Happy 5th Anniversary to Unchained Predator everybody!

Despite what I said earlier in the last chapter, it would appear I didn't have to go on hiatus earlier than I thought due to Killing Floor 3 being delayed (a good choice on the dev's part). With that news in mind and the anniversary of this story coming up, it gave me plenty of time to churn out the next chapter which is the beginning of the new Arc of the story I like to call, "Broken Vows". But I warn you all, this Arc is gonna be REALLY fucking dark. Prepare yourselves.

With that being said, I will still have to go on Hiatus this month and the next due to the Space Marine 2 prestige rank update, Viscerafest finally being released from Early Acess purgatory, and DOOM: Dark Ages. As I said before, I need to play Dark Ages extensively to absorb the story and decide how it will affect Unchained Predator. It will be a while before the next update but I will do my best to work on the next chapter in between my gaming sessions. No spoilers, please!

Got to see Miruko kick ass in the new MHA movie and it was a blast seeing her in action! She certainly earned it after being absent for three movies. But to answer the question everybody is thinking, I do not plan to add Dark Might or any of the other Villains from the movie.

Two important subjects that I want to address are that lately, I have received multiple requests from people asking to make fanart of my story. Now at first, this seemed like a fantastic idea, I was flattered. But then, of course, they asked for money. Now I declined their offers but don't take this the wrong way, I'm not stingy with my money or anything, it's because I'm afraid it might be a scam and I'll lose money. To those people trying to reassure me there's nothing to worry about, I get it but I am too overly cautious so it's going to have to be a no from now on.

Secondly, I have heard that people are having trouble with chapter 38 appearing. Sometimes it comes up, sometimes it doesn't, I don't know how to fix that, it's probably the site. Because of this, I have considered making an account on AO3 and posting my story there as a safety precaution in case something happens. I don't know when I will make the account, I need to look it over first, but I will let you all know when I do.

Anyway, enjoy the first chapter of the new arc!

DOOM, My Hero Academia and Darksiders belong to their respective owners. I do not own any of them.

Beta-read by Zeroth17.


Chapter 39

Unforeseen Consequences

MUSUTAFU POLICE STATION

1:44 AM

"Did he say anything else before leaving?" Naomasa asked.

Ippan shook her head. "No. I went back home as fast as I could and got changed but I just felt like I had to report this..."

Naomasa nodded sympathetically to the tall, humanoid woman seated in front of his desk. Standing next to him with the same expression was his partner, Sansa Tamagawa who had the head of a ginger tabby cat due to his Quirk. A little while ago, Tsucauchi and Sansa were busy coordinating with other officers in Musutafu over the radio. Ippan Josei came into the mostly vacant station and since they were shorthanded, Naomasa and Sansa were the only ones to attend to her. What she revealed shocked them: not only was she the victim of an attempted rape at the hands of hoodlums not too long ago, but she was saved by none other than the Vigilante responsible for their current situation in Musutafu. From what she described, the Vigilante brutally dispatched her would-be rapists before freeing her from her bindings and placing an anonymous call to the local RCC.

Sitting next to Ippan was Naosmasa's sister, Makoto, who held the woman's hand tightly while gently patting her back. Makoto had long, black hair, green eyes, and a beauty mark below the left side of her mouth, and she wore the same police uniform as Sansa. She had overheard what had happened to Ippan and immediately joined in to help console her. Makoto's Quirk, Polygraph, allowed her to monitor the psychological signals of whomever she touched, allowing her to determine if someone was lying or telling the truth.

"You made the right decision, Ms. Josei." Naosmasa assured her. "If you'd like, you can stay here for the night and we can provide counseling from one of our Special Victims Unit detectives."

Ippan swallowed. "Thank you...if it's not too much trouble."

"Not at all." Makoto smiled as she pointed over to the waiting room. "We'll let one of our detectives know, you can wait for them down the hall."

Ippan nodded and got up, heading for the waiting room until she came to a stop. She turned to the officers with a conflicted look. "I know that vigilantism is against the law but...he saved my life."

"We understand." Naomasa held up a hand. He was a real stickler for the rules and the justice system in general but seeing as how this woman had just recently been sexually assaulted, he would keep his opinions to himself.

As she walked away to the waiting room, Sansa scratched the back of his head and turned to Makoto. "What did your Quirk have to say?"

Makoto sighed as she watched Ippan disappear from view. "The sexual assault? Didn't need Polygraph for that one. But the part about the Vigilante saving her? She was definitely telling the truth."

"Then it means he's already on the move. The Vigilante is here in Musutafu." Naomasa assessed grimly. Makoto and Sasna looked at each other with dread.

"Are we still going to call him that?" Makoto asked him dubiously. "We have to give him an official name at some point."

Tsukauchi rubbed his chin. "Well, we could-" He was interrupted when another officer hurriedly went up to him.

"Naomasa? Chief needs you in his office. Now." He told him.

Naomasa nodded and glanced over his shoulder at Sansa. "Can you two take over from here?"

Sansa smiled and Makoto nodded. "Be happy to." Sansa replied.

Naomasa then walked through the mostly empty halls of the police station until he came to the door of his chief. He gave it a quick knock before opening the door and letting himself inside. Kenji was standing at his desk on the phone; piles of paperwork covered the furniture. Kenji was not wearing his black suit but rather his buttoned undershirt, and there were noticeable bags under his canine eyes due to his recent lack of sleep.

"Chief, we have a bit of a situation." Naomas started as Kenji hung up the phone.

"I know. The Vigilante has struck again." Kenji revealed.

"You already know?" Naomasa asked, surprised.

"I just got off the phone with one of our officers. There have been multiple raids on over twenty-two Villain hideouts all over Musutafu." Kenji debriefed. Naomasa was speechless. "Their concealed bases have been hiding in plain sight this whole time and some of the Heroes have identified them as high-profile Villains. And before you ask, they're all dead; their bodies and those of their henchmen are in states of dismemberment just like the Steel Sabers. I've been keeping track of the number of calls from our units out in the city about the hideouts and after calculating the time frame between said calls and the discoveries, I can only assume that the Vigilante has taken out all of those Villain groups in the span of one night."

Naomasa's mouth was agape with dread as his gaze slowly shifted to the floor. "Oh my holy God..." He whispered.

There was another knock at the door and it opened to reveal the exhausted, frazzled visage of Hawks. "Detective Naosmasa? Chief Tsuragame? We got problems." He said urgently.

"We know." Kenji sighed.


MUSUTAFU TRAIN STATION

1:49 AM

Stepping out of the bullet train, Lady Nagant scanned the area as the rest of the passengers disembarked. Security was little to nonexistent so she did not have to worry about being seen through her disguise. Once she exited the station, he made a beeline toward the nearest alley to remain unseen and begin her investigation into what the League of Villains was planning and prevent it somehow...unaware that it had already been solved a while ago by the Vigilante.


KAMINO WARD-LEAGUE OF VILLAINS HIDEOUT

1:51 AM

Twice walked up the stairs in trepidation as sweat seeped through his mask. As soon as he got to the second floor, he felt the temperature around him plunge as he laid his eyes on the door at the end of the hall: Shigaraki's Room. Things had been tense around the hideout over the last few days. Shigaraki had returned from Doctor Garaki; his severed arm had been successfully reattached and was not only able to regain full motor control in that arm but could also still use his disintegration Quirk through it.

The only offset was that Tomura had to do rigorous physical therapy for his reattached arm and he had NOT been in a good mood since his return. He always remained in his room, never coming out at all and left some members of the LOV wondering if he was doing his PT at all or seething with hatred at the Vigilante who tore his arm off. Since then, everyone in the League has stayed away from Shigaraki's room for their own good. But that had changed: C4 came running back to their hideout and called everybody at the bar for an important meeting...that meant somebody had to coax Shigaraki out of his room.

Long story short, everyone drew straws and Twice lost.

Jin slowly and cautiously approached Tomura's door. His shaking hand hovered near the doorknob as he felt beads of sweat rolling down his face. "Well...at least I lived a full life. We probably didn't."

Twice was just about to grip the doorknob when the door suddenly swung open to reveal Shigaraki, making him let out a high-pitched shriek! Tomura looked extremely haggard: he could see his bleary, bloodshot eyes from behind the disembodied hand covering his face. "Whaaaaaaaaaaaat." Tomura ground out from behind his mask.

Twice shook like a leaf. Shigaraki clearly wasn't in any mood for his antics, so he decided to cut to the chase. "C-C-C-C4 needs everybody downstairs. It's super important."

Tomura let out an annoyed hiss as he exited his room, slammed the door and stomped past Jin, muttering complaints. Twice gulped and followed after Tomura, making sure to keep his distance. They arrived downstairs at the bar area where the rest of the Leauge was waiting, along with C4, Giran, and the Volcano Thieves.

Mr. Compress gave Shigaraki a flamboyant bow. "Well, it appears the prince has finally awoken from his slumber!"

Tomura got up in Atsuhiro's face and held up his hand, flexing his fingers threateningly. "Shut. Up." He hissed out, causing Mr. Compress to back away fearfully. Shigaraki noticed they were short one person. "Where's Kurogiri?"

"He's with All for One and Curator, left a while ago." Volcano informed. "Anyway, Giran here brought me, Dusty, and Gust up to date before the rest of ya assembled. We got a situation."

Shigaraki narrowed his eyes. "What situation?"

"The gangs that were supposed to raise hell across Musutafu? They're all dead." Giran revealed. Each member of the League had different reactions to this startling bit of news. Muscular, Mustard, and Spinner were stunned, their mouths agape and eyes bulging out of their heads. Toga, Magne, and Mister Compress were confused at how this was even possible. Dabi raised an eyebrow with interest while Moonsfish gnawed on a bar stool. Twice felt nothing but relief that another extreme plan was stopped in its tracks but quickly made a surprised face before anyone noticed.

Shigaraki showed no reaction. "What do you mean?"

"When things weren't going according to plan, I went out to investigate. I checked on all twenty-two gangs assigned for AFO's latest scheme and what do I find? Their hideouts were wrecked or in flames and everyone there splattered across the walls. They're all fucking dead." C4 stepped forward and elaborated. That only served to confuse the other members further, as well as unnerve them. This was another serious blow to their operations just like the I-Island job. "I let AFO know a while ago."

"Wow, the Heroes are starting to get violent all of a sudden..." Toga spoke before breaking out into a demented grin. "That's awesome! They're acting like me! I have fans now!"

Spinner stared at Toga incredulously. "T-Toga, I don't think it was Heroes who did this! I mean, when was the last time a Hero EVER killed a Villain?"

"Right you are. This certainly doesn't feel like something they would do." Mr. Compress rubbed his chin.

"Which sorta brings up the million yen question: who did this?" Dusty Ash addressed everyone present.

C4 paused, trying to figure out the best way to break the news to them. He spotted a newspaper lying on the counter and saw the headlines. "Who do you think?" He replied rhetorically as he grabbed the newspaper and held it up for all to see. The front page was dominated by a single large photo of camera footage of the Vigilante stalking the halls of I-Island central tower with a shotgun in his hands. There was a large set of headlines at the top of the picture.

WHO IS THE VIGILANTE?

EXPERTS WEIGH IN THEIR THEORIES ON VIOLENT GUNMAN.

"Wait, you mean him?!" Muscular exclaimed as he pointed at the paper.

"Yeah, it's him alright. The son of a bitch knew what we were going to do, knew where the gangs were, and he took them all out in a few short hours. Not only that, but he doesn't kill any Hero that tries to stop him." C4 confirmed. Silence dominated the room as the weight of C4's words hung in the air.

Tomura glared at the paper, his hands trembling with anger as he snatched it away from C4. "Why the hell didn't you go after him?!" He demanded.

"Yeah, sure. Try and fight the guy who wiped out the Sabers, beat up multiple top-ranked Heroes, tussled with All Might, and slaughtered twenty-two gangs in a single night. I can think of a thousand different ways how that would've ended." C4 scoffed sarcastically. His cell phone started ringing so he retreated to the corner of the room to answer it. While he was talking to whomever was on the other end, the rest of the LOV got together to discuss their predicament. Shigaraki did not join them, instead glaring at the newspaper hatefully.

"Well, this is going tits up for us, ain't it?" Giran scratched the back of his head.

"I know, right?" Mustard responded. "I mean, I was looking forward to hearing about all the dead Heroes and Cops our buddies were gonna bump off. What a buzzkill!"

"Yup. Total drag." Muscar folded his arms.

Twice, once again, felt deeply uncomfortable with the LOV's actions. Why did they keep using increasingly violent tactics? This wasn't what he had signed up for at all, he wanted society to change but not like this. Like before, he still kept himself quiet but his discomfort was still evident through his mask. But what Jin did not know, and something he would later find out to his elation, was that he wasn't the only one in the league who secretly disagreed with the LOV's excessive methods.

Magne and Mr. Compress also harbored reservations about the League's goals. They wanted Hero Society to be done away with so people like them wouldn't be slighted all the time but they were assured that no one would be killed. They did a better job concealing their apprehension towards the I-Island job but with this recent scheme, it was becoming harder for them to keep up appearances. Not only that, but they noticed that Twice didn't like the League's actions and while they were relieved, they were worried that Twice might crack and try to flee or reason with the rest of the crew. And it was all too apparent to Magne and Mr. Compress that most of the LOV members were not the "understanding" lot and feared for Jin's life if that ever happened.

"Mmhmm." Toga nodded. "But that Vigilante sounds so much like me, He probably loves blood just as much as I do!" She dawned a dreamy look as a heavy blush spread around her cheeks. "Ahhhhh~...the both of us covered in red sounds like a match made in heaven!"

Twice took a few steps away from Toga, wishing that she would keep her disturbing kinks to herself.

"But here's what I don't get: how did he know about this plan?" Gust Boy spoke up. "I don't think he just bumbled onto this and I-Island by accident. He somehow knew what we were doing!"

"Well, it's not like we blabbed our plans all on live TV." Dabi said, his hands in his pockets. "He's getting his info from somewhere. If I didn't know better, I'd say he's hunting us."

"But why? Maybe we owe him money?" Twice guessed.

"Doubtful. But he's gonna be a problem if he isn't dealt with." Maguma said. "I've seen what he's capable of back on I-Island; this guy ain't fuckin' around."

"Whatever. This prick is our number one enemy and I can't wait to crush his skull flat." Muscular smiled evilly as he cracked his knuckles.

The sounds of crunching wood interrupted everyone's train of thought and they looked down at Moonsfish, who was chomping down on a chewed-up barstool. Everybody sweat-dropped except Toga, who giggled.

"It's funny cuz he thinks it's food." She smiled.

Magne turned to Giran with a perplexed expression. "Why did we let this nut into the group?"

"Hey, All for One gets the final say on who joins, not me." Giran held up his hands.

Spinner glanced over his shoulder at Tomura, who was still staring at the newspaper. His friend's posture was hunched over and Iguchi could see his hands tightly gripping the paper. He approached him and cautiously put a hand on Shigaraki's shoulder. "Hey, a-are you okay?" Spinner asked out of concern. His answer came in the form of Tomura disintegrating the newspaper and growling hatefully. Iguchi took a step backward, not wanting to get hurt.

C4 got off the phone once his call was finished and walked over to the group with an ear-to-ear grin. "Everyone, turn those frowns upside down because I got great news! I just got off the phone with Curator..." His smile turned insidious, sending a chill of dread up the spines of Twice, Magne, and Mr. Compress.

"Looks like All for One's plans aren't ruined after all."


MUSUTAFU GENERAL HOSPITAL

8TH FLOOR

1:58 AM

The elevator doors opened with a telltale chime as Miruko stepped out onto the 8th floor of the 15-story hospital. She wanted to see how the other Heroes were doing before she went back on duty. She went through several halls until she came to the intensive care unit for the Heroes. Rumi looked through the window and saw that they were all up and talking to each other; still clad in hospital gowns but almost all of their bandages had been removed, much to her relief.

She opened the door and entered with a big grin. "Guess who?"

"Rumi!" Ryukyu exclaimed as she went over to her. "Good to see you again."

"Likewse." Miruko replied as she shook her hand. "I take it you guys have to take radiation tests too?"

Ryuko gave her a shrug. "We don't have much say in the matter; doctor's orders. But Rock Lock, Jeanist, Eraser Head, and Eel Boy got released a few minutes ago, we're just waiting for our turn."

"That's good news. The more Heroes we get out of here, the better." Rumi smirked. She then noticed a few empty hospital beds way in the back. "Say, weren't there other Heroes from overseas?"

"They were transported back to their home countries at the request of their governments. They were still unconscious last we saw them." Her features became crestfallen. "I think they didn't trust us with their safety, seeing as how they hold us responsible for I-Island."

"What?! That's bullshit!" Miruko raised her voice. "How are we at fault for this?! We didn't blow up half the island or butcher the Sabers!"

"But we did get beaten by one man and let him get away with stolen Support Items. Someone has to point their fingers at somebody." Ryukyu replied dejectedly.

Miruko grumbled to herself, scowling as she folded her arms. Ryukyu patted her back in an attempt to make her feel better. Rumi sighed through her nose and nodded, thankful for the comfort. She looked at her fellow Heroes, most of them huddled together in groups of three four. "So, what have you guys been doing to pass the time?"

"Nothing much. Just talking about how the Vigilante defeated us, why he's so strong, and trying to figure out his next move." Ryukyu answered. Miruko could see that most of the groups were engaged in hushed conversations with each other. Rotating her ears around, she picked up two groups that sparked her interest with her advanced hearing. The first group to her right consisted of Mt. Lady, Present Mic, Thirteen, and Loud Cloud.

"Just how the heck can we fight a guy who can crush black holes with his bare hands?!" Present Mic fretted.

"Now hold on, I never said I could create actual black holes. I can create facsimiles of black holes." Thirteen corrected.

"Faca-what-now? Was that even a real word?" Loud Cloud tilted her head.

Thirteen rolled her eyes. "My black holes are low-powered replicas of the real thing: they're not as powerful but still effective. If I could create real black holes, there wouldn't be a planet left. But I still can't believe he destroyed my strongest attack..."

"There has to be some way to get past his armor. Maybe, I don't know, a soft spot or a weakness we can exploit." Loud Cloud said.

"Weakness?! All of us fought him as hard as we could and there wasn't even a scratch on him! I'm not going anywhere near that nutcase ever again!" Mt. Lady shook her head.

"So you're just going to throw in the towel? That's not like you, Yu." Present Mic raised an eyebrow. The Giantess Heroine looked away wordlessly, her hand instinctively reaching up to her throat where the Vigilante had strangled her. That memory wasn't going away anytime soon.

Miruko then focused her hearing on the second group to her left, which had Gran Torino, Edgeshot, Fourth Kind, and Yoroi Musha.

"He clearly showed no intention to fight us at all. He knew he could defeat us all but he still did not wish to attack us." Yoroi Musha reminded his comrades as he stroked his beard.

Gran Torino hung his head. "And we ended up forcing his hand."

"We did. But the fact that he didn't wish to resort to violence against us and his rescue of the hostages means he does not kill those who are not a Villain." Edgeshot pointed out. "It's behavior commonly seen in the more 'extreme' Vigilantes in the world."

"And that's supposed to clear him?!" Fourth Kind threw up his four arms. "After everything he did?!"

"He didn't kill us like he killed the Sabers. Be lucky he was the merciful type." Gran Torino grunted.

Miruko's mouth formed a thin line. So far, everyone had the same observations on the Vigilante as she did. The man was a violent enigma but had the capacity for mercy and humanity. "If you don't mind me asking, Rumi, did he really save your life back on I-Island?" Ryukyu asked, remembering what her friend had told her and the others the first time she came to check up on them.

"Mmhmm." Miruko hummed, rolling up her sleeve to show Ryukyu the multitude of scars running up her arm, causing the Dragon Heroine to shudder. "He patched up my wounds and everything. He also saved a bunch of kids, too."

"After everything I saw that night, I still find that a little hard to believe." Ryukyu stated.

"Can't say I blame you." Rumi replied humorously as she rolled down her sleeve. "Listen, I need to go back on Hero duty as soon as I can. I'll catch you later?"

"As soon as I get released, yes." Ryuko nodded. As Miruko turned around to leave, Tatsuma couldn't shake off the feeling of concern regarding the scars on Rumi's arm. "Rumi, wait! Those wounds...that was from you charging recklessly into danger again, wasn't it?"

Miruko kept her back turned to Ryukyu, unmoving.

Ryuko frowned as she shook her head in disapproval. "Why? Why do you keep doing this to yourself? If you keep up this whole gung-ho-charge-into-battle attitude, it's going to get you killed!"

Miruko hung her head, still silent.

"Rumi, you don't have to keep punishing yourself like this. I know you're smart enough to avoid life-threatening attacks and if you think that it makes you look weak, your wrong. You're the 5th-ranked Hero in the whole country, you've got other Heroes who depend on you, and you even have some who look up to you! Don't you see how good you've got it? You have nothing left to prove." Ryukyu implored, hoping to instill some sense of realization within Rumi.

But Usagiyama still had her head hung. "I got plenty to prove..." She replied but with no emotion in her voice. She then walked out of the room, leaving a disappointed and worried Ryukyu behind. Miruko closed the door behind her and walked down the empty hallway for a bit before she came to a stop. Her face quickly morphed into an angry snarl and she punched the war in anger. Rumi breathed heavily as she punched the wall again. She hated it.

She hated being told over and over again about how she did things. She hated that the people who told her that were right. She hated being proven that time and time again. Rumi Usagiyama absolutely hated it with a burning passion but she had to keep doing this. She needed to keep doing this. It was the only way she would finally be noticed by...

Miruko eventually calmed down, pushing that last intrusive thought out of her head. She didn't want to think about it right now. Rubbing her aching knuckles, she sighed and walked back to the elevator. Rumi had a duty to do and she wasn't going to waste any more time. As she was just about to press the button, she heard a voice call out to her.

"Oh, hey, Rumi! It's great to see you're up!"

That voice was familiar. But it made the fur on her ears stand on end when she recognized it. She glanced to her left and Rumi's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw Ragdoll approach her while wearing her Hero costume and sporting an overjoyed smile on her face. But Miruko wasn't smiling. Her mouth was slightly agape as she stared at Tomoko in fright; frozen like a statue with her shaking finger hovering over the call button for the elevator. She was too shocked to move a muscle or react; all the Heroine kept seeing in her vision was Ragdoll pinning her to the floor while trying to gouge her eye out.

Tomoko tilted her head. "Rumi? Is something wrong?"

Rumi could only let out a stutter, her nerve on a hair trigger and ready to strike if Tomoko tried to attack her. Seconds ticked by...

"Ragdoll!" Came the voice of Pixie-Bob as she and the other Pussycats rounded the corner, hurrying over to Tomoko. "You shouldn't go running off like that."

"I was just saying hi to Rumi." Ragdoll said innocently.

Tiger noticed the frightened expression Miruko had and quickly cut in. "Uh, Rumi has to get back to work so why don't we go visit the other Heroes for now? But I'll let them know you're coming first." He hastily spoke.

"Oh, okay." Tomoko replied unsurely as she and Pixie-Bob followed him down the hall. "See you some other time!" She waved to a still-stunned Miruko. Mandalay walked up to Rumi who snapped out of her episode and regarded Shino with alarm.

"I know this is a bit alarming for you-" She began before being interrupted by Miruko.

"You're damn right it is!" She shot back as quietly as she could. "Why isn't she tied to a bed?! Do you know what she almost did to me?!"

"She doesn't remember anything!" Mandalay quickly answered."When she woke up, she didn't remember a thing. Recovery Girl said it's trauma-induced amnesia."

"So...she really has no memory of what happened?" Miruko blinked in confusion.

"Not a thing." Shino shook her head. "And we would like to keep it that way."

Miruko felt unsure about the decision the Pussycats had made. "You're just gonna keep her in the dark? That can't be healthy-"

Mandalay suddenly grabbed Rumi's hands and gently squeezed them. "Please, Rumi. She can't know! If she somehow relapses, I don't know what we're going to do!"

Rumi swallowed as Shino stared back at her with pleading eyes. She glanced over at Ragdoll and Pixie-Bob, who waited by the door for Tiger to let them in. She guessed that Tiger was telling the others the same thing: Ragdoll could not remember anything and wanted her breakdown to be kept a secret. On one hand, Rumi had every right to be scared of Tomoko after almost losing an eye to her. But on the other hand, she couldn't exactly fault someone who had no memory of what they did and it would be unbecoming of her as a Hero to not listen to Mandalay's pleas.

"O-okay. My lips are sealed." Rumi agreed, bringing a smile to Shino's face. "But is she gonna be able to go back on duty?"

"Well, she seems fine so far. We'll give it one more day just to see how she's doing but I'd say she'll be back in no time." Mandalay said with confidence before going over to Ragdoll and Pixie-Bob. "Good luck out there."

"You too." Miruko nodded as she watched her join back up with her friends and Tiger stepped out and motioned them to come inside the ICU. Having stayed long enough, but was nonetheless happy that Ragdoll was back to normal, Rumi entered the opening elevator doors and hit the button to go down to the ground floor. But as the elevator doors closed, all of the security cameras inside and outside the hospital suddenly shut themselves off at the same time...


UNKNOWN LOCATION

ALL FOR ONE'S HIDEOUT

In front of a massive computer screen, Dr. Garaki smiled evilly as the monitor showed a 3D map of Musutafu General Hospital. Multiple red blips appeared all over the building while ten blue blips approached the hospital through the city streets. He turned around to face All for One who was sitting in his chair with Kurogiri and Curator standing behind him.

"We are ready, Master." Dr. Garaki announced. "They're in position."

The Symbol of Despair leaned back in his seat with a grin as he folded his hands. "Tell them to proceed."


MUSUTAFU GENERAL HOSPITAL

1:58 AM

A lone security guard was seated at his booth near the entrance to the hospital's underground parking garage at the back of the building. It was mostly quiet for now so it gave him plenty of downtime to listen to his audiobook. He heard the sound of a heavy engine approaching at saw a large charter bus with tinted windows drive up near his booth, stopping at the entrance to the garage. Raising an eyebrow, the guard took out his earbuds and placed his MP3 player on the counter before stepping out of the booth.

He approached the driver's side of the bus and knocked on the window. He spoke to the driver, who was obscured by the dark interior, as the window slowly went down. "Uh, sir?. You can't bring this into the parking garage; you're going to have to turn yourself around-"

It would be the last words the guard would say before the driver blasted his face apart with a silencer-outfitted shotgun. As his body hit the ground with a wet thud, four more charter buses drove up behind the first bus...


Meanwhile, Rumi exited the elevator doors out onto the ground floor of the hospital. She walked past the doctors and a large set of windows, stopping to witness Eel Boy with a nurse who was checking him over. He flexed his hands, sparks of electricity forming around his fingers while eel-like appendages protruded from his palms. The nurse gave him a nod as she left the room; Eel Boy then spotted Miruko and waved his hand at her with a bright smile.

Rumi grinned back and gave him a thumbs-up before walking through the halls. She came into the main lobby which was somewhat packed and was about to make her way to the front entrance when she spotted Eraser Head, Rock Lock, and Best Jeanist clad in their Hero costumes talking to another Hero, The Fly. She walked over and called out to them. "Hiya, boys! Looks like you're all ready to kick some Villain ass!"

They all turned around and Rock Lock smiled at her. "Heya, Rumi. You're in high spirits tonight."

"We were just about to head out until you came along." Eraser Head pulled down his scarf to speak a little more clearly. "Want to join our little team here?"

Miruko rolled her eyes with a cocky grin and waved her hands dismissively. "C'mon, guys, you know I don't do team-ups."

"On the contrary, we need all the help we can get." Best Jeanist politely requested as he twirled a finger through a lock of his hair. "This isn't the time for lone-wolf antics."

"We're shorthanded as it is and we're not sure of the scale of disorder Musutafu is in." The Fly stepped forward. He was an average-sized man with long blond hair, fly-like wings protruding from his arms, and he wore a white shirt and shorts along with decorative armbands and a headband. "I came here to see if any Heroes were available to help out, I don't even know what's going on out there or the extent of the damage."

"We really need you with us on this." Rock Lock clasped his hands together, dipping his head a little to give Rumi and knowing look. "Be a friend?"

Miruko frowned in annoyance under the expectant gazes of the Heroes(save for Eraser Head who looked as bored as ever)and rubbed the back of her head. "Is it that bad out there?"

"Like The Fly said, we don't know much. We still have to do damage control due to the shortage of Heroes and-" Aizawa explained before his cell phone buzzed. He took it out of his pocket and checked to see who was calling: it was Tsukauchi. "Sorry, I need to take this."

As he walked away from the group to answer, Miruko's ears picked up some crude laughing over in the lobby. She turned around and spotted someone who stuck out like a sore thumb: a tall, dark-tanned man with scraggly black hair done up in a curved mohawk with two tribal-like bangs on the sides of his head, yellowish eyes, numerous facial piercings, and pointed teeth. He wore black leather pants, a leather jacket that exposed his bare chest, and heavy boots with spurs. He had a seedy, manic smirk on his face which was befitting of his punk-like appearance.

Miruko could hear him make jeers and lecherous comments to some of the people and nurses dotted around the waiting chairs, making everybody uncomfortable with his advances. She could distinctly make out the man's Australian accent, a rare oddity in Japan. But Rumi narrowed her eyes at the goon suspiciously; he was disturbing the professional atmosphere of the hospital and she hated seedy jerks like him.

"You guys let me know when Shota gets off the phone, I gotta go deal with this creep." She told the others, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder.

The three men glanced at the lanky punk she was referring to and regarded him with looks of contempt before nodding. Rock Lock motioned his head toward the heckler and said, "He's yours, girl. Sic him."

Rumi turned around on her heel and made her way over to the troublemaker; she was going to enjoy booting him out. She came up to him while he was hitting on a creeped-out nurse and cleared her throat. "Excuse me, sir. You're creeping out the regulars."

The goon snapped his head to Rumi and he broke out into an ecstatic smile as he leered down at her. "Bloody fuckin' ripper! Not just five fuckin' minutes here in Japan and I meet the fuckin' number five Hero!" He loudly exclaimed, catching the attention of several hospital staff and patients. "I gotta say, you are WAY more sexier than any of the honeys in my wet dreams! And it's a good thing you're not lookin' a little chungo otherwise I woulda had to call ya Big Chungus!"

It took ALL of Rumi's willpower not to slug this guy in the face. "Can I ask what you're doing here?"She inquired through her tightly clenched teeth.

"I'm glad ya asked that, Sheila! I was just explorin' all the glorious landmarks this country has to offer to a dag like me! But I wasn't expecting them old arse temples to be so...sterile. This is the Hasedera Temple, right?" He rattled off.

"This is a hospital, dumbass." Miruko folded her arms.

The man seemed unoffended by her insult as his arms sagged in disappointment. "Really? Aw, shite! That fuckin' blows, ya know? And I brought all these foreign exchange students on a field trip to see all the sights!"

Miruko glanced past the man's frame to see a large charter bus idling in front of the hospital entrance. "Where from?" She asked.

"Eh, some third-world country nobody gives a crap about nowadays." He shrugged.

Rumi gave the creep a stern, no-nonsense glare. There was definitely something suspicious about this guy and she wouldn't take any more chances with him. "Listen, Buster. I don't know what kind of internet streamer bullshit you're pulling but these people have had it rough for the past couple of days and they don't need a prankster like you making things worse for them. So I suggest you get lost right now before I kick you out of here myself." She threatened as she jabbed her finger into his chest. However, Miruko never noticed the driver of the charter bus bail out of the vehicle and run away as fast as he could...

"Rumi!" She suddenly heard Eraser Head as he and the others ran over to her. "We need to go, now! Detective Naomasa's just informed me the Vigilante's been sighted in Muisutafu!"

"He's here!? For real?!" Miruko exclaimed as her ears shot up.

Rock Lock nodded. "Yeah, get this creep out of here so we can-"

Suddenly, a loud explosion coming from the back of the building rocked the hospital, nearly knocking everyone off their feet! The lights flicked sporadically and dust rained down from the ceiling while packed gasps and shouts came from the staff and patients. The Heroes regained their balance and snapped their heads around in shock and confusion. "What on earth was that?!" Beast Jeanist shouted.

"Well now, looks like my mates are right on schedule!" They heard the punk say. Rumi and the others whirled around to face the man who was now wearing a psychotic grin as he held up his hand.

"~Ciao!~"

The second he snapped his fingers, the bus outside exploded into a blinding fireball that decimated the entire front entrance! Two ambulances parked outside were destroyed in the blast while anyone unlucky enough to stray close to the bus was instantly incinerated. The force of the explosion sent broken glass and shrapnel that perforated the staff in a storm of razor-sharp projectiles; one nurse was instantly guillotined when a large shard of glass sliced through her neck. The blast wave propelled the Heroes backward as if they were fired out of a cannon and were sent sprawling to the floor or slammed into the walls. Miruko was thrown into the front desk, the back of her head thwacking against the furniture and giving her a concussion. Rumi was seeing double as she slumped to the ground; everything hurt and her ears were ringing like crazy. She struggled to get herself up but her limbs were like wet noodles as she tried her hardest to stay conscious.

She eventually regained her eyesight and despite being heavily blurred she could easily make out the horrific chaos around her: the blown open entrance, glass and debris littering the floor, dead bodies of patients and doctors, errant fires around the lobby, and the occasional severed limb. But her friends were nowhere to be found; she could barely make anything out. Her hearing came back to her and she was bombarded with the sounds of blaring fire alarms and the dying screams of people. But then there was a noise that cut through the cacophony of chaos: laughing.

"WOOOOOOOOOO YEAH! AINT' NUTHIN' LIKE A BUS FULLA EXPLOSIVES TO GIVE YOU A FUCKIN' WOODY!" The man hollered boisterously as he danced into view. He dug out a walkie-talkie out of his pocket as he cracked his neck. "You're clear to enter, mates! Move in!"

Miruko lifted her head to witness four more charter buses roll into view outside and form a semicircle formation outside the hospital, blocking it off. Each of the bus doors opened and dozens of heavily armed men poured out from the buses and their numbers kept growing and growing until they easily numbered over a hundred or more. All the men were dressed in blood-red biker outfits, spiked shoulder pads, kevlar vests, mohawks, tattoos, ammo belts, combat knives, motorcycle helmets, hockey masks, and war paint. On their uniforms was the insignia of a smiley face covered in blood, had crooked teeth, bloodshot eyes, and two machetes in a skull and crossbones configuration.

They all carried a menagerie of heavily modified, graffiti-covered, 20th-century firearms outfitted with impractical but deadly attachments. She could hear their gleeful cackles and braying laughter as they all piled into the burning lobby before the punk. Three men came forward carrying a mask made out of a bull skull and two Hawk MM1 grenade launchers with under-barrel bayonets. As soon as he fit the helmet onto his head, his mohawk popping out of the top of the skull, Rumi instantly recognized who this man was from a news report a long time ago.

Marrow Madjack: leader of the Bloody Bogans, a gang of murderers and lunatics that made the Steel Sabers seem like fun company. Hailing from the scorching hot deserts of the Australian outback, this psychotic gang of anarchists roamed the countryside, wiping out towns in a single night while stealing everything that wasn't nailed down and murdering anyone in their path.

Rumi heard a groan from nearby and saw The Fly slowly come to and sit up. Rumi panicked and tried to warn him but all that came out was a pained croak. Unfortunately for The Fly, Marrow Madjack spotted him. He holstered one of his grenade launchers and multiple stakes made of solid bone ripped out of his arm, colling around his hand until it formed a large drill. He darted toward the disoriented Hero and drove the spinning bone drill right into The Fly's abdomen! The pointed end of the drill speared out the back of his body as it spun around in his stomach, mulching his organs with a horrible sound as Miruko helplessly watched with open-mouthed horror.

Blood poured from The Fly's mouth as the bone drill liquified his guts before Madjack chucked him away towards the far end of the lobby and fired his grenade launcher. The Fly's body exploded as soon as the 40mm round impacted against his hollowed-out corpse; sending blood and gibs splattering across the room, some of which splashed onto Rumi. She could feel the sticky warm blood dribbled down her face as the Bloody Bogans howled with cruel laughter and cheers. Rumi was hyperventilating, desperately fighting off the urge to cry out in anguish over being unable to save a fellow Hero. Her eyes slowly trailed upwards at Marrow Madjack who was looking right at her while giving her the most evil, sickening smile imaginable. Her previous feelings of sorrow gave way to pure, hateful fury as she angrily bared her teeth at Madjack like a pit bull.

Madjack turned around to address his cohorts. "ALRIGHT YA CUNTS! LISTEN UP, CUZ I GOT A CLASS ASSIGNMENT FOR ALL OF YA!" He bellowed to his men. "Our boys in the back are already gettin' to work in the basement to offload all of AFO's crap."

Miruko's eyes briefly widened. These guys were working for the League of Villians?!

"I want the rest of you to tear this fuckin' hospital to fuckin' pieces while setting up defenses to hold off the cops in case they come flockin' here! Capture any Hero you see so we can execute em' later and as for the civvies? You all know the drill: you make the kill, you revel in the spill! If any of them tries to run or fight back, you don't stop shooting until they're DEAD, DEAD, DEAD!"

More crazed cheers erupted from the horde of gang members as they started shooting anyone who survived the explosion, fanning out around the hospital, gathering weapons and ammo from the buses, and charging through the halls to go on a killing spree. Miruko witnessed several Bogans haul away the unconscious forms of Eraser Head, Best Jeanist, and Rock Lock while another large mob stampeded upstairs to cause more chaos.

With a defiant roar, Miruko hauled herself up despite the painful concussion and tried to attack Madjack but he spun around and slammed his boot heel into her face, plunging her whole world into darkness...


MUSUTAFU CITY OUTSKIRTS

2:09 AM

The Doomslayer cruised his Rampart through the empty roads, the forestry passing by him as he left the shining cityscape of Musutafu behind. He neared the empty drainage canal and drove down the incline to the drainage tunnel which would lead back to his hidden base. Suddenly, VEGA chimed in.

/CRITICAL ALERT: Proceed to Musutafu General Hospital immediately. Currently under siege by Villains, multiple civilian casualties have been confirmed./

The Greatslayer's face morphed into a scowl as he swerved his Rampart around, drove up the slope, and sped off down the road back towards Musutafu as VEGA relayed police radio chatter.

"OFFICERS UNDER HEAVY AUTOMATIC RIFLE FIRE AT MUSUTAFU HOSPITAL! THEY'RE TURNING OUR CAR INTO SWISS CHEESE! WE NEED IMMEDIATE BACKUP ASSISTANCE NOW! NOW GODDAMNIT, NOW!"

He gritted his teeth in frustrated confusion; how was All for One able to carry out his plan? He had eliminated his gangs in Musutafu, there was no way he could launch his primary objective without...a...distraction...

For the first time in eons, Taggart had an expression of horrified realization behind his helmet. He may have destroyed all of the gangs but with the police and Heroes currently occupied with cleaning up his mess(or in some cases, knocked out by him)he had unknowingly become the distraction AFO was planning for.

/It would seem that despite the significant loss of his men, All for One has not only navigated around our counterattack but has also taken advantage of the confusion we have inadvertently started to initiate his plot. I have made a critical error. Regardless, proceed to Musutafu General Hospital ASAP, we must ascertain why he chose this hospital as a target and minimize any more casualties./

Silently snarling, the Bane of Hell revved up the Rampart and throttled down the road as fast as his vehicle could go. Heads were going to roll.

To be continued...


So...remember when I said in my last author's notes that this next arc was going to be dark? I wasn't exaggerating.

First off, we have Naomasa's sister Makoto from MHA: Vigilantes. In this universe, she decides to follow in her brother's footsteps and put her Quirk to much better use. The part with the LOV is one I would consider very important for the future of the Academia Saga as it showcases more members reconsidering their stance with the League as well as having different/expanded backstories. Can't wait to show you guys what I have in store for the future!

For Miruko, one of the things that I really disliked about her canon counterpart was her near-suicidal Leeroy Jenkins tactics. You'd think after the first couple of times the Heroes would try to get her to stop doing that. Well, that's all coming to a head in this arc with more people trying to encourage her to fight rationally from now on. But of course, Rumi in this story has deeper reasons for her ways of fighting and that will be explored upon as time goes on.

And now, we get to the dark part of the story, which sets the stage for the rest of the Arc. This is a trial for the Heroes: they NEED to abandon their "No Killing" creed if they are ever going to be able to stand a chance against this sudden attack, or against the Demons for that matter when they arrive. The Arc will pay homage to John Woo's Hard Boiled and Resident Evil so buckle up those seatbelts!

The Bloody Bogans are essentially an antithesis to the Steel Sabers: while the mercenaries prefer tactical military-style engagements, the Bloody Bogans are masters of rush-down, slash-and-burn, blitzkrieg, scorched-earth assaults. Originally, I was going to name them the Bloodletters but after being locked into a protracted legal battle with Khorne over the rights to the trademark for that name, I used something else.

Design-wise, the Bloody Bogans are based on the Highway Men from Far Cry: New Dawn and the Tremor Brothers from Smokin' Aces. But the real star is the Villain of this Arc: Marrow Madjack. To put it bluntly, he is a nightmare fusion of Jagi from Fist of the North Star, Wez from Mad Max 2, Jan Valentine from Hellsing, and Mammon from Helluva Boss. There is NO WAY this guy or his crew would've ever made it into canon MHA.

And for the last part...Nice Job Breaking It, Hero.

That about wraps up the author's notes, I will try my hardest to work on the next chapter as I play Space Marine 2, Viscerafest and DOOM: Dark Ages. See you all next time and have yourselves a Happy Easter!

Don't forget to review but please don't flame.