Chapter Text
Hitoshi leans on his hands, letting the numbers run through his head again. Fifteen unconscious from the gas. Ten injured, himself included. Injuries ranged from himself and Tsu, who had some scrapes and bruises, to Yaoyorozu and Kaminari, who got beaten by a Nomu and got a decent sized hole in his shoulder, respectively. (Midoriya and his damn Quirk is not counted on that scale.) Thirteen of them are unharmed physically. Two missing. And that wasn’t counting the pros.
Kirishima peeks his head into Midoriya’s room again. “Hey! Good to see you up, bro.”
The present class members all pile into Midoriya’s room. Hitoshi hovers by the window, almost at the front of the pack.
“Did everyone from class come to visit?” Midoriya asks.
“No,” Hitoshi replies. He counts them off on his fingers. “Jiro and Hagakure are still out after getting poisoned by the gas. Yaoyorozu came face to face with a Nomu and took a pretty bad hit to the head. She’s just down the hall, I believe. And Kaminari just got out of surgery a few minutes ago. So, it’s just us.”
“Only fourteen of us for now,” Uraraka says.
“Because Bakugo and Tanaka are gone,” Todoroki says.
“He knows, Todoroki,” Ashido hisses.
“All Might told me there’d always be people beyond our reach,” Midoriya muses. “That we can’t protect, even though we want to. Which is why we have to save the people we can reach. I… was so close to being able to save him. I need to save him. Had to. That’s the entire reason I have my Quirk.
“And Tanaka… if I’d been able to save Kacchan, she never would have attacked the villains like she did. She only put herself in danger because I failed.”
“Shut up,” Hitoshi says.
“Shinso!” Ashido snaps. “Be nice.”
“No. Wallowing in self-pity and self-blame isn’t going to bring any of them back. If you want to bring him back, you need to pull yourself together.”
“Let’s go get him,” Kirishima says. “I was here yesterday too, and so was Todoroki. We were on our way to visit you, when we saw All Might and some police officer talking to Yaoyorozu. She had Awase from Class B stick a tracker she made on the Nomu. And she gave All Might a receiver she made to find it.”
“This means you’re going to have Yaoyorozu make another receiver for you, doesn’t it?” Iida asks.
“What if it does?” Todoroki retorts.
“You should listen to what All Might says!” Iida shouts. “We should leave it to the professional. It’s not the right time for us get involved. Idiots!”
“Maybe, but all I know is that at camp, I couldn’t do anything,” Kirishima yells back. “I heard my friend was targeted and I just stood by, helpless. So if I stand and do nothing now, how am I supposed to call myself a hero or a man?”
“Shut up!” Hitoshi snaps. “We are in a hospital. This is not the time or place for this fight.”
“And what Iida said is true,” Tsu points out.
Hitoshi shoots her a look . “Not now. In fact, we’re leaving now. Sorry, Midoriya.”
***
Denki stares at his phone. Kirishima sent him a message? Why?
TheRiot, 1:02pm
When you wake up message me. I need to talk to you.
Pikaminari, 2:23pm
well im awake now whats going on
Kirishima doesn’t respond, which is more annoying than anything. Annoyance is not good right now. Between everything that’s happened, his overall stress levels from being in the hospital, and not having his meds in his system , there is a not-zero risk of him causing a power outage.
Kirishima slams the door open. “Whoa, Kaminari, I didn’t think you’d be up yet. Sorry, I was down visiting Yaoyorozu a few hallways over.”
“You could have messaged me. On your phone. The one you saw my message on.”
“Wow, you’re in a bad mood today.”
“I wonder why, Kirishima,” Denki replies flatly. “I wonder why.”
“Y’know what, that’s fair. But that’s why I’m here. Yaoyorozu put a tracker on the Nomu the villains had with them, and she’s willing to make us a receiver to find it.”
Denki sits bolt upright. “I’m going.”
“You didn’t even let me finish.”
“I don’t need you to. You’re going to go rescue Bakugo and Tanaka. I’m going.”
“We’re going tonight, man. Are you going to be able to leave the hospital by then?”
“I’d like to see them stop me.”
***
Momo watches Kaminari from the corner of her eye. Kirishima had warned them that the electric boy was in a bad mood. Momo is firmly of the opinion that Kaminari’s mood is closer to “barely controlled rage” than “sorta grouchy.”
She understands it. Kaminari and Tanaka love each other. What kind of love, romantic or platonic, she can’t say. But they do. Still, it’s odd to see on someone usually so relaxed and cheerful.
Something occurs to her. “Kaminari, are you all right to be doing this? You had surgery today.”
“I’m fine,” he replies dismissively. “It wasn’t like a ‘surgery’ surgery. Apparently it was Quirk stuff and making sure that things didn’t go wrong when Tanaka tried to heal it at camp. I got discharged this afternoon.”
“Just to be sure,” Todoroki interjects. “You know we’re going against everyone’s wishes and being completely selfish by doing this. We can call this off if we want to.”
“Does it look like I want to turn back?” Kirishima demands.
“Hell no,” Kaminari says simultaneously.
“What about you, Midoriya?” Todoroki asks.
“He’s my friend,” Midoriya replies quietly. “I refuse to turn back.”
“I see. All right, then.”
***
“I’ll ask you one more time, Katsuki Bakugo, aspiring hero,” Crusty says. “Will you join the League of Villains?”
Katsuki bares his teeth. “Go throw yourself into traffic.”
Bird Girl giggles, earning a dark glare from Crusty. In response, she sticks her tongue out. The first thing she’d done upon being released from the stupid marble was turn into fire, so they couldn’t grab her. She’d then made herself a circle of fire that she’s currently sitting in the middle of. None of them can even get close to her right now. If he had to be stuck with an extra, at least she can defend herself.
Crusty huffs and turns on the TV, where Aizawa’s holding a press conference. Katsuki tunes it out, preferring to imagine the gory deaths he’d like to see for all of them. Every so often, he glances at Bird Girl to make sure she’s still in her fire circle. The last thing he needs is an extra to take care of.
Eventually, Crusty turns off the press conference. “Isn’t that strange? The heroes are becoming the bad guys. Seems like they’re not dealing with this very well at all. So much criticism.
“But everyone makes a mistake or two, right? It’s not like they’re supposed to be perfect. Modern day heroes sure have it rough. Don’t you think, Bakugo?”
Will this bastard ever shut up? What part of “shove it up your ass” does he not get? Even Shitty Hair and Bird Girl understand that.
“Once a hero receives payment to protect people, they aren’t a real hero anymore,” the lizard says. “That’s what Stain’s actions taught us.”
“Why do a hero’s motivations matter as long as people are saved?” Bird Girl shoots back. “They should be in it for the right reasons, but at the end of the day, they’re helping people.”
For the first time, Crusty ignores her. “A hero in this current system only cares about money and glory. And since society buys into those idiotic rules, anyone deemed a loser is shoved aside. So we want to pose some questions. What is a hero? What is justice? Is this society truly fair? Soon, everyone will be asking. That’s when we’ll know we’ve won.
“And you like winning, don’t you?”
Patronizing bastard.
Bird Girl has to open her damn mouth again. “A hero is someone who saves others, hence rule one, ‘the rescue comes first.’ Justice is upholding what is objectively right by objectively fair means. And for your information--”
“Spinner,” Crusty says.
The lizard throws a sword. It imbeds itself in Bird Girl’s throat. She pulls it out-- dripping red-- and tosses it to the side. There’s a moment of nothing-- no movement, nothing-- and Tanaka just drops. Dead. The circle of fire disappears, confirming it more than anything.
Crushy laughs. “That’s that problem solved. Now, Dabi, let him go.”
Dead. Crusty just ordered the death of his classmate.
“You know he’ll just fight,” Chicken Nugget Man complains.
You’re damn right, he will.
“It’s fine,” Crusty replies dismissively. “We’re recruiting him, so we should treat him as an equal. Besides, he’s smart enough to know he can’t take us all, right? Not alone. After all, UA students are supposed to be so clever. Although I guess the girl disproved that.”
Crusty is going down. Hard. There is no way in hell he’d join a group of murderers. Especially not in front of the corpse of his classmate.
“Hey, Twice,” Chicken Nugget says. “You do it.”
“Sure thing!” Bodysuit replies. “No way!”
“Do it.”
“Oh man.”
“I do apologize for such unruly methods,” Magic Bastard says. “But please understand that we aren’t some kind of unruly mob committing crimes without a third act in mind. We didn’t kidnap you by accident.”
He has the fucking balls to say that after Tanaka was killed? Katsuki snarls at them.
He’s got to stay angry as long as he’s angry he’s not falling apart because he may not be friends with any of those extras but it doesn’t mean he really wants them dead.
Crusty’s talking again, but Katsuki’s not listening ‘cause Bodysuit’s actually letting him go. He rubs his wrists, carefully focusing on that and not his classmate’s body in the corner that they didn’t even move.
“I’m sure you’re the same,” Crusty says.
Katsuki kicks the stupid bodysuit guy in the face. He charges at Crusty, letting off an explosion only inches away from the bastard’s face. The stupid hand falls to the ground.
“I’m done listening to your endless talking,” Katsuki snarls. “Can you not get to the point, or do you just like your own voice? Basically, you wanna cause some trouble and you want me to join you. Well, screw you.
“I like to win. I wanna win just like All Might. No matter what you have to offer me, that will never change, do you understand?
“And even if I would consider it, you lost that when you killed her.” He points to the corner, even though he still can’t look. “I’ll never join your league of bastards!”
They won’t kill me, not if they want me to join them. And it’s not like they could threaten Tanaka, because they already killed her. What a bunch of amateurs.
Chicken Nugget doesn’t even react to Katsuki’s speech. “What the hell is going on back there?”
He points back to the corner. Katsuki half-turns, keeping the villains in his line of sight. Flames are starting to creep along Tanaka’s body. Before anyone can react, a pillar of fire shoots up. Katsuki can feel the heat from where he stands.
Inside the fire, Tanaka floats up right. She lands without a sound. A ghost? No, that fire is definitely real.
The flames die down, and Tanaka’s standing there, arms crossed, eyebrow arched . Like they said something ridiculous instead of killing her .
“That hurt,” she says mildly.
***
Sora suspected they would kill her from the beginning. One of her more… controversial traits is her need to debate people about everything . Some people think it’s interesting, others annoying. The League is obviously the latter.
Still, she thought it would take longer before they acted on it. Oh well. Now she’s back to full power again.
She crosses her arms, shooting them a look of judgment. “That hurt.”
“Tan--” Bakugo cuts himself off. “Bird Girl? You died.”
“I’m a phoenix,” she reminds him. “It would take a lot more than that to kill me. Permanently, anyways.”
Shigaraki’s so, so pissed. Good. The heroes are on their way, and she’s strong.
“No one told me she had a respawn,” he says, picking the hand mask up off the floor. “Don’t lay a finger on either of them. Any of you. These ‘heroes’ are still valuable pieces.”
He looks at Bakugo. “I wish you would’ve listened to what I had to say. I thought you and I could come to an understanding.”
“What, you think we’re the same?” Bakugo snaps. “Not a chance! I’m not a killer .”
Sora places her hand over her heart. “Aw, Blasty, you do care.”
“Not a chance, you damn extra!”
There he is. She was starting to worry.
“Then I have no choice,” Shigaraki says. “The heroes said they’d continue the investigation of our group, so we don’t have time to stand here and talk. Master. Lend me your power.”
“Hmm. That is a wise decision, Tomura Shigaraki.”
Sora and Bakugo share a look because the crap?
“A master?” Bakugo repeats. “I thought you were the boss around here. But you’re a sidekick.”
“Kurogiri, Compress. It’s time to put them back to sleep.”
Sora lights her hands up. “Just try it.”
“If you want me to listen, then get on your knees and beg!” Bakugo shouts.
Sora can’t use her powers freely in here. Bakugo is somewhat fire resistant , not fire proof. On the other hand, if it wasn’t for Kurogiri, Bakugo could blow them away easily. But the warp villain is too fast. Filling the room with fire would solve that problem but there’s still the Bakugo problem.
Someone knocks on the door. “Hello? I got a pizza delivery here.”
Heh? No way. A villain ordered pizza while they were holding captives? It’s so absurd it’s almost funny.
“Smash!” All Might barges through the nearest wall.
Kamui woods is the next hero in, wrapping branches and tendrils around the villains. His Binding Lacquered Chain Prison.
Piercings starts to burn through the bindings. An old man comes flying in, kicking the guy in the face.
“You can’t run anymore, League of Villains,” All Might declares. “Understand? Because we are here now!”
“Right after the press conference?” Compress asks. “They had this planned the whole time.”
“One tends to neglect defense when they’re on the offense,” Edgeshot says. “But we didn’t come alone. Take a look.” He flings the door open to a frigging army of police. “You’re surrounded by the police. Not to mention powerful heroes like Endeavor.”
All Might looks at Sora and Bakugo. “Ah, you two must’ve been scared. But you both stayed strong. I’m sorry. You’re safe now, both of you.”
“I wasn’t scared!” Bakugo shouts. “Not even close!”
“I hate to be that person, but I was also fine. Mostly because I’m really annoying when I want to be and people ignore me,” Sora offers.
Bakugo gives her a look , probably because she skipped over the whole “being murdered and coming back to life” part. Well, that’s none of All Might’s business. And it’s not a lie. She was fine. Emotionally. And they did ignore her as a direct result of her being annoying. There was just another couple steps in between.
“After I went through all the trouble of preparing this, the final boss goes and shows up on my doorstep,” Crusty complains. “Kurogiri! Warp over as many as you can!”
“The Nomu, right?” All Might replies.
“What are you waiting for, dammit?”
“I’m sorry, Tomura Shigaraki,” Kurogiri says. “The Nomus were supposed to be in a fixed location, but they’re gone!”
“Huh?”
“It seems you have a lot to learn, Shigaraki,” All Might says. “You’re still green.”
“Your little League underestimated all of us. The soul of these young people. The police’s diligent investigations. And… our righteous fury! Enough is enough. Your game has come to an end, Tomura Shigaraki!”
“You think it’s over,” Shigaraki says. “Don’t be stupid. I’ve only just begun to play. Justice. Peace. You created a garbage society by lifting up such ridiculous ideals. It’s why I started gathering people to my cause. You think this is the end? Then you’ve lost. Kurogiri!”
A long red tendril stabs Kurogiri. He keels over. Edgeshot’s Thousand Sheet Pierce.
“Weren’t you listening earlier?” Old Guy demands. “You’ll all be better off if you take us seriously.
“Kenji Hikiishi. Atsuhiro Sako. Shuichi Iguchi. Himiko Toga. Jin Bubaigawara.
“Though they had little time and information, the police worked through the night to discover your true identities. Do you understand? There’s nowhere left for any of you to run. So, Shigaraki, one question. Where is your boss hiding?”
“No,” Shigaraki says. “This is not over. Just you wait. The game is still mine.”
“You’ll tell us where he is right now,” All Might orders.
“Go away. Disappear!”
“Shigaraki!”
“This is your fault! I hate you!”
A gray goop appears in the air. From each glob of goop, a Nomu is released. Sora swears violently and vehemently. In the middle of a word, she chokes on that same gray goop. It pours out of her mouth, wrapping around her. It completely encases her, and everything disappears.