The Hero & The Demon

Chapter Twenty-Two

Kage Sekai may have been stopped the first time he tried to rush after a friend following the battle training, but as soon as All-Might revealed the winners of the match, nothing was going to stop him from reaching Sora. Rationally, he was sure she would be fine. Recovery Girl could handle shattered bones, surely a strong electric shock would pose no challenge for her. Rationality, however, was nowhere near his mind at that moment.

Sora's Quirk used the metal in her body, as far as he understood. This seemed to demonstrate that a side effect was her body being more susceptible to electricity. Kage cursed himself in his head. He should have considered that!

There was at least one electric villain at the USJ, and it was reasonable to assume he wasn't the only one. Sora's power was based around metal and he didn't even think to mention it. What if that same villain showed up tomorrow? Or what if they failed to prevent the USJ attack and he and Sora were separated by Kurogiri?

Today it was just a shock. Tomorrow it could spell her death.

Climbing up a five-story building might have been more difficult were it not for his powers. The black veins burst across his body and he practically leapt up the walls. He didn't have time to be impressed with the fluidity of his movements, though. He reached the doors to the bomb room and slammed into one of them as hard as he could.

The door didn't open.

"Fuck!" He yelled. The doors had been barricaded by some kind of metal. Kage didn't know which, but it was enough to keep even his enhanced body from being able to break through it immediately. He glared at the door, as though it would be intimidated by his blackened eyes. As he did so, his powers involuntarily triggered.

He saw three people through the door. Momo Yaoyorozu was a forest green colour. Her light seemed more static than others he had seen, remaining still. Denki Kaminari was a yellow lightning bolt, not nearly as bright as All-Might's had been, but still distinctive amongst the black and gold outline. Sora was the one he was most concerned about. Her form was a dark blue in colour, and it resembled water in how it seemed to gently ripple and shift.

At least, Kage hoped it was gentle.

Kage gathered and forged the energy throughout his body, channelling it through his hand and out until he had created a sword. It was larger than anything he would usually be able to reasonably carry, and the blade was so thin it was practically two-dimensional, but he didn't care. He could hear his heart beat and the sound was deafening.

He rammed the blade through the door. It cut cleanly through, and within what was in reality mere moments, but felt like minutes or hours, Kage had managed to carve an entrance out. Instead of a door, the doorframe now merely had the hanging vestiges of wood that might have at one point been a rectangle properly shaped for them.

Kage's eyes flickered between his strange coloured vision and his usual sight. Sora was injured and unconscious. The other two people in the room looked at him with horrified and awed expressions, but Kage didn't care what they thought of him. He rushed over to Sora and kneeled beside her.

There was shattered glass all around her, but his costume was strong enough to manage without cutting on any of it. By the looks of things, Sora hadn't been quite so lucky. Fragments had embedded themselves in her arms and legs, and one larger section had pierced its way into her stomach. Kage leaned close to her face.

She was still breathing.

He wished that was enough to ease his tension, but she was still in a dire state. The energy his body usually kept contained began oozing out of him and drifting upwards, creating an inky aura around the two of them. Kaminari and Yaoyorozu both stepped back as they noticed. Kage didn't register it at all. He was laser-focused on Sora.

"Still visible, so I can get them all out carefully." He muttered, barely cognisant of what he was saying. The sword that was in his hand quickly morphed until it became a very small set of tweezers. He paid careful attention to the exact positioning of the glass, using his enhanced vision to make sure he was only targeting them.

"Yaoyorozu." He addressed her without looking away, still carefully removing the visible shards of glass. "We'll need some rubbing alcohol. It needs to be applied quickly. If Recovery Girl tries using her Quirk now, there's a risk of the glass getting stuck in her skin as it heals over."

"R-right." Yaoyorozu nodded after a moment of hesitation, quickly producing one bottle of rubbing alcohol, as well as a cloth. Kage took them quickly and applied it carefully where necessary, before gently scratching at the skin. This would help deal with any glass fragments that weren't immediately visible.

"That large one in the stomach might cause some bleeding once it's removed." He observed. "If you can get a bandage for the moment, that'd be great." Once more, he wasn't looking in Yaoyorozu's direction, but she quickly took his meaning. She handed him a roll of bandages, and after carefully extracting the large glass fragment in the stomach and placing it down, he applied them.

The process was automatic to him, as though he'd done medical work like this a thousand times. And yet, Darren Smythe was no doctor. He barely knew how to apply a plaster properly when he cut his thumb. If someone had asked in his old life what to do about glass fragments in the skin, the only way he would be able to help would be by googling the answer.

Kage Sekai, it seemed, was once again clearly the more useful of the two. Once again, it was repulsive that Darren Smythe was the one who got to stand in his place.

Once again, Kage forced those thoughts back. He knew Sora would almost certainly stop him if he went to berating himself over his own existence again, and she would be right to. There was nothing he could do about the situation. He had to focus on how good it was that he was able to help at all.

"Can I help?" Kaminari went to approach, only just stopping when the inky aura that was spreading off of Kage reacted, sharpening like lightning that rose from the ground as he got close. "I-I mean, I'm not a doctor or anything but-"

"Recovery bots will already be on their way." Kage said dispassionately. "If you can find them, you can probably direct them up here quick. They'll also probably need help with the door. Try not to shock them, it probably won't make them go any faster." There really wasn't much he could see Kaminari doing to help, and frankly, he didn't want to see much of the boy at that moment.

"Is that it?" He tried to argue. He seemed like he was about to say something else, but for the first time since he had entered the room, one eye of Kage's looked away from Sora. Blackened veins were visible, protruding around the eye that stared deep into the boy's soul.

"Kaminari." Kage said, not noticing how his voice had become sharper and taken on an echo to it. "I assure you that we will be perfectly cool by the time class ends, but right now every moment I see you or hear your voice all I can think about is how much you've hurt my closest friend. If I hear one more word from you there is a good chance that what little self-control I am desperately scraping together will fall apart, and so will you. Get out, get help. That's all you need to do." Kaminari gulped nervously, stepping back. The aura that dripped off from Kage had now sharpened to create almost a fence of barbed wire that coiled and leered threateningly.

He stumbled as he turned, and then he ran off. Kage forced himself to take a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

"Sorry." He found himself saying. In theory, he meant it towards Yaoyorozu, but in practice, he was speaking generally. "I'm not handling all this very well. I realise that, and I'm sorry." He took another breath before returning to examine Sora once more. The glass had all been dealt with, but that was the easy part. She had taken a serious electric shock to every inch of her body.

The good news was that he already knew she was still breathing, so CPR wasn't necessary. Given how much power was vibrating its way through his body, he was worried that if he tried, he would crush her chest by accident.

There were surprisingly few burns, considering the apparent force of the shock, but there were still a few. Recovery Girl would most likely be able to deal with them, though a part of him worried that she might be busy still taking care of Izuku's injuries. What was something he could do immediately to help?

"Can you make me some gauze?" He asked, deliberately forcing his voice to sound calmer. He was worried that if he didn't try to keep some of his previous numb sense of anger, the alternative would be crying. That wouldn't help. "I need to apply it to her burns. Sterile, if you can. Please." The aura surrounding him seemed to relax as he did, though it didn't completely recede into his body.

"Of course." Yaoyorozu nodded, quickly producing exactly what he needed. She tossed it over to him and he caught it. Just before doing so, he made sure to form his energy around his hands to create some gloves. He didn't have any to hand, but there were many benefits to having incredible and mysterious superpowers.

He carefully dressed her wounds and applied the gauze. Once again, the procedure felt entirely natural and automatic. He felt practiced in this, like it was a return to form. Fighting had felt natural too, but this was different. This didn't feel like something he didn't understand until after he had already done it. It wasn't the same sort of distant muscle memory that defied reasoning.

Kage Sekai had been medically practiced. Of that, he was now certain. This felt like a routine he was as familiar with as he was preparing his breakfast. His old self might have been more squeamish at the prospect of all this, but in his new life, he didn't hesitate for a moment. Given his aversion to death, he had wondered if injuries like this would cause the same sort of hesitation, the same panic and urge to freeze up.

He was glad that Kage Sekai was made of stronger stuff than that. When he saw an injury, he immediately became solution-oriented and got to work. Darren, the boy who had stolen his name, could make good use of that.

It was also reassuring to know that even before reincarnation became involved, Kage Sekai had been interested in helping people. He may not have been aiming to become a hero like he was now, but he still cared about aiding people in times of crisis. In that sense, the current Kage Sekai was carrying on the legacy of the original. It brought a small smile to his face to think that this previous life would approve of what he was doing with it now, at least in some small way.

It wasn't enough to make up for anything. It never would be. But it was something.

Kaminari returned a moment later, successfully having found and guided two robots who carried a stretcher. Jiro was on the other side of the robots. Kage had entirely forgotten she was present, something that he allowed himself a brief moment of shame for. She had probably heard all of his panicking and the general situation until now.

"Is Sora okay?" were the first words out of her mouth as she arrived. Kage immediately decided he liked Jiro, and smiled. He allowed himself to finally relax properly. Help had arrived and he had done what he could. There was nothing else to panic about.

Well, there was still a risk of internal injuries that Kage couldn't do anything about, but he was trying to force himself into something resembling a calm state of mind, so he didn't dare think about that any more than what was absolutely necessary.

"Recovery Girl can handle it." he told himself. "You know everything's going to be fine. No one ever gets too badly hurt here." He tried to use his knowledge of canon to comfort himself. It was a poor effort, as he knew that Sora was an exception to any previous rules he had known about.

There was nothing he could be sure about when it came to her. For better and for worse.

"She's going to be fine." Kage said, hoping that if he said it enough, he would start believing it. He looked to the robots, who had positioned themselves next to him. "Be very careful when moving her. It could make any internal damage worse." One of the robots nodded its small head.

"DO NOT WORRY," it said. "UNLIKE ORGANICS, WE ARE KNOWN FOR OUR PRECISION." Kage focused on the reassurances rather than taking offence on behalf of organic life, watching as the machines carefully loaded Sora onto a stretcher, just like they had done for Izuku earlier. They carried her off to the nurse's office.

"She's going to be fine." Kage repeated. This time, it wasn't an act of reassurance to anyone else. It was a promise. An oath he swore to himself.

She was going to be in a lot more trouble thanks to him. He knew that. In bringing her in on his secret, he had given her a part of his own responsibility. And he had made himself responsible for her.

He would make sure she was fine. No matter what.

Fumikage Tokoyami considered himself to be a very perceptive person.

His battle partner, Tsuyu Asui, was similar in this way. The main difference, it seemed, was that he was one who liked to keep everything buried deep in the shadows, only dealing out his dark knowledge when it was most necessary. Asui – or Tsu, as she seemed to prefer being called – was much more willing to illuminate the truths she saw in the world.

"You're worried, aren't you?" She said, cutting through the enshrouding shadows of his composure and prompting him to flinch. She was consulting a map of the building whilst Tokoyami was focusing his gaze on the location itself. Within it lied their two opponents. Both could be quite dangerous in their own right, but there was only one that had him especially on edge.

"Kage's usually not that scary." Tsu said, instinctively trying to reassure him. She poked her chin with a finger and looked up thoughtfully. "At least, he didn't seem all that bad yesterday. I think he was just worried about Sora. I'm sure it'll be fine. Ribbit."

"Thank you for your encouragement, but I'm afraid my concerns are different." He admitted. There was a twisting tension that writhed in his stomach. In truth, he wasn't convinced that he was the one who was truly nervous.

"I think I can probably handle Ojiro." Tsu offered. "He's tough and he probably knows martial arts, but I can move really well and keep him on his toes. I don't think he can leap around like a frog, so it shouldn't be too hard to for me to avoid his attacks." Tokoyami nodded. Tsu's Quirk was a simple heteromorphic type ability, aptly named 'Frog'. Just as the name suggested, it allowed her to do most things your average frog was capable of.

Dark Shadow was a fair bit more complicated to explain. Still, in their present situation, he owed it to his partner to try.

"Dark Shadow is the one who's nervous, not me." He finally told her. Tsu tilted her head at him. "He's my Quirk. A sentient mass of shadows who I can command to aid me in battle. In terms of our fighting prowess, we have nothing to worry about."

"He's that strong?" Tsu asked. Tokoyami allowed himself the indulgence of pride and nodded his head. He could feel Dark Shadow itself stir within him.

"He is. Together, Dark Shadow and I are unbeatable." He declared. "However, there's something strange about Kage. I don't know what it is, but it has Dark Shadow on edge."

"To face the Lord is to know the end. To face the Lord is to know the end."

Dark Shadow did not usually speak much in his head, preferring to vocalise its thoughts whenever he was released by Tokoyami. This time, however, he seemed unwilling to speak his strange chant aloud. Tokoyami had no idea what it meant, but it had him on edge.

Who was this 'Lord' that he referred to? Kage certainly didn't give off any sort of regal impression. He was a very casual young man at the best of times, and seemingly a panicked yet capable one at the worst given the display he witnessed earlier following the previous match. And what did 'know the end' mean? It didn't sound quite like it meant death, though that was all Tokoyami could deduce from it.

"What do we know about Kage and Ojiro?" Tsu thought aloud. "We can probably figure out what to do if we go over it all. Maybe we can figure out what Dark Shadow's worried about?" Tokoyami admired her optimistic attitude about the subject. He was doubtful that simply going over basic details would unveil the truth hidden in the darkness, but it was surely worth a shot.

"Of Ojiro, I know very little." Tokoyami said. "His Quirk is his large tail, and based on his outfit, he seems to be a skilled practitioner of martial arts, though I wouldn't know which ones specifically. I suspect he'll be the one guarding the bomb."

"Agreed." Tsu replied. "Kage's got more offensive power, since he can just summon swords and things whenever he wants. Do you know anything else about his Quirk?" Tokoyami thought for a moment, trying to keep his thoughts clear of Dark Shadow's mutterings. This was very unusual behaviour for it. Dark Shadow was usually aggressive and confident, even in the daylight.

"I suspect his Quirk is another sentient one." Tokoyami explained. "I could not give you firm evidence, but there is a familiarity in the abyss of his soul and my own. He is capable of enhancing his body, as well as producing constructs like that sword. Did you see how his power leaked out of him when he reached Sora?"

"I get it." Tsu nodded. "You're saying his Quirk is sometimes automatic, or not always under his control."

"Exactly." Tokoyami agreed. "Perhaps his powers will have some similar reaction to Dark Shadow as it does to him. I think I should be the one taking him on, based on this. You can evade our destined duel and carry on forth to our true objective."

"Are you sure?" Tsu asked, tilting her head with a worried expression. "If Dark Shadow has some kind of issue with him, I don't think he'll be happy about that. Even if it is our best option, are you sure he'll go along with it?"

"Well, Dark Shadow?" He asked internally, not wanting to voice his own doubts further. There were some shadows that one never wanted to cast upon those around you. Fear and worry were among them. Dark Shadow was silent for a worryingly long moment before responding.

"You and me are a team, Fumi. I'm with you until the end. Let's kick some ass!"

"Don't say it like it's a last stand." Tokoyami replied, though he was reassured by his companion's words. He hadn't called him 'Fumi' in a long time. It was an old nickname from childhood, back when Dark Shadow was struggling to compose words properly. Nowadays, it only ever came up when things looked dire, which fortunately wasn't often.

Just what kind of opponent was Dark Shadow expecting to face?

"HERO TEAM, BEGIN!" All-Might announced over their earpieces. Tokoyami looked to Tsu and nodded, straightening his posture and walking towards the building. Tsu hopped along after him, her actions mimicking those of her animalistic counterpart.

Frogs didn't have any sort of tracking ability, did they? He wondered if there was any way to use her powers to get a better look at where their opponents would be, but he didn't find anything rattling around in his brain. Dark Shadow mostly only knew things he did, so the entity was similarly no help. Tsu paused.

"I can climb walls, you know. Ribbit." She said. Tokoyami waited to see if she would continue, but she seemed to deem that enough information to provide. Tokoyami thought on what she wanted him to suggest with that, but something else caught his eye before he could come to the right realisation.

"The lights!" He gasped. This building resembled a typical office building, with long lights going along a line on the roof and illuminating all of the corridors and rooms. However, the lights here had all not only been switched off, but broken so that they might never be turned back on. Surprisingly, there was no glass upon the floor for them to worry about.

Which had to mean that the goal was simply to break the lights, not create a hazard in their way. Why would Kage and Ojiro do that?

"He knows about Dark Shadow." Tokoyami realised. There was no other reason he could think of for why Kage would specifically go out of his way to break the building lights and leave them all in darkness. It wasn't total pitch black, of course – it was still the afternoon and the building had windows.

Tokoyami looked over to them as he and Tsu walked further into the building. Blinds and curtains had clearly been shut where possible, but there was only so much that could be done. Still, it was enough darkness to have both Tokoyami and Dark Shadow on edge. Tsu, who was so far unaware of the dangers this presented, didn't seem bothered. If anything, she seemed pleased.

"This'll make sneaking around easier." She said. "They've blocked out their own vision as well as ours. We can use it to our advantage. In fact, I can probably camouflage myself here. Ribbit." That was a thing frogs could do? Truly, they were more powerful creatures than Tokoyami had ever thought to give credit for.

"Indeed." Tokoyami agreed, not wishing to reveal Dark Shadow's weakness and worry her just yet. It was darker than he would usually be comfortable with, but it wasn't going to make the creature behave fully irrationally.

"Why don't you see if you can climb around the walls quickly?" Tokoyami offered, a plan forming in his mind. It would help them locate the enemy and keep Tsu away from him in case of a worst-case scenario. A win-win, he thought. "If you can find the bomb stealthily, we might be able to avoid a fight altogether."

"Sounds like a plan. Ribbit." Tsu nodded. She quickly began rushing along the walls much faster. Tokoyami was fine with this, as splitting up worked only to their advantage. They needed to cover the ground.

The two searched the ground floor, then the first floor together. There was no sign of any activity, with the sole exception being the lights had been broken once again, and yet again with no sign of broken glass. That was starting to worry Tokoyami.

This whole plan was looking a little too precise for his liking. Dark Shadow had to be the target, but there was no way Kage could possibly know his weaknesses.

"The Lord knows all, Fumi. He sees us in the shadows, he hears our every whisper."

"What do you mean?" He pleaded for his companion to explain himself. "I don't know anything about this 'Lord' you're talking about. Who is he? Why does he know about you?" Dark Shadow once again went worryingly quiet, but the silence brought to light a new sound.

Footsteps. They were slow, methodical. The enemy wasn't rushing towards them, but he was approaching. Tsu was ahead of him, just in front of the staircase that their opponent had to be coming from. Her camouflage was working well – he could barely perceive her against the wall, and he was used to the dark. There was no way-

"Ahh!" Tsu let out a sharp scream of pain as a small bolt of black energy shot through her leg, going right through the knee and causing her to fall to the floor. Tokoyami tensed immediately, the arms of Dark Shadow bursting forth from his cloak and readying themselves as sharp claws.

"I'm really not up for surprises right now." Kage's voice echoed through the corridor as he came into view. Black veins danced dangerously around his eyes, which wore a baleful glare. The veins were corrupting the rest of his face as well. In particular, there were several that lingered near his lips and seemed to shift in position as he spoke. His voice carried a sharpness to it that Tokoyami hadn't ever heard from the boy.

"That shot should have cauterised the wound in an instant." Kage said, looking down at Tsu as her camouflage dropped, revealing her vibrant green costume and a pained expression. "There will be no blood and no internal damage. I'm sure you heroes can handle some pain, right? If you surrender now, there will be no more harm done."

"Like we'd believe that!" Tokoyami cried out, though his body seemed unwilling to move. He wanted to rush forward and attack, but every fibre of his being promised that doing so would lead to a swift end. Kage's eyes narrowed as Tokoyami spoke, as though he was only just taking notice of him fully in that moment.

"Fumikage Tokoyami." He said, and a chill ran down his spine as Kage said his name. There was no reason for him to be so afraid, and yet he couldn't stop himself from trembling. "Do you truly wish to fight us? In these conditions?" Kage extended his arms wide, gesturing to the dark surroundings.

So, he did know. He was prepared for it.

"Perhaps you will be able to hold us back," Kage continued, "but think of the damage that could be unleashed were you to act too hastily. Within this building is a nuclear bomb. Do you trust your companion to bear that in mind as he struggles against us? Do you trust your nerves to be enough to hold him back?"

"I would trust Dark Shadow with my life." Tokoyami proclaimed. He forced himself to stop shaking, clenching his fists. He quickly peered around. There were no other footsteps he could hear. Tsu was slowly and carefully backing away behind Kage, though her injury made it difficult for her to gain much distance.

"What about you?" He said, pushing confidence out as best he could. Kage didn't want to fight, he reminded himself. Given what he said about Dark Shadow's power, it seemed he was bluffing. He expected to lose a direct confrontation. "If you think Dark Shadow can do so much to our battlefield, are you not concerned with how Ojiro will be consumed by the darkness? There's only one of you to face us. That will not enough to stop us from forcing you back into the shadowy void from whence your villainy came!"

Kage blinked at him, his expression immediately softening. What was once a terrifying, looming villain transformed in the blink of an eye into a confused young man. He looked around, as though suddenly uncertain of where he was.

"O-only one of us-me? Why am I saying...?" He placed a hand on his head and a frown appeared on his face. The veins seemed to recede somewhat, though it was almost as though the act itself was causing him some pain. Tokoyami finally forced himself to move, rushing forward.

"Tsu, go!" He cried out quickly as Dark Shadow's claws approached with a fury even he had not expected. Tsu nodded, forcing herself to run as fast as she could. Kage turned to face her. He reached out an arm to stop her, but it never made it far enough.

Dark Shadow's claw slammed him down to the ground, then grabbed onto his body and tossed him back through the corridor. Tokoyami allowed himself a prideful smile at that.

"See, Dark Shadow?" He said, offering reassurance even as his companion continued to tense within him. "We can handle Kage just fine." As soon as he said it, he knew he had made a mistake. The darkness in the corridors intensified as blackness spilled out from Kage, covering the windows that lined the building walls. A constructed wall stopped Kage from flying too far, and he stopped himself with one hand.

When he turned back to face Tokoyami, a mask had formed over the bottom half of his face. The upper half looked the same as it had before, however. If anything, it looked more confused.

"What do you think you're doing?" A voice emerged, though it was distinctly not the voice of Kage Sekai. It was sharp, with something of a raspy quality to it. The sound it made burnt its way into Tokoyami's ears. Kage's eyes looked down at the mask with apparent surprise, and he gestured to it with wild confusion.

He looked to Tokoyami, as though expecting him to have an answer.

"Do you know who it is you face, Dark Shadow?" The voice spoke, though once again it seemed its words were not in line with Kage's intent. Tokoyami guessed that Kage was trying to ask what was happening, and the voice was interpreting this differently. Dark Shadow's head emerged from Tokoyami's torso.

Its eyes were red. That wasn't a good sign.

"I do." Dark Shadow growled out. "But that's not about to stop me. You aren't who you once were. Not in that body. We can take you on, Lord!" Dark Shadow grinned, its claws becoming sharp as it readied itself for battle. Strangely, however, it seemed much more composed than Tokoyami had expected.

His trepidation about their foe was overpowering his natural rage at the darkness. That was an advantage for the moment, but it was also deeply unsettling.

"You know my title, lesser Demon." The voice spoke from Kage's mouth. Kage seemed to accept a fight was inevitable at this point, readying two blades of energy in his hands. He gave Tokoyami an apologetic look, though he saw past that. Hiding just a little further within his black and yellow eyes was a carefully filtered look of raw terror.

"But you do not know your place!" Kage charged forwards as the voice spoke, blades heading right for him. There were so many things buried within his eyes that Tokoyami could see, but one thing was certain.

He held no fear for his opponent. He was afraid of himself.

Kage Sekai was seeing many things, and he didn't understand what to make of most of them.

His body was still in his control, but it felt different to how it usually did. It was like he was swimming, not running. His every motion was met with this strange resistance as some other force tried to direct him to do something else.

Kage wouldn't let it. He couldn't afford to lose control.

Losing control meant death, not just for him but for everyone around him. He was the key to the survival of this world. There were lives he could save and improve so long as he remained in control of what he was doing and made the proper actions. There were certainly risks of failure, but it was all down to him at the end.

Not whoever else decided they had free reign over his actions now. Dark Shadow had addressed it as 'Lord', and it referred to the Quirk as a 'lesser Demon'. What did that mean? Was Kage now the devil, a creature that ruled over hell and death?

No, this was something else. One other thing struck Kage about what had been said – it had reacted when Tokoyami said 'void' in his speech earlier. That had provided his brief moment of clarity from the strange twisting of its thought it had incurred.

"Focus."

Kage didn't want to listen to it, but he found himself forced to keep his attention on the battle. Dark Shadow was a relentless foe, so Kage's swords had to be ready to counter far more blades and claws than they ever had before.

Block. Block. Parry. Slash. Block. Parry.

His eyes narrowed. It was strangely easy to fall into a rhythm in the fight, matching each of Dark Shadow's attacks. It was almost as though Dark Shadow wasn't truly fighting him, but rather simply testing him. Was it rooted in his response to whatever voice was speaking through Kage?

"Why are you speaking now, anyway?" Kage leapt back from Dark Shadow's claws and fired off a series of blasts from his hands rapidly. The creature would have no choice but to block in a way that shielded his vision. Kage had used this trick a few times in sparring sessions at the gym, but Dark Shadow's large arms made it even more effective.

He could almost feel the voice's presence somewhere in him, but it didn't respond. Kage wasn't sure if it was pure ignorance or if it genuinely couldn't hear him. It was possible that it's response to his opponent was involuntary. A reaction that it knew as little on how to control as he did.

He wasn't sure if he was comforted or unsettled by that idea.

The arena kept flickering in his vision, which made it hard to focus. He charged Dark Shadow once again. The walls and floor of the building briefly morphed into a red, deserted wasteland lined with mountains, then a bizarre and dense jungle. Kage even briefly smelled the foul rot in its air. He slid underneath Dark Shadow's arms just as his view changed into an advanced city full of glowing lights and technology.

His power was trying to show him something. Was this how it felt more comfortable talking? It had done something similar during the entrance exam, but there the environment had been more consistent.

"What am I seeing?" Kage said aloud, though the sound was totally obscured by the mask his powers had grown onto his face. He slammed an uppercut into Tokoyami's face, careful to not use too much of his enhanced strength. Holding back his power felt uncomfortable, like he was forcing a wild animal to remain still instead of pouncing on its prey.

Tokoyami stumbled back. Kage pressed his advantage, delivering several more blows to his torso and continuing to push him further back into the corridor. Dark Shadow couldn't get close without risking hurting Tokoyami, so he had to hope whatever issues their powers shared weren't strong enough to overcome that bond.

Bond. Something about that word made his brow furrow. His power tensed and he struck hard, launching Tokoyami back into the wall. He slammed into it, though fortunately the wall didn't crack or break like he had been worried about.

The bond. Something about that made his power angry. Why?

"What does this bond mean to you?" Was what he tried to say. His mask chose to translate that as words towards his opponent.

"Do you think this bond of yours makes you strong?" It said. Kage felt the anger in the power once again, but there was something else in there. A feeling that was harder to identify at first. Envy. "Strong enough to face me? My partner is enough alone to destroy you, 'Dark Shadow'." It said the name derisively.

Okay, Kage was learning something now. His power didn't seem directly hostile towards him – quite the opposite, in fact. It seemed to think it was acting as more of an ally, and even praised him and his combat skills. But then, why was it so unwilling to talk to him directly?

Dark Shadow was involved in this, too. His power seemed to know the Quirk, if that was what it really was. The voice didn't seem to think Dark Shadow was a real name, but it was the only one Kage knew. This power clearly had a history that he didn't know about. That sort of explained the visions he had seen before, though he still didn't know why he was being shown them.

"K-Kage." Tokoyami spoke up, pulling himself to his feet. He was breathing hard and looked somewhat bruised, but he wasn't seriously injured. Kage focused on that to avoid thinking about how he wasn't sure if he was in full control of what he would do next.

"Are you still there?" He asked. Kage wondered if there was a way he could respond without words, as those would only be twisted by the mask. After a moment's thought, he produced one long blade and held it in front of him. On the weapon itself, he tried to inscribe 'yes' in gold. He knew his constructs could produce at least that colour, though he had only ever consciously triggered the black.

He grunted in pain. Trying to force this through was harder than he expected. He saw Tokoyami react, however, so he knew the message got through. His opponent sighed.

"I see. So, you are not completely lost to the darkness." Kage nodded his head, though he could feel a building of tension within his power once again. It was now on edge, expecting something dangerous. Tokoyami threw his cloak to the ground.

"Then it is my responsibility to drag you free of my domain," He proclaimed. "and force you both into the light! Dark Shadow, go!" That explained it, Kage thought. His eyes widened as Dark Shadow lunged forth towards him, now much larger than it had been a moment ago. He tried to form new weapons to block it, but this time it was fighting with more fury than he could match. He couldn't form weapons fast enough. By the time he could block one strike, three more had hit him.

"Told you that body wouldn't be enough, Lord!" Dark Shadow seemed to be cackling as it struck. Kage's eyes hardened and he tried to focus his power into armouring his body instead. As he did so, he noticed something – the wall his power had produced, the one that blocked the window. It was still there.

"Your host just can't compete! Now accept your fate and die!"

What happened next was a complete blur to Kage.

He didn't see the wall convert itself into the largest single blast he had ever produced and not only shatter the window and expose sunlight into the room, but also pierce through Dark Shadow with such force that the entity was briefly disconnected from Tokoyami entirely.

He didn't hear the scream of pain that Tokoyami cried out as he almost collapsed onto the floor from the loss, nor did he see the remains of Dark Shadow quickly fly back into him. He didn't see Tokoyami futilely attempt to bring the creature back out, only to be stunned that it wouldn't emerge.

Tokoyami looked to him with wide eyes.

"W-what did you-?" Tokoyami managed to get three words out before Kage's body moved, faster than he had been able to process, and grabbed the boy by the neck. He lifted him up and held him out of the window. Kage did not see the furious expression his own face was making.

The first thing he actually noticed was the terror on Tokoyami's.

"I have indulged you long enough, lesser Demon." The voice from before spat out venomously, so much so that inwardly Kage found himself backing away in fear. He couldn't control his body. He tried to move Tokoyami away from the window, tried to loosen his grip on the neck, but nothing happened. His hand burned with energy.

"You may be an interesting one, but you are not what I seek." Perfect, Kage thought. Whatever was living inside him had its own agenda. Just what he needed. He continued struggling against his own body, but nothing was working. It was as though he was locked in place.

"Whatever point you want to make, you've made it!" He called out in his mind. He had to make this thing listen to him somehow. It was supposed to be an ally, right? Why wouldn't it listen?! "Give me back my body and stop all this nonsense!"

Finally, his power responded to him.

"He threatened your life. We both hate that, do we not?"

"It wasn't serious!" Kage tried, even though he wasn't sure himself. He didn't know Dark Shadow well enough to say, and in the darkness, it wasn't impossible that it was losing control and getting more violent. Still, he had to at least pretend he was sure about himself. "I can handle it; you don't need to do this!"

"The lesser one needs to be taught a lesson. Just as that explosive boy did. You must trust me."

"Trust you?!" Kage knew it was impossible to properly change one's volume within their own thoughts, but he was sure the scream of confusion he just mentally yelled out was several times louder than the booming voice of All-Might himself.

"How am I supposed to do that when you won't talk to me? I DON'T KNOW YOU!"

That seemed to give the power pause. A long, weighty pause. It seemed suddenly hesitant in a way it hadn't been before, the fury draining out of it rapidly. Kage seized the advantage and tried once more to forcefully regain control of his body.

It did not resist. The energy faded from him immediately. His mask vanished, revealing his panicked expression that held a thousand emotions at once. This battle had been less than fifteen minutes, and yet he had felt like at least a whole day had passed just in that moment.

"S-sorry..." He gasped out. His strength was much lower than he had been prepared for. His grip almost loosened too much on Tokoyami, but he managed to quickly spin around and drop the boy to the floor before the worst could happen. He coughed, but seemed relieved to no longer be held by the neck.

After a moment, Kage tried to reach into his costume and produce the capture tape, but a loud noise right in his ear caused him to jump.

"HERO TEAM WINS!"

That jolt of surprise caused him to lose his footing. He found himself stumbling, then going backwards. Tokoyami noticed, and scrambled to his feet quickly, but it was a moment too late.

Kage fell back, and out the window he went.

AN: And that was Hero & Demon! What a way to end, right? I'm kidding, I'm kidding. We've got plenty more story to do! This fight was originally going to be lower stakes and less dramatic, and almost had some more comedic moments in there, but I saw the opportunity for some more meaningful plot stuff and took it. I'm sure you can guess by now that what we've just seen is a glimpse of the second part of this story's title. We've got a little bit longer before the demon can make their true debut, but I hope this taste of things to come has left you intrigued. See you all next time!