wandering inheritor of a legacy. He became a leader, a focal point.
Xellos perhaps smiled most of all, well aware that sometimes, for things to collapse, all the weight of the world had to fall in on a single point.
(X)
This was…a struggle. I was already going to have a hard time with this chapter, tasking myself with condensing 3 plus episodes of content into a single chapter. Combined with another damned hurricane, another cold and working 11 days straight for work, I had precious little time to give this the focus it needed or to make it the length I felt it needed. Instead, this chapter is just a bit longer than normal and things had to be trimmed and cut just to limp to the finish line and I'm sorry.
I am, however, glad we got where we needed to go here. This is the first chapter where none of our leads feature at all and I can't say I like that. I had planned a last scene with them but had to be cut for time. I don't intend to do a chapter like this again, so take heart if you were missing our lighter trio as much as me.
I don't know if it's obvious where I am going here with the League and know that the raid will still also occur. Just like here though, things will play out differently, much more than here and things will get a bit crazy. For now though, we can finally move on to the training session with the hero classes and I can't wait. Next month begins the holiday gauntlet with my son's birthday, Thanksgiving and ending with my birthday, which just so happens to be where the next chapter will release. I'll do my best to have the chapter done early so nothing gets in the way like this last month (not that I could do anything about hurricanes.)
No reviews this month so I'll leave it at that. Take care out there and see you next month!
