The Hero & The Demon
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The entire class collectively braced themselves as the weight of Aizawa's words bore down on them. The villains kept on piling out of the portal, more every second. Everyone was tense as they continued to arrive.
Everyone except Kage Sekai, for whom a chilling calm had settled in his mind.
This was what he had been preparing for. He knew almost everything that was going to happen here. He had been stressing about it so much that he could probably recite the villain's monologues off by heart. He levelled a stoney glare beneath his helmet at the figures most prominently before him.
Tomura Shigaraki. The one who thought he was the leader. Right now, he was just a man-child. Still dangerous, but nothing on what he would become in the future. So long as everyone kept out of his reach and help arrived soon enough, they would be fine.
Nomu. The creature from the USJ was never given a name beyond that. It was easily one of the most powerful creations of All For One and Garaki – a living weapon designed to conquer All-Might. It could match him blow for blow in sheer force, with the added bonus that it wouldn't end up taking damage without severe impacts.
Kage felt the energy stir within him. He didn't know how much he could push out on his own, but it was worth a shot if the need arose.
Kurogiri. Formerly Oboro Shirakumo, this highly advanced Nomu posed the greatest threat due to his ability to transport everyone present to any location he so desired. Kage knew which ones almost everyone would go to in the original canon, but he and Sora were wildcards. They could be sent anywhere within the facility, and there were many dangerous environments for them to find themselves in.
Still, he had his vulnerabilities. His body was obscured by a thick layer of black mist like his name would suggest, but Kage's uniquely empowered vision rendered that a moot point. No amount of smoke would obscure his true self buried deep within. It appeared as a faint, flickering red. It was as though it was dying. Given the monstrous state he was in naturally, Kage wasn't surprised.
"Villains? No way!" Kage didn't register who had spoken before snapping back at them. Every hair he had stood on end.
"Yes way, they're here. Deal with it and break down later!" He called out to the entire class. "If they've gotten in this far, it means sensors are probably down. That means one of them has a Quirk that can block communications. Kaminari, any luck with that transceiver on your ear?" Kaminari jumped and immediately went to the device he wore on his head. Kage knew the answer, not no one else was supposed to know that.
The tough part here would be phrasing everything in such a way as to make it sound like he was just making educated guesses. If he said too much, the best-case scenario would make him only suspicious. The worst case would make him a mole for the villains.
"Thirteen, keep everyone back!" Aizawa announced, lowering goggles over his face. "Try to contact the school as much as you can. If Kage's right, it might be a problem. We don't know who's the one blocking communications. I better work fast." He gave a smirk at that last line, clearly a reassuring comment to make it clear to his students he had things under control.
To his credit, he mostly did. But...
"Mister Aizawa, be careful!" Kage spoke over Izuku's attempts to protest about his fighting ability. "I can see a few big threats down there. The guy with all the hands in the centre? I think he's their leader. That big one with the exposed brain is probably their heaviest hitter, and that warping mist guy doesn't have his body visible, so blocking his Quirk could be an issue."
"I'll keep that in mind." Aizawa nodded. Kage didn't know how much he was inclined to listen, but it was worth giving him some kind of warning. He couldn't give away that he knew the Nomu's abilities, but if he at least made Aizawa more aware and cautious of it, he could probably get out of there with fewer broken bones. "Don't worry about me, I can handle this. Thirteen, get everyone evacuated!"
With that, Aizawa leapt down into battle. Kage didn't bother checking to see his progress, as he knew the man would be fine for quite a while. He turned to see Izuku, who was looking much less certain. He placed a hand on his shoulder, startling his friend out of those thoughts.
"Don't worry, I've seen him in action." He reassured him. "Aizawa's got this. Those villains won't know what hit 'em. Now, everyone to the exit!"
"What your classmate said!" Thirteen said, urging everyone back. "You all need to move!"
"The doors are heavy, so make sure to push at them with all you've got!" Kage said as he rushed to the front of the crowd. If he was lucky, if the world would let things go his way for just a moment, he would be able to reach the doors and shove them wide open with his strength. That would let everyone escape and get the hell out of there, leaving only him and the teachers to deal with the remaining villains.
"Come on, come on!" He urged himself forwards as the energy writhed in his legs, black veins coursing across his body. The yellow lines on his costume glowed with power to match. With just three more sprinting steps, he cleared everyone else. He was going to make it. He had a chance, all he needed were a few more seconds, just a few more-!
"I cannot allow that."
Kage barely managed to stop himself from falling into the surrounding mass of black mist that encompassed the whole group faster than anyone could predict. It quickly formed a solid dome around them, blocking out any light save for the villain's glowing yellow eyes.
"First you break into my school, then you steal my aesthetic." Kage quipped. He charged energy through his arms and readied himself for attack. "You are really not my favourite person right now, dude. But if you surrender, that might make me feel better." A disconnected layer of confidence washed over his words, hiding any semblance of fear he was feeling.
There was a good chance he could die here, but they didn't need to know that. He didn't want to give the League of Villains that satisfaction. Strangely, though, Kurogiri seemed satisfied with his words regardless. He let out a low chuckle.
"Kage Sekai," The blood in his body froze. The villains knew his name? Why did they know his name? "Surely you understand the irony of that statement. After all, I believe I wore this look long before you took it on. Though, if you'd permit us, we'd love to examine it closer. Your style has attracted some attention."
"Kage..." Sora spoke up with a warning tone. She looked at him tensely. "What is he talking about?"
"I-I have no idea!" Kage revealed honestly, his confidence flickering off like a light switch. What the hell was going on? This wasn't how this was supposed to go! He was the one who had all the answers, he was the one with inside knowledge of the future, not them! Kurogiri's glowing eyes flashed upwards.
"Ah, but where are my manners?" He said. Cold yet polite summed up his personality very well. "I do not believe the rest of us have been introduced. I come on behalf of the League of Villains. Forgive the intrusion, but we have come to this sacred ground of education with but two humble goals in mind."
"Two?" Kage found himself saying aloud in surprise. They were supposed to only be here to kill All-Might, and he wasn't even here. Kurogiri's eyes narrowed.
"Yes, two." The villain confirmed. "First and foremost, we have come to bring about an end to the so-called Symbol of Peace. We have come to see All-Might slain." Almost everyone gasped in shock at that revelation. Kage wasn't concerned with that, however. He knew that they would fail, and he was already aware of their motives.
His eyes briefly darted to Sora. She was looking at him nervously, but she was surprisingly steady given the situation. She gave him a very small, very subtle nod. A clear show of trust, he thought. He returned the gesture as best he could without alerting the villain.
Good, at least she had faith he knew what he was doing. At this point, that made one of them.
"Alright, so you're completely crazy." Kage said. The villain seemed willing to address him, so he'd use that. Keep him talking, let that give everyone else a chance to think. "There's no way you're going to be able to take down All-Might. Besides, he's not even here. Your plan's failed already, and you've only just shown up. I don't think you're very good at this." Kurogiri's grin was audible.
"Oh, dear Kage," A shiver crept across his spine as the villain addressed him. "You of all people should know that's not true. After all, it's because of you that we've been able to get this far. You were the key. Which is why, even with the apparent change in schedule, our second goal still remains."
"We are to bring you home."
Kage stumbled back, almost falling to his feet. He managed to maintain just enough composure to keep himself upright, partially with the assistance of a small construct behind him, but his eyes went wide and he paled drastically.
What the hell did that mean?! Was the original Kage Sekai a member of the League of Villains? What had they done to him? Why was Kurogiri so familiar with him, and what did he mean when he said they wanted to bring him 'home'? Did that mean their base of operations, that dingy little bar, or something much worse?
He had met doctor Garaki before. It was months ago, an interaction that had all but slipped from his mind. Had he given something away then?
Two people rushed past him, and an explosion shook the questions out of his mind. He blinked as Kirishima and Bakugou fell down after having leapt forth where Kurogiri's eyes were. The villain barely had enough time to shift his body out of the way, and the misty dome surrounding everyone briefly flickered, as though it was about to dissipate.
"Piss off, freak!" Bakugou protested, a violent grin spread across his face. "That loser's not going anywhere until I kick his ass for good, so get lost!"
Bakugou was defending him? Bakugou?!
Kage accepted in that moment that nothing about this situation made any sense whatsoever, and that it was better to just run with that than allow himself to follow up on the questioned that now plagued his mind. He would have time for those later. Right now, he had villains to beat and people to save. The rest would have to wait.
He activated his glowing eyes and looked to where Kurogiri's body was now.
"Bet you didn't see that coming, did ya?!" Kirishima taunted the villain, raising his arm and activating Hardening. His fists were strong enough on their own, but now he carried two jagged, heavy stones that he could wield just as well. "You messed with the wrong class!"
"That was a close one..." Kurogiri grumbled, mostly to himself, though Kage knew that Bakugou had caught onto it. He found Kurogiri's body and went to point it out, but he didn't have time. "I suppose I've been too indulgent of you children. The time for talking is over!"
The dome shrank and shrank, wind picking up within the mist that began pulling everyone apart from one another. Kage looked around, desperate to see if there was anyone he could hold onto.
"Kage!" Sora's voice cried out. He saw her reaching out a hand and leapt towards it.
"I've got you; I'll save you!" He yelled, assuring himself as much as he was her. His fingers got close. He was almost there. He went to close his hand around hers-
And the world fell to darkness.
An eternity passed in an instant. One moment, Kage was reaching out for Sora, and the next, his hands were empty and he was falling. It took less time than it did to blink.
When the blackness was gone, what was in its place was fire.
Buildings were all around him, each one wreathed in flames that furiously burnt all around him. He was falling from some height, but it didn't look like it would be fatal. Kage allowed himself a quick breath, though the smoke in the air made that difficult. He was lucky he still had his helmet.
"If they're trying to take you, they must want you alive." He thought to himself. "So, that means they won't fight you too hard. You're valuable to them. Find a way to use that."
He focused energy around his back. Taking a page out of Sora's book, he formed a constructed set of wings that would allow him to glide down safely. His descent slowed, and he had a moment to take in his surroundings.
"This is the...conflagration zone, right?" He said to himself as he slowly fell behind the burning skyline. "Fiery place, I forget the word they used. So that means bad guys with fire-related Quirks. I can handle that. Hell, burning buildings are my specialty." He smirked, thinking back to his debut in this world.
Naturally, his reassurance could not be allowed to last. A spear shot through one of his wings immediately, and upon impact, the whole thing exploded into flames. Kage was slammed roughly into a wall and had to complete his fall the usual, painful way.
He managed to roll when he hit the ground to reduce the impact, but he could still feel it all over. If he hadn't been enhancing himself already, he almost certainly would have broken a few bones from that. He looked around. Various villains surrounded him. One of them, a woman with a red ponytail, called out to him. She was standing on top of one of the smaller buildings.
"First hit's mine, boys! Glory to the Phoenix!" She pumped her arms up and cheered, like she was a professional wrestler and not a psychotic murderer. "Y'all know this one's the target, right? Keep him in one piece, first one to kill him wins. I'm lookin' forward to that bonus." She licked her lips and rubbed her hands together hungrily. Kage's stomach dropped.
"If your bosses want me, why try to kill me?" He tried, readying himself into a fighting stance and summoning two swords to be safe. "You'll probably get paid more for keeping me alive, right? There's no need for this to get ugly." He looked around warily.
None of the villains around him looked interested in hearing him out. There was a mix of confusion and amusement on their faces.
"Not how the game is played, kiddo!" The woman – Phoenix, she seemed to call herself – called out. She seemed to be the de-facto leader of this group. "The boss just wants you in one piece. Doesn't matter what state that's in. Personally, I'm hoping for crispy and cooked rare, but we'll see what we can do." She gave a casual shrug.
They didn't want him alive. They didn't care if he lived or died. There was a very real chance he was going to be killed here.
He couldn't let that happen. He had too much left to do.
"Fine then." He growled, masking the shaking terror in his voice with rage. "We'll play this your way. But I'm not going to make it easy on you!" He raised his swords.
"My name is Kage Sekai, and I'm the hero who's going to stop you all!"
"That's the spirit!" Phoenix grinned. "Everybody, give the hero a good show!"
The villains charged forth. Kage raised his swords to meet them.
He would not allow himself to die here.
Sora Kinzoku was going to die here.
She had never been more sure of anything in her entire life than she was in those brief moments she had found herself stuck in the water. It was a dark, blue abyss full of threats. None of them were things she could face with her powers. She couldn't even swim, and already she was struggling to hold her breath. Her vision was a blurry mess that made her eyes sting, but she was sure she could see several figures in the water.
One of them was rushing towards her. As her vision began fading, she was certain that she would be killed then and there. The figure shot out a long... what was that? A whip?
No. It was a tongue.
Sora was pulled up to the surface. She squinted her eyes as she tried to adjust to the sudden change of light. Someone had thrown her, she realised with a momentary delay. She widened her eyes and summoned a set of wings. She frantically flapped and managed to slow herself down enough to land unsteadily on what looked to be a boat.
She fell to her knees once she was on the ground. She began coughing up water and clearing her throat. Now that she was out of immediate danger, her mind was frantically buzzing in a million different directions at once. A lot of things had just happened in the last few seconds, all of which warranted more of a reaction than she had the time to give.
The villains wanted to kill All-Might. That was bad, but she knew that already. He wasn't here, and when he arrived, he would punch the big bird guy through the roof and everything would be fine. Nothing to worry about there. They would be saved so long as they were able to survive for just a little while. Sora could handle that, right? Just a few hours? Hopefully less?
She had survived in tough places before. She had spent a lot of time around people as dangerous as these villains, if not worse. But they usually hadn't been actively trying to kill her. Stop her, maybe, but never kill her.
She gritted her teeth and forced those thoughts away. Of all the tings to worry about now, the past wasn't one of them.
Speaking of pasts, Kage had some serious explaining to do when this was all over. He didn't seem to have any idea what that smoke bastard was talking about, but it was hard to ignore that his access to the plans and natures of the villains would make more sense as some secret spy or double agent than his reincarnation narrative. Of course, the big hole in that idea was that Kage was on their side.
He certainly believed the story he had told her. She knew that much. Whether or not it was true was another matter entirely. If the villains could make genetically engineered monsters like bird-brain down there, was messing with someone's memories really hard to believe?
"No time." She reminded herself, climbing unsteadily to her feet. "How do I get out of here alive? Everything else can wait until that's done." She looked around. She couldn't see any of her classmates at first glance, but in the distance, she could see a huge hoard of villains that Aizawa was fighting. He seemed to be doing well, but there were just so many.
He would be fine. He was a pro hero, after all. This was his job, and anything she tried to do would more than likely end up getting in his way. She had to worry about herself first. Hesitantly, she crept up to the outer wall of the boat and crouched behind it. Her entrance hadn't exactly been subtle, but if she was lucky, they might have thought she had flown past the boat or something.
She peered over the wall. Much like with the crowd in the middle, there was a huge swarm of villain. The only real difference was that she knew that the ones she could see were maybe about half of those present at most, as many would have Quirks that let them sit underwater for long periods of time.
Sora had never seen this much water in her life. She would be lucky to come out of this encounter without developing some form of thalassophobia.
"Okay. Okay, think." She took a few breaths and clasped her hands together, raising her index fingers as though pointing at the sky. She leaned her face against it as she thought. "This place has a ceiling, and they'll see me right away if I try fly up there and carve my way out. I can't just go across because I'll be seen. I can't swim, so down isn't an option." She frowned. There really wasn't much she could do in her position.
If the villains wanted her dead, they had found the perfect spot. But then, why not leave her to drown? Why was she spared?
Her answer came in the form of a loud splatting sound that caused her to nearly jump back into the air. She managed to hold back from that much, but she still scampered back and raised her wings to shield herself. She peered out of the gap in her metal feathers with one eye and sighed with relief.
"Deku!" She rushed back over to her friend, who pulled himself into a seated position. He groaned, but he didn't look injured. That was a relief. She quickly flung her arms around him. "Thank the gods you're okay."
"Me too. Ribbit."
"GAH!" Sora leapt back again, only to once more sigh with relief. She placed a hand on her chest. "T-Tsuyu. Crap, you scared the hell outta me. It's good to see you're safe, too. Were you the one who saved me a minute ago?"
"Yup." Tsuyu nodded as she climbed onto the boat. She was the only one of the three present to be wearing her costume, which actually looked incredible on her after the swim. It seemed like she was right at home in this environment. She resembled a pro herself, save for being of similar size to them. "I thought that would have been obvious, though. My tongue's pretty iconic."
"I'll have to keep a closer eye on it to remember it in the future." Sora said. She flushed red upon realising what words had just come out of her mouth. "N-not in a weird way, or anything. Or I guess not unless you want- you know what, ignore me." She waved her hands around. Tsuyu looked as unfazed as ever, which was oddly comforting.
"Thanks for the save, Asui." Deku smiled at her and stood. She turned to him and Sora could swear the tiniest facial movement conveyed a frown.
"Call me Tsuyu." She said. Deku flinched, clearly still not used to referring to people by their first name. Honestly, the fact that he was still being so polite in a time like this was both inspiring and alarming. Why was Sora, the only one among them who knew how this whole thing was supposed to go down, the only person panicking?
"We're in a lot of trouble right now, aren't we?" Tsuyu's voice had a small tinge of nerves, but her tone and expression still reflected a much cooler head than Sora was feeling. Izuku nodded, his expression grim.
"The villains know our schedule." He said. "They were probably the ones behind the press invasion at the school. They must have tried to sneak in then to get one."
"But they didn't." Sora said suddenly, her eyes widening. "I stopped the guy who snuck in. That's why I was out of class after lunch. I-I kinda got exploded." She winced as she said it, embarrassment building in her.
"You got exploded?" Deku repeated incredulously.
"I know, I should've done better." She said. "But the guy had a gun – well, more like he was a gun and the ammo on his head was made of metal and I panicked and it got messy." She hastily pushed through the explanation.
"Oh no, I-I wasn't trying to say that at all!" He raised his hands in front of her. "I meant that it's just impressive, is all. That means you've got more experience fighting villains than anyone here."
"It wasn't much of a fight." Sora shifted. Tsuyu tilted her head.
"You got away, right?" She asked. Sora nodded, and Tsuyu's face shifted a fraction. She was giving a slight smile. "That means you won. Ribbit. That's good. If you got through that, then you can get through this."
"Y-yeah." Sora nodded, trying to bring herself to agree. "Yeah, yeah! We can get through this. We just need to think of an escape plan. I-I don't know how much help I can be, though. I... I can't swim." She admitted shamefully. Tsuyu patted her on the back.
"That's okay. Ribbit." She said. "I can't fly. We've all got strengths and weaknesses." Sora chuckled at that. Flying wasn't exactly a skill anyone could learn in the same way swimming was, but the effort to comfort her was still appreciated.
"That's it!" Deku snapped his fingers, drawing their attention. "They don't know our strengths and weaknesses. They don't know our Quirks or anything about our class besides where we are." He explained. Sora raised an eyebrow.
"How'd you figure that out?"
"Asui." He said. There was a pause. Sora pointed her head forward as though to urge him to go on, which seemed to surprise Deku.
"Call me Tsuyu." She said again.
"R-right, sorry." Deku apologised. "But Tsuyu is probably best suited to the flood zone, right? She's the main reason we're still alive. Her amphibian power set couldn't be in a better place right now!" Tsuyu nodded.
"It's true. If they had wanted us to be killed easily, they could have sent me to the fire area." She looked over. Sora followed her gaze to see a set of fake buildings that were perpetually on fire. There were large walls that separated it from the rest of the facility.
Sora's stomach sank as she looked at it for some reason. She didn't know what, but she knew something was deeply wrong there.
"So, they split us up at random." Deku nodded as Sora made the connection he was clearly looking for.
"Exactly. Look, they're not getting closer to the boat." He explained, pointing down. Sora gulped and allowed herself another look. The crowd of villains had grown. Clearly some had gotten tired of waiting underwater. But otherwise, Deku was right, They didn't approach. They even looked wary.
"They probably don't want to risk a fight until they're sure what we can do." He pressed a hand against his chin. "We just need to find some way to use that to our advantage. It's clear that the only way out of this is a fight. Besides, they want to kill All-Might. They wouldn't have come this far without a plan of their own. There's no way we can let that happen."
"Really?"
The other two snapped their heads towards her and Sora realised she had said that out loud, and wow, it sounded awful! She raised her hands defensively.
"I-I just mean, shouldn't we focus on just getting out of here and not getting hurt?" She tried to explain herself. "There's no way they can actually kill All-Might, right? They probably just think they can win with numbers, he'll kick their asses like always. He's not the one we should be worried about right now."
"We're heroes, Sora." Deku replied. "That means we worry about everyone's safety. All-Might once said that meddling even where you don't belong is the essence of being a hero. Besides, I'm not convinced the villains don't have a greater plan here. Did you hear what the mist one said about Kage?" Sora's eyes narrowed, but she knew Deku wasn't meaning it in a suspicious way.
"He said that Kage was the key." She said. "Do we know what that means?" Deku shook his head.
"Kage has amnesia. The odds are good that even he doesn't know." He explained. Tsuyu looked surprised, but clearly thought better than to ask questions right now. Sora bit her tongue on the subject. "I've got some theories and thoughts about it, but the important thing is that it implies they've been planning this for a lot longer than just yesterday. There's a good chance they actually found some way to kill All-Might."
"Plus, we still don't know if he'll get here in time." Tsuyu added. "Everyone's in trouble. We can't just hope everything will work out. What if they get hurt? They're our friends. Ribbit." Any response Sora could have had died in her throat with that last line.
Tsuyu was right. These people were her friends. She hated seeing them hurt. Maybe she couldn't do much to stop it, but she couldn't just abandon them to save her own skin. Even if she managed it, she would be all alone while they were suffering. Could she really just fly away knowing that?
She looked at Deku. He'd been nothing but kind to her every time they spoke. She liked hearing him talk excitedly about heroes at lunch, and he let her call him by some dumb nickname that had been meant as an insult, all because he saw her as a friend. Because that alone made it mean something different to him.
She looked to Tsuyu. Where other people were always bothered by her refusing her last name, she not only went along with it, but let her do the same in return. It had been almost immediate, too. As soon as the two had met, she had trusted her.
She looked over the edge of the boat, her eyes lingering briefly on the fire area as they scanned the landscape. She had laughed and smiled with so many of these people, and it had only been a few days. Didn't that mean something?
What was the point of just saving herself if it left her all alone? Maybe it wasn't heroic to think like that; to only fight because she didn't want to be lonely. But that didn't matter to her right now.
Who cared why she was doing it? Who cared if it was wrong? She had to help.
"Alright, fine." Sora turned back to the others, her eyes now burning with a determination that had been alien and baffling to her before. The will to risk one's life for other people. Sora would live her life however she chose. If that meant living with lots of friends and the freedom to fly, then she could fight for that.
"What's the plan?"
Mashirao Ojiro expected to encounter more opposition.
Not to say there weren't still plenty of villains. There were absolutely more than he felt he could reasonably fight, and he had been forced to keep running as much as possible s he tried to find the exit to this flame-filled nightmare. He had to keep looking up at the ceiling to remind himself that he as still in the USJ and that he hadn't been sent into hell.
Not that it made all that much difference at the moment, he thought as he barged past one villain with his shoulder, then used his tail to slam them into the ground, simultaneously using the impact to help him leap up and swing off of a nearby flag pole.
He cast his vision back as he continued through the air. Whilst he knew there were many villains around the area, he was only ever pursued by a small handful at a time. That made things easier to deal with. He couldn't find his classmates and get out if he was being swarmed. He rolled on the ground and began sprinting further as soon as he landed.
The thought of his classmates brought his mind to one name in particular. Kage Sekai and him weren't especially close, but they had trained together as gym buddies a few times. He liked to think that he was a good enough judge of character to know that he was a good person.
And yet, the villains knew him. They said he was the reason they had gotten this far. That he was the key to their plan.
He wasn't going to jump to conclusions. They were villains, there was every possibility they were making it all up to mess with their heads. Maybe they just picked a name at random from a student list so they could turn them all against one another. Keep them from trying to join up for fear of being betrayed. They were easier to pick off if they were isolated, after all.
"I'm well-read." Kage had said. Maybe he had been referring to some kind of database on UA that the villains had. No, that was paranoia talking. Kage had used that line before even the entrance exam. There was no way he could have already known about Ojiro's enrolment, or anyone else's.
He trusted Kage enough to at least feel like he wasn't lying. He had said he had amnesia and had to get his Quirk re-diagnosed at the gym the first time he was there. Maybe the villains had done something to him, something that caused him to lose his memories. It would also have to be something that would have changed his Quirk somehow.
The villains had a plan to kill All-Might. Maybe that meant they had some way to steal his power away. Kage could have been some kind of test for that.
He thought back to the battle training they had done just a few days ago. He hadn't expected the work there to pay off so soon. He wasn't present for Kage's fight with Tokoyami, but he had gathered after the fact that it was very unusual. Kage's Quirk seemed to have a mind of its own, one that reacted to Tokoyami's Dark Shadow. Maybe that was what the villains were referring to – not Kage himself, but some altered power they had imbued it with. That would mean that Kage probably wasn't even aware of its true intentions.
He could have been unintentionally passing on all sorts of information to the villains, all while thinking he was doing the right thing and trying to be a hero. Hell, it was possible the villains had brainwashed him into wanting to get into UA in the first place.
The thought made his blood boil. Even if he wasn't all that close with Kage, he considered him a friend. Ojiro despised the idea that the villains could stoop so low, but they were already trying to kill the greatest hero who ever lived. What were a few more atrocities next to that?
He hoped he was wrong, but the pieces fit together a little too well for his liking. Kage's inexperience with his power, how it seemed to act on his own. His lack of memory and how new techniques seemed to come via instinct more than anything else. How the villains could know about the class schedule and expect All-Might to be present. Why they wanted Kage back. If he had been a part of this plan from the beginning, then he had probably outlived his usefulness by now.
That meant there was a very real chance they would take him back dead.
Ojiro swore in his head that he wouldn't let that happen. He'd find Kage, find the rest of the class, and get everyone to safety no matter what. He could take the heat, and he could handle a few villain's hits. He turned a corner-
"Argh!" His face was met with a solid fist. His nose crunched and he stumbled back, trying to hold it and ease the flow of blood. The villain in front of him was a woman with red hair. She looked surprised to see him, but that melted away in an instant as her expression filled with gleeful bloodlust.
"Well now, what do we have here?" She leaned forward and stalked towards him. Ojiro backed away, trying his best to adopt a fighting stance and ignore the pain. "You're not the brat I was looking for, but I'm hardly gonna pass up an opportunity when it bumps into me." She cracked her knuckles and pressed one fist into her hand.
"Before I kill you, though, have you seen another kid around here?" She tilted her head with such genuine confusion that it almost made Ojiro lose his balance. She seemed like a different person for a moment. "About your height, black hair, real stupid? He got himself lost around here and I need to find him."
"So, you can kill him?" Ojiro managed to spit out. "Not gonna happen." The woman looked strangely offended by his words. Even upset. Her eyes went wide.
"Kill him? Why would I-?" She cut herself off. It was like a switch flipped in her head, and her manic grin returned. "That's right, I have to kill him! Burn him away, just like I'm gonna burn this whole damn world! The Great Phoenix will burn it all to ash!" She yelled it out like a battle cry. Fire erupted from her mouth as she roared into the sky above.
Normally this would have made things brighter, so it came as a shock when the light vanished. A loud click was heard as every light that lined the dome ceiling of the USJ facility shut off at once. Then, a moment later, they all shattered. Glass rained down, but it didn't land before turning to dust.
No, not dust. Sand.
The fires all stopped. A roaring inferno became deafening silence. The villain backed away, her face once more becoming nervous and afraid. She looked at Ojiro, but he was just as confused. His guard had even lowered from the surprise.
"What is this?" He said. "Part of your plan?" The villain stepped back even more. Ojiro didn't quite know why as much as he felt it. A primal sense of fear suddenly filled his entire body from head to toe. His hairs stood on end. The once boiling heat of the inferno around them was now colder than winter's ice.
"N-no, this isn't us!" The woman said. "This wasn't part of the pl-"
That was all she was able to say before there was a boom that shattered the silence, and her jaw was flung miles off of her face. She looked down, reached for her mouth that now no longer was, and then collapsed.
"What was it he called those moves again?"
With every ounce of strength that Ojiro could use to free himself from this overwhelming paralysis, he turned to the sound of an unfamiliar voice. It echoed in his mind, carrying with it the chill of frozen wastes and yet the force of a storm.
The one speaking was Kage, but it wasn't. His helmet was broken, leaving his face clearly visible. His sclera were all black, leaving both his pupils and his irises as the only sign of light in his eyes, and like the moon, it was a cold and harsh light. It burned golden. His skin was as pale as a corpse, with black veins sparking across it like lightning across the sky in a thunderstorm. His hair had changed colour, now matching the gold of his eyes. It had always been spikey, but now the spikes were sharper, and it had twisted itself like thorned vines until it formed something of a shape.
A crown.
"Now I remember." Whoever this new figure was spoke, snapping their fingers together. Before Ojiro had a chance to register what was happening, they grabbed the woman by the throat, lifted her and slammed her hard enough into the ground that he had to leap back to avoid the crater left behind. Blood pooled over the ground. The figure grinned.
"Smash."
AN: Sometimes, stories start with a few specific moments in mind. Moments that a story grows around so that the writer has context for the visions they conjure in their head. This, dear readers, is one such moment. This story's name will now finally be appropriate.
You've all seen the hero. Now, it's the demon's turn.
See you next time.