Chapter 35

Joi Irinaka groaned as he emerged from the wall, watching as it twisted back to normal. His boost had worn off but the heroes were still active. He'd dispatched the loud UA brat by dropping him into the lower levels were he knew Hojo and his group were, backed by the Leagues reinforcements. Hopefully they'd be able to take him down. He'd tried dropping more but that bitch of a rabbit got the others out of the way. The other heroes had been annoyingly resilient. If Rappa and Tengai had still been around, he'd have shoved them away to have them crush them. As it stood though, he had to deal with them. But with Rock Lock stopping his movements and Joke and Eraserhead's deft movements, pinning them down was near impossible. Eventually, they just timed him out.

Joi pulled himself up. He couldn't stop yet. He needed to find Kai and Hari and get out of here. This place was done for. He was sure of that. But they had other bases. They could rebuild. As long as Kai escaped, the Shie Hassaikai could live on. They could- " Joi. Are you alright?" Joi perked up.

" Kai! You-" Then he froze. If he could speak, he would be screaming curses right now. From the shadows, Brainstorm steps out. He removes the mask to let Joi see his demented smirk.

" Easy as always."

" Good work, Hitoshi." Joi's eyes would have widened if he wasn't under Brainstorm's control. Standing before him now, pulling at the sleeves of his coat, was Usagi. He smiled. " How's it going, Joi? You look like you wore yourself ragged trying to deal with teach and his pals." He leant his back against the wall. " Now, I'm going to ask you a few questions."

" You will answer truthfully to anything you are asked." Brainstorm commanded.

" Now then. Did you manage to create any bullets that could permanently remove someone's quirk?" Usagi asked. As he answered, Joi apologised to Kai internally. He knew trusting the League was a mistake.

Mirio and Ghost burst out of the complex into a large room. Mirio saw the numerous crates and equipment, immediately recognising it as a storage warehouse. They must have came out a few streets away from the actually main building. Sir's theory was right. Seems Chisaki really did own the nearby buildings for his own nefarious purposes. Seemed like they just came through some kind of access point for any heavy cargo to get transported into the lab proper without arousing any suspicion.

" Through here." Ghost said. " If we get outside, we'll be set. I can have Kurogiri pick Eri and I up."

" Woah woah woah." Mirio stopped. "Eri is not going with the League."

" You'd rather she go with you?" Ghost asked. " You heroes have already failed people like her and me far too many times. No. She comes with me."

" I can't let that happen. Who knows what the League will-"

" What? You think we're going to do what Chisaki did?" Ghost glared at him. " Don't be absurd. I… We didn't come all this way just to further abuse someone like that. You heroes know more about abusing kids than we do anyway."

" And what's that supposed to mean."

" Endeavour." She answered bluntly. " I highly doubt he's the only one so fixated on one goal that he tortures his family in his journey to become the best." Mirio grimaced at that. After the battle in Kamino and the appearance of Crucible and Dabi in the League's attack on the hero license exam, rumors about the true identities of the two villains appeared everywhere online. Social media. Leaks to the media. Forum posts. Everywhere. It was hard not to know the theory that Endeavour's missing children, Touya and Shoto Todoroki, were the villains known as Dabi and Crucible. Some believed it and wanted answered but they were a minority at this stage.

" Is that rumour true?" Mirio asked.

" That Endeavours kids are with us? Yes." Ghost confirmed. " And that's just the tipping point You don't know what we've been through. So don't you dare insinuate we would ever do anything to hurt her." Mirio didn't know what to say about that. He knew not all heroes were good people after that. Sir had done his own investigations into the victims of Stain and Forge, so he understood that. He wondered what the other members had been through. He wondered how he could best try and help. Wondered if he even could at this point. Either way, he had a priority today.

" You've made your point. But I still won't let you take her."

" You don't have a choice." Ghost told him before she began walking.

" Stop right there and let her go. Before I stop you by force." Mirio warned. She sighed

" Is now really the time for this? Think for once, Hero. We need too get out of here before-"

" Eri." The voice echoing from where they emerged from caused all three to freeze. Mirio noticed as Eri dug her nails into Ghost's shoulder. " There you are."

" No." She whimpered. " I've killed us. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She repeated under her breath. Mirio turned to face the voice. Flanked by three other men in similar, bird shaped masks, Kai Chisaki emerged from the tunnel.

" I was worried when I couldn't find my dear cousin. To think some wannabe heroes were kidnapping her." Chisaki sneered.

" Call us Child Protective Services." Ghost snarked. " I hear there was a warrant."

" We will not let you keep abusing this girl, Chisaki." Mirio shouted.

" Abusing? Such petty words to throw around without evidence."

" Your entire lab counts as evidence." Ghost said.

" And your reluctance to comply with our warrant gives us legal right to take her to safety." Mirio said. " As for you, your under arrest for illegal drug trafficking and the unregulated making of weapons and support items. Come quietly or I will be forced to use force." Chisaki sighed.

" So, you know your legal rights, do you? Very well." Chisaki snapped his fingers At it, the cloaked bird mask and the long haired bird mask moved between him and the duo threatening him. Ghost slowly let Eri down.

" Eri. Hide." She told her.

" B-But-"

" We'll be fine." Mirio tried to reassure her. " If you make it outside, you'll-"

" You'll find a guy with a gas mask and a smoke like face." Ghost quickly cut him off. "They answer to Mustard and Kurogiri. They'll get you to safety." Mirio grimaced but decided not to correct her. Too much information would confuse her in this situation. He just hoped Hawks or someone else on the outside would find her before the villains could spirit her away. The girl nervously stumbled backwards. As the long haired man charged, Mirio intercepted him, his limbs crackling with electricity.

" Go. We'll be right behind you." He reassured her. Ghost pulled her knives from her belt. Eri screwed her eyes shut, nodded slightly and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her.

" Don't let her get away." Chisaki ordered. Chronostasis ran after her only for Ghost to appear quite literally in his path and swing at him with her weapons.

" You don't get away. Not after you helped kill Spinner." The man in the white raincoat clicked his teeth jumping back. Both Ghost and Mirio held their grounds between the Yakuza and the back door Eri was sprinting through. Overhaul growled, stepping forwards.

" Fine. Heroes. League. I don't care anymore." Chisaki's gloves vanished. " You die now."

Hiiro sighed, swinging his legs over the legs of a discarded fork lift. " Why are we here again?"

" This is where Toru said she'd come out." Shoto told him from his place standing below. Kurogiri nodded.

" Why don't we meet her at some other point? Or better yet, why doesn't she call you, Kuro? That's usually what we do."

" Because, the sensors work on signal similar to a mobile phones. It's to send certain signals out to certain receivers and, as such, it doesn't work underground unless those receivers are implemented." Kurogiri explained.

" If only Usagi thought to plant one of those receivers in a bear or something for Toru to gift to the brat." Hiiro said.

" Maybe you should have suggested that before today." Shoto told him. Hiiro clicked his tongue. He turned his attention back to the warehouse. The fighting a few streets away echoed in the background. The heroes trying to deal with the mooks of the Shie Hassaikai. In the confusion, they managed to dump the bird monk's body in the Yakuza's backyard before coming here. Rappa and Dabi stayed behind to see how many people they could gather to join the League. He didn't know why, but Tomura and Izuku seemed almost single minded in their goal of getting a lot of numbers and Hiiro had no clue why. Kurogiri, Toru and that doctor chick seemed to know but he wasn't getting answers out of them. Either way, he doubted the bird man group would just give up and side with them if Overhaul was any example.

All this fighting. It reminded him of home. Hiiro was a smart kid, especially when it came to equations and calculus. But in his home, that didn't matter. It didn't matter how much he tried, he was always the cursed son. His sister. She was the golden child. She knew she could get away with anything. But him? He always seemed to end up with all the punishment for her mistakes. Physical or not. But there was two things he had that she didn't. He was better at maths than her and he found a gun. And when he accidentally shot her in the arm, he found out how much more powerful it made him. His sister left him alone that. He liked his gun. It made him feel safe. His quirk was also powerful. He refused to let her beat him just because she had a safer quirk. That's why he joined the league. To prove to everyone he could do something amazing. He refused to stay in the shadow of less deserving people like he had his entire life. But the League. These people acknowledged his strength. Some of them, like Denki and Shuichi, actually wanted to be friends. He felt the knife at his side, on the opposite side of his costume than where he kept his favourite tool. Since his friend was taken from him, he'd pay the Yakuza back tenfold.

He was distracted from his thoughts by movement. A small flash of white escaping the warehouse. " Yo. We've got incoming."

" Who is it?"

" Small figure in white. Ain't Toru. Let's see. Long hair. Covered in…" Hiiro lurched forwards. " Holy shit it's the girl. She's alone."

" No Toru?"

" Dude, you're asking me if I can see the invisible chick. How the hell am I supposed to know?" Mustard hoped down from the Forklift just as the little girl rounded the corner. She looked up at him before tripping. Hiiro caught her before she hit the ground. " Easy, kid. Easy."

" A-A-A-Are y-you Ms T-Toru's f-friends?" She asked, panicked.

" I wouldn't exactly call us friends but-"

" That's right." Shoto nodded, cutting Hiiro off. " Where is she?"

" P-Please. She and m-mister Hero. T-They're fighting M-Mister Kai but… they'll d-die." This caught the threes attention.

" Where?" Shoto asked. The girl just sheepishly pointed at the Warehouse.

" Kuro!" Hiiro shouted. The mist man nodded.

" I shall take her to safety. Go."

" No! I don't want to leave them!"

" Too bad." Hiiro handed the girl off to Kurogiri. " Sho."

" We'll get Toru and regroup. Kurogiri, get her out of here." Before waiting for a response, the two headed into the gray, Shoto heading through the main entrance and Hiiro heading for the roof, pulling his revolver from it's holster. As he climbed the ladder however, he was almost blown off it as something smashed into the Warehouse. He growled, regaining his footing.

" Now what the hell is happening?"

Toru drove a knife into the long haired Yakuza's back as he was distracted trying to get eyes on Lemillion, pushing the man down before delivering a swift kick to his temple, knocking him out cold. Lemillion, for his credit, was faring quite well. He was fast, strong and his quirk made him nearly untouchable. Toru phased back into invisibility, letting the hero take the Yakuza's aggression.

Unfortunately for her, she couldn't quite reach Chisaki. The man had resorted to reshaping the ground around them and he had annoyingly good senses. Whenever she moved to strike him, he turned the ground around him into spikes of stone, forcing her on the back foot. As such, she decided to change her targets, dealing with his henchmen first. As long as Nemoto couldn't target her, he couldn't force her to speak. As long as she didn't give away her movements, Kurono couldn't slow her down. And not giving away her movements is something she'd practised by sneaking into UA and other places time and time again.

" This is becoming troublesome." Nemoto admitted. " The student is one thing but the League's phantom is a threat."

" I can't hit what I can't see." Chronostasis called back.

" Just because we can't see them doesn't make them unhittable." Nemoto mused. " Move." Chronostasis moved to join Overhaul before a wall erupted between them. Nemoto pulled both guns out and spun firing. Toru weaved around a few shots before getting caught in the shoulder, grunting from the recoil.

" There." The ground beneath her rumbled before erupting. Toru cursed as an earthen spike pierced her left arm as she moved to dodge, pinning her down. Overhaul hummed as he slowly walked over to her. " Hmm. So even after taking such heavy damage, you remain invisible. It must be your natural state then. Which means you coming back into focus is a trick. Or just you showing off." Overhaul placed another hand to the ground, causing it to rumble as he reshaped it. One burst from either side of the on that had her pinned down. Toru screamed as an earthen spike pierced through her side. " There you are."

" CHISAKI!" Overhaul looked sharply to the left, leaning down as Mirio emerged from the ground, swinging a leg at his head before propelling himself over Overhaul and destroying the pillars with a punch. Toru dropped to the ground panting.

" Are you alright?"

" Don't you pity me." Toru growled. She tried to get up but screamed as her leg failed to move, dropping her back to the ground. " Shit… I can't stop here." A mask appeared from the air, bouncing across the warehouse floor. Her form flickered like unfocused static as she forced herself to retain her visible form. " I… am not… giving up… yet."

" Your body is beyond its limits." Lemillion told her.

" Don't you dare... try and pity me. You don't… understand what that girl has… been through. You don't get… what it's like to… to fear and hate your quirk. For it to… drive you insane because… try as you might… you can't control it." Toru slowly got her footing back, rising on shaking legs to her feet.

" Ah. I see." Overhaul looked at Toru's glitching form, shuddering from invisible to appearing as a staticky mess, her hateful eyes staring daggers into him. " So, you're cursed too."

" I… WE… aren't cursed…" Toru grunted. She was down one arm and her knives were somewhere under rubble but Toru didn't need them. She would choke the life out of this detestable man with her bare hands. She slowly pulled something from her belt. " Hero… Get down… below the surface." Lemillion looked at her and nodded. With all she could muster, Toru raised her damaged arm with the object in her unbroken one.

" What are you planning?" Nemoto shouted at her. Toru smirked as She turned invisble, stretching her damage arm out as best she could.

" Blinding you fuckers."

On the day she met him, Izuku asked her a barrage of questions. Back then, Toru was somewhat intimidated by Izuku. He was incredibly smart and knew a lot of things. He had a mind like an open trap but he seemed almost scared to express any knowledge he held. Over the months, however, she saw how he improved. He got stronger, smarter and more confidant. After a while, Toru began to love him. However, she also felt like she was falling behind. When Izuku got severely injured in the Sports Festival, she decided she didn't want to be weak anymore. For his sake. So she trained. Hard. Beyond hard. So she'd never fail him again. And part of the training stemmed from one question.

" If I shine a flashlight through my hand, I can change how the light... reflects as it passes through my body." She said. " Dazzling Flash." Light refracted in a massive, blinding flash through her arm, causing the three men to recoil from it. " In the end, I may be weak. I can only rely on ambushes to do anything in a fight. But what I can do is support the people I care about. You're an organization, Chisaki. But the League? We're family. People like us. Maybe we're broken, but we… We can be fixed." Toru smiled as she saw Mirio pop out of the ground and smash Chisaki in the face. " There's no such thing... as a cursed quirk."

" You're both… ridiculous." Chisaki growled. His hand moved to his shirt pocket. As he got struck, he threw something to Nemoto. " Fire at will." Toru looked at the man in surprise as he caught the bullet and loaded it into his gun as the blindness wore off. " Of course quirks are cursed." He spat as he pulled himself off the ground. " Cursed by giving blind men dreams far above their station. It's like a disease and you're all infected. Heroes and Villains. I'll cleanse you all." Toru looked in horror as the cloaked bird man took aim at her. Her body failed her. She couldn't move. Toru closed her eyes, ready for impact.

Then the ceiling burst open.

Izuku and Hitoshi entered the room just in time to see the titanic body of Rikiya Katsumake slammed into the ground by Ryukyu. A sudden wave of ice was the next to enter the room as Chronostasis was frozen solid by Shoto as he entered from around back. Izuku's eyes darted around at the chaos in the room. Hawks was joining Rukyu now alongside Froppy and Tsukuyomi. Lemillion was falling back as Overhaul broke the ground open. Sakaki was down for the count. That only left… " TORU!" Izuku shouted, bursting through the chaos.

" Izu...ku…" Toru collapsed in his arms, the last of her strength giving way blood covering her clothes and body as she slowly faded into static as she returned invisible. He handed her over to Hitoshi.

" Get her to safety. I'll handle the rest."

" Right." Hitoshi nodded, rushing off. Izuku turned to face Overhaul.

" Chisaki! How dare you?!" He shouted. The man glanced over at him and growled.

" You." Overhaul narrowed his eyes. "I should have known you'd be here. This is what I get for trusting outsiders. No matter. I'll clean you up like I will the rest of you filth and get her back."

" Usagi?" Lemillion retreated to Izuku's position.

" Back?" Izuku questioned. He glanced over to Lemillion. "Where's Eri?"

" She got out. That friend of yours, Ghost. They told her to find Kurogiri." Izuku breathed a sigh of relief.

" Enough of this. Nemoto." Izuku looked shocked. He hadn't seen Nemoto in his looking around the room. He did another brief scouting only to hear a gun shot.

" Gah." Izuku turned sharply. Nemoto staggered back, holding his hand as blood seeped from it.

" Tsk tsk." From above, Mustard waggled his finger before leaping down to ground level and quickly sending a plume of gas into Nemoto's face. The mask did little to filter the effect as the man crashed to the ground unconscious. Mustard picked up Nemoto's pistol. " Shoddy thing this."

" Nice assist, Mustard." Izuku smiled.

" You. You. YOU!" Overhaul shouted. He grabbed at his mask, destroying it in his anger. " How dare you ruin my plans! USAGI!"

" I'm not the one you should be thanking. Violet. Brainstorm. Himiko. Twice. You should be thanking them all." Behind his mask, Izuku smirked. " But in the end, it was your naivety and ego that tricked you. Imagine thinking we were equals. It's laughable."

" But those three. They said you had no plans of betraying us."

" Of course. You can't betray someone you were never allied with, after all." Chisaki grit his teeth. Wing beats sounded above them.

" Well now. Thought I heard a hell of a commotion over here. Now, this is a pretty sight. The League fighting the Yakuza." Hawks snarked. " What are we going to do about that."

" I've already called a truce with Lemillion until after this whole thing is dealt with. You can fight us later." Izuku said dismissively. Hawks laughed.

" Well, we do only have enough firepower to deal with one of you at the moment. I suppose it can't be helped." Izuku noticed the stress in Overhaul's face now. Not only was he facing down Lemillion, one of UA's big three, but three members of the League of Villains and the number three hero with more on the way. " Unless this lesser bird will surrender."

" Surrender? Surrender!? Is that what you want?" Overhaul twitched. He slammed his hands down. The ground around them burst open. Quickly channelling Bound, Izuku leapt between the pillars. Shoto made a wall of ice around him and Mustard to shield them from the attack. Mirio passed through the pillars, pushing forwards towards Overhaul. Hawks flew up overhead. Chisaki used the opening to grab the nearby Chronostasis by the hand. The area around him exploded.

" What in the hell?" Hawks shouted.

" I'm not done yet." Chisaki growled. When the smoke cleared, Izuku saw that Chisaki had changed. Another set of arms floated near him, each wrapped in an arrow shaped scarf of metal. " I won't be done until I cleanse you diseased filth from this earth. Then I'm going to get Eri back and do the same to everyone of your putrid kind. Heroes. Villains. I'll erase them all."

" He used his quirk to merge himself with Kurono." Izuku shouted. " The arrow's will slow you down if they scratch you."

" When was it stated he could cheat like that?" Mustard asked, dumbfounded.

" I should have known he could reshape other people after he dismantled Spinner in a touch. I didn't know he could use it on himself though." Izuku called back.

" He's crazy." Hawks said. " Lemillion. Get the others and get out of here. I'll deal with this guy."

" Hawks?"

" I'm the top hero here. So I'll be the one to take the top threat. He's a danger to everyone here." Hawks looked back. " Usagi. I know I shouldn't be asking for favours from my enemy, but can you help everyone to safety. I'll call ahead. Tell Nighteye about our truce."

" No. I have a stake in this fight. I'm bringing him down."

" Izuku?" Shoto asked, alarmed.

" He killed Spinner. He almost killed To… Violet. I have to pay him back for that." Izuku looked down at Mustard. " We need to take him down fast."

" Heh. Don't breath." Mustard smirked. " Hey heroes. Let me get into position. I'll bring this guy down." Hawks sighed.

" Ryukyu." He called. " Is everything secured?"

" Getting there." The dragon hero called back. " Katsukame is putting up too much of a fight."

" Damn it." Hawks grit his teeth. " Fine then, Usagi. Do what you need to." Usagi nodded

" Mustard. We'll cover you Do your thing." Mustard nodded, rushing into cover.

" Tsukuyomi. Cover Mustard." Hawks shouted. He sent a wave of feathers down at the Villain. Chisaki covered himself by causing the ground to shatter at alarming speed. His focus on Hawks however allowed Shoto to cover ground, he send a stream of flames directly at Chisaki. Chisaki blocked with two of his arms. The minute hand shot forth from a third. Izuku leapt in next, kicking the hand to the ground before bounding of it into the air. Lemillion phased out of the ground, launching Chisaki into the air with an uppercut. Izuku was waiting in midair, slamming him back down to earth with a powerful kick before landing. He noticed Mustard reaching the second floor, aided by Dark Shadow knocking away the odd piece of rubble flying his way.

" Now or never." Izuku shouted. He charged wind into his legs and fired it out in one, powerful jet of air. Shoto dent forwards a torrent of ice. Hawks use Izuku's his feathers to shred Chisaki's defences. Lightning coursed across Mirio's arm before he punched hard, sending a ripple of power straight through the warehouse. With a feral shout, Overhaul slammed his hands into the ground, breaking it open all around him. Above, Mustard laughed.

" Checkmate, bastard." Mustard opened all the vents on the arms of his costume, flooding beneath him with his gas. Izuku panted, waiting with bated breath.

" Not yet." Chisaki growled, his voice sounding groggy. His entire barrier exploded into rubbled, scattering all over the room. Izuku dived to the ground to try and avoid the blast. Shoto created a wall of ice. Lemillion leapt behind it. Hawks was caught and was send plummeting from the sky. Above, Mustard cried out in pain and a spike of earth tore through his foot. Ryukyu, finally able to subdue the unruly Rikiya, howled as spikes drove into her hide while she covered Froppy. When the dust settled, Chisaki staggered forwards, disposing of Chronostasis's body on the ground. "Not… yet. You… haven't beaten me… yet." Izuku's eyes widened as he saw where he was going. He tried to channel his quirk but faltered. Overhaul placed a hand on Rikiya's arm. " Rikiya. I need your aid."

" Anything… you need." The large man stated.

" Good." Overhaul placed a hand on himself. " Then let's show these fools the true power of the Shie Hassakai." Suddenly, everything fell apart.