Chapter 48: Dominos and Butterflies: Ch 7
-Rain of Sins-
-Dominos and Butterflies: Ch 7-
The city of Sugriah was an old industrial center, and during its heyday towards the end of the Quirk Collapse it had been a major hub of commerce, pumping out armored vehicles, bullets, guns, and explosives at a rate unmatched anywhere else in Japan, and had been nicknamed "The Metal Mountain" for the sheer volume of steel it exported.
But time had not been kind to the area. Overtime as stability returned, and the number of quirkless continued to grow ever fewer, demand for war materials and traditional self defense dropped through the floor. The final nail in the coffin was when the new government reinstated the strict firearm laws that had been in place before the collapse.
The factories tried to retool towards civilian goods production, but as global trade began to open up again, it was unable to compete with foreign prices.
Nowadays the "Metal Mountain" had a different name, the Rust Lake.
Virtually no one lived here, and abandoned factory complexes sprawled as far as the eye could see. Huge half collapsed warehouses, broken steel mills long since picked clean by scavengers, and endless rows of factory belts, now more rust than metal, repeated without end.
All in all, it was the perfect place to go if you wanted to disappear for awhile.
"Bang!"
BANG
"Bang!"
BANG
"Bang!"
The loud sound of gunshots echoed through the abandoned halls of an ancient factory, and bullets slammed into an old car door that had the rough shape of a person spray painted onto it.
"Bang!"
BANG
"Bang!"
BANG
Dabi watched with an exasperated expression as Mustard emptied yet another magazine from his rifle.
"Do you even know how to use that thing?"
"Of course I do- Bang!" Mustard said as he completely missed the target and shattered the only remaining window of the entire dilapidated building.
"The fact the wall has more lead in it than the car door suggests otherwise." Dabi glanced over to the target, debating whether or not he should count the hits to misses, but immediately realized that was far more brain power than the situation was worth and gave up. "You're just wasting ammo."
"Nah, this is an intentional setup. I gotta look tough for when the new guys show up. The prison movies say you have to set a good first precedent, and put yourself on the top of the pecking order from the beginning."
Dabi decided he was just going to ignore that comment.
"Have you ever shot a gun before?"
"Yeah, in like, basically every game ever. And I watched how Tug Speedman holds his gun in all his movies."
Dabi took a moment to process that.
"Did you seriously just use Tug Speedman as a source?" He asked in bewilderment.
"No!" Mustard snapped defensively, his face heating up beneath his mask. "I also read a wiki-how article."
Dabi stared at him, really stared at him for a long moment, with nothing but judgmental inflection, mild revulsion, and pure loathing, that caused Mustard to shrink in his boots.
Dabi let out a long, continuous sigh that felt more like he was a leaking life force than air.
"Alright, listen. To make sure you don't somehow manage to hit me while aiming in the complete opposite direction, I'm going to give you a flash course on shooting."
"Wait, you know how to shoo- OW!" Mustard's question was cut off as Dabi kicked him in the shin to move his leg.
"Right foot back, aggressive stance, lean forward, you need to be able to absorb the recoil." He shoved Mustard down so he was hunched over slightly, and grabbed at his hands to rearrange them. "Hand on the forearm, not the barrel, and pull back into your shoulder. Lift your left elbow to create a pocket for the buttstock to rest."
Dabi stepped back, away from the live weapon.
"Aim down the sights, line up your shot, breathe out, and pull the trigger."
BANG
The bullet slammed into the target, near center mass. No where close to a bullseye, but a phenomenal improvement.
"There you go. Now continue practicing because after what I've seen in the last ten minutes, I'm convinced we could be next to a nuclear explosion, and I would still be more at risk of death from friendly fire than anything else."
"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up."
BANG
BANG
"I'd like to see you do better."
"Wouldn't even need to open my eyes."
"Then prove it." Mustard smirked, fishing a pistol from his belt and holding it out for Dabi. "C'mon, you know how to shoot, show me how it's done."
Dabi rolled his eyes and grabbed the gun from him. He walked over to a spot in front of the target, took a lazy stance, and pointed the pistol forward with all the enthusiasm of a dead horse, not even holding it straight.
"Wait, that's not how you said I shoul-"
Mustard was cut off as the car door exploded into a ball of sapphire flames. The stream of fire from Dani's hands subsided, and the pistol fell to the ground, now a molten slag of metal.
"Ah." He made a noise of understanding as he stared at the glowing red puddle. "But if you don't need to use a gun, why do you know how to shoot one?"
"Because my Dad thought weapons were only used by weaklings, who didn't have good quirks, and learning how to shoot pissed him off." Dabi scratched at his scars, a distant look in his eyes. "Also owning one is incredibly illegal, and I guess you could say I was in my rebellious phase."
"Pssh, there's no way they're that bad. I mean, there are a bunch of real dangerous quirks out there that can do waaaaay more damage than this."
"You'd get sentenced for more years for what you have on you, than anything you've actually managed to do in your time as a Villain."
"No way!" Mustard protested in both shock and offense "I've done incredibly dangerous, and totally Villainous things before! If I'm caught they'd send me straight to Tarturus for my crimes. Contraband is like, the lightest thing I've done!"
"Yeah. Sure."
"I told you, I was at the festival attack! I escaped Mirko, one of the top ten! I was on the front lines of the biggest attack this decade!"
"And I believe you." Dabi said with a voice that said everything about how he very much didn't.
The loud noise of the main warehouse door opening caused both of them to wince, metal scraped against concrete, rusted joints screamed in agony as they bent against each other.
It was enough to give you tetanus from the sound alone.
"I'm back!" Tomura proclaimed as he marched into the building like he was Caesar returning from some grand conquest. "And I brought some new players that I busted out of prison!"
Behind him was an… odd collection of people.
Dabi, wisely, kept his mouth shut.
Mustard, unwisely, did not.
"Where'd you find these wannabes?" He snorted. "Nanny's garage sale of rip off comic con cosplayers?"
Mustard pointed at the first in line, a guy wearing a cloak that had a scar on his face and was missing an eye.
"Who are you supposed to be? Two Face? Or did your Mommy hit your head one too many times on the door?"
Muscular scowled and stepped forward.
Mustard ignored him, and instead dragged his finger along the line to the guy still wrapped up in a straight jacket for some reason.
"You, well buddy, I gotta say, it's a unique look. But I'm not sure 'Schizophrenic Hobo from the 7-11 down the street who's hopped up on meth' is something you want to be going for."
Moonfish didn't even react, drool dripping from his snarled mouth like a dog as he stared off into space. Muscular came even closer.
Mustard continued to ignore him.
"And you, uhhh…" When he arrived at the end of the line he hesitated. There was a manly woman(?) womanly man(?) there were female clothes, but a beard? Mustard was confused.
"My name's Magne, honey." She said with a chuckle and a knowing smile. "I'm a woman."
"Yeah, you!" Mustard resumed with the confirmation. "Who are you supposed to be, walking around with that oversized magnet? Huh? Dollar Store Magneto? Oh who am I kidding, I doubt you've ever picked up a comic in your life! $100 says the only thing you've read in the last year is shitty rom-com fics off Wattpad."
Mange barked a laugh at that, seemingly more amused than anything.
Muscular finally stepped up right in front of Mustard, forcing him to shift his attention to the man who towered over him even without his combat form.
"Big talking runt. You have a death wish? Or is your survival instinct just shot to hell."
He shoved him, two fingers enough to send him stumbling back.
"I could beat everyone in this room at once without breaking a sweat. And you?" Muscular scowed. "I could snap you like a toothpick."
"Yeah, well I could say the same thing."
"Oh really?" Muscular's hand shot out, slapping the rifle away, before grabbing him by the scruff of his coat and lifting him into the air.
"Hey!" Mustard yelped, swinging his arms wildly, but unable to connect at the distance he was being held. "Put me down!"
"Aww, what's the matter?" The strength Villain smiled cruelly as he began to shake him. "I thought you could beat me?"
"Leave the kid alone dipshit."
Muscular scowled, dropping Sulfur to the floor, and glaring at who would dare speak out.
Dabi met the glare without flinching. "It's not his fault he was born an idiot. And he wasn't wrong to call you on that bluff."
"WHAT? You think I'm joking? You think I couldn't take on everyone here?"
Dabi raised a single eyebrow at Muscular before snorting in amusement, and turning away.
Muscular's vision went RED.
Muscles and tendons exploded from his skin, wrapping around him and doubling his size in a matter of moments. A hulking arm slammed into Dabi's back and sent him flying across the factory, crashing into abandoned machinery with a horrible sound.
"WHO'S JOKING NOW!? HUH?!" The titan marched over to the wreckage, the building shaking with every step. "WHAT'S WRONG BIG GUY? WHY AREN'T YOU LAUGHING ANYMORE? DIDN'T YOU THINK I WAS FUNNY!?" His fist came down with a mighty crash, flattening the metal like a press.
BANG
Muscular grunted as the shot rang out.
Slowly he turned around, blood seeping from his upper arm where the buckshot pellets failed to punch through the thick tendons that acted as much as armor as weapons.
Sulfur pumped the gun he'd pulled from his car, shotgun shell smoking as it fell to the ground.
"Back the fuck off, or the next shot goes through your head!"
Muscular chuckled darkly as he raised his hands to crack his knuckles. "Oh… I'm going to enjoy breaking you."
The giant took a lumbering step forward, but that's all he managed before an absolute torrent of sapphire flames, burning so hot they bled white, crashed into him. He screamed in pain as he was thrown across the warehouse, through the wall, and into the next building.
Dabi rose from the molten wreckage, blood dripping from numerous gashes from the impact, and absolute fury in his eyes.
Muscular tore through the wall, bloodlust written on his face.
Tomura chose his chance to intervene.
"Not that I don't enjoy a good show, but I collected you guys to fight against Heroes, not each other. Small scuffles to stretch are fine, but I want everyone in one piece when I need them. If you disagree, then you can take it up with me personally." He stepped between the two powerhouses to make a point. "Understand?"
Muscular snarled and but a step forward, but Tomura flexed his hand in warning, and after a moment of consideration the giant stepped down.
Dabi tisked, spitting a glob of blood on the ground, before stomping away to brood in the corner.
He slumped down on a pile of scrap and glared at the new recruits to the Vanguard Action Squad as Tomura gathered them and began catching them up to speed with everything. Specifically, his gaze was locked on the one eyed brute.
He noticed, but didn't react as Mustard took a seat next to him.
"So I had a thought, right?"
"That would be a first."
"Har, har, very funny. No, look." Mustard gestured at Tomura and the new recruits. "I get that we're all on the VAS, right, but what if L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. sticks together on missions, eh? So we don't have to work with the idiots."
Dabi felt a nudge at his side and looked down to see a fist bump being offered to him.
He considered it for a moment.
"...Fine." He grabbed the gloved hand and gave it an awkward shake. "Somehow, between a rabid dog from a mental asylum, and a guy who peaked as the High School jock, you've managed to be the not worst person in the room."
"Sweet!'
"But we're not calling it that!"
-Pain of Bins-
Dixie could barely hear the chatter in his earpiece over the constant grinding of his teeth.
"GOD FUCKING DAMNIT!" He snarled as he kicked open yet another door to an empty room.
It was empty. The entire fucking building was EMPTY! Overhaul, and the entirety of the Yakuza was gone.
"Sir." A specialist snapped a crisp salute behind him. "We've cleared the upper floors. There's no sign of the targets."
"Well then where the Hell are they!?"
"Not here sir."
"Well check again!" Dixie snarled. "Look in every room, in every closet, under every fucking decoration!" He lashed out in frustration, tipping over an expensive looking vase from its pedestal, but finding little satisfaction in how it shattered on the ground.
"Yes sir!"
Dixie paid little attention to the man as he scurried off to relay the orders.
How had they gotten away!? He'd had this place under surveillance for over a week, there were damn well over a hundred people living in this compound! And they had made sure to monitor Overhaul's movement to make sure he'd be in the building when they attacked.
The chief of security shook his head and tried to clear his thoughts, his polished black boss echoing as they clacked lousy on the expensive wood floor.
Putting aside all of that, it would have taken quite some time for them to evacuate so many people and all their resources. How long had they known about the attack in advance? Was the surveillance system compromised? They had to be, how else could over a hundred people slip the net without…
Dixie came to a stop as something registered to him.
He tapped his shoe on the ground.
It echoed back.
He raised his head, looking at the numerous Safety Commission troops, and several sidekicks from the Nighteye agency running around.
He whistled once to get their attention, before snapping his fingers at his side and pointing at the ground.
The sidekicks looked at him confused, but his men, loyal and well trained as they were, knew what he wanted even with the vague command. One of the Specialists rushed to him, pulled a large block of something from their bag, and began preparing it on the ground, while the rest took up positions behind cover.
Dixie stepped back as the Specialist finished, the soldier pulling out a detonator and clearing the area.
"CLEAR."
The building shook slightly as the breach charge detonated, tearing open a hole as the floor collapsed into an empty space below.
The sidekicks, now understanding what was going on, rushed forward, leaping into the hole with the Safety Commission forces close behind them.
"Well I'll be… Clever, very clever." Dixie hummed as he stepped up to the edge of the hole, the sounds of combat kicking up violently from the underground complex. "But ain't clever enough."
He hopped down, not bothering to rappel for such a small drop, but his knees stung in protest as he touched down. He found himself in a strange mixture of an impromptu hospital, a lab of some sorts, and an armory. There were operation tables strewn about the room, a pile of bloody rags in a laundry basket in the corner, an open shelf full of bandages, numerous knives on the wall, and what he could only describe as a custom ammo press. It had the standards as you would expect, a gunpowder box, flux, but it was full of strange bullet molds that had spikes on their tips.
They would have to take that for evidence later.
He turned his attention to the sidekicks of the Nighteye agency, and the two yakuza goons they had pinned to the ground.
He kneeled down in front of one.
"I'll keep this brief. Y'all cooperate and tell me what I want to know, and I'll cut you fellas a plea bargain. Refuse, and you spend the rest of your merry days tied up in a ten by ten foot room, deep underground. Never to see the sun, your family, or anything else ever again, 'cept the concrete walls, and the masked guard who'll bring you the cow slop you'll be eatin' for the rest of your life."
In response, one of the men spat on his shoe.
"Shame." Dixie sighed as he stood up, lifting his foot to smear the spit onto the goon's face.
"Take them away, send 'em back to HQ, someone there will be able to make them talk. Now what we need is-"
The sound of gunfire cut him off, and years of military training already had him running towards it. Out of the room and sprinting down the hallway, pistol already in his hand.
What he found wasn't pretty.
Five bloody clumps only identifiable by the scraps of HPSC gear scattered around them. Three more Specialists sitting behind cover, firing down range, their bullets bouncing harmlessly off a glowing barrier.
At the far edge of the room, walking into a strange tunnel that seemed to be digging itself, was Overhaul. There were other people with him, of course, his eight precepts of death and other goons, one of which was holding up the barrier, but Dixie's attention was focused entirely on Overhaul.
Overhaul, and the small girl he was pulling along behind him.
The two locked eyes. Dixie snapped his arm up and fired off two shots from his Desert Eagle, Overhaul merely touched the wall, and collapsed the tunnel behind him.
…
Several hours later, Nighteye would arrive on the scene, his wheelchair bumping uncomfortably on the rubble that covered the bottom floor.
HPSC personnel and Police buzzed around like flies, collecting evidence and looking for clues. Excavation crews had been brought in to try to dig out the tunnel, but had found little success. Overhaul had filled it in behind him at every step.
"I told you it was a bad idea." He said when he found Dixie sitting on a cushy chair only the Yakuza would be willing to waste money on. "Overhaul is Yakuza. They're not your standard Villains, they've dodged authorities since before the Quirk collapse. You can't even give them a hint of your intentions or they'll slip through the cracks, and all the raids you've done recently were a lot more than a hint." Nighteye sighed. "Now we're back to square one, with nothing from this other than ten or so lackeys who I guarantee you will know nothing."
"Not exactly. They weren't fully done evacuating, and we managed to secure a decent amount of material that they were forced to leave behind. We have concrete proof they were producing and selling Trigger, that they were experimenting with some strange form of bullet, and more importantly…"
Nighteye raised an eyebrow as Dixie lifted his hand, revealing a long silver hair that gleamed in the light.
"We have a lead on what Overhaul's been hiding."
-Sain of Rins-
The knowledge that Overhaul was holding a young girl hostage was eyebrow raising, but it was the little things of evidence surrounding the fact that made it alarming.
Overhaul had personally escorted her out of the facility, which meant that not only was she important enough that it required his direct attention, it also meant he viewed her as more important than any of the men or resources that were left behind instead.
And since the odds she was his daughter were slim, the personality file they had on him suggested he would be avoidant of having children, there was a lack of physical similarities, and Kai didn't have any registered children or family, that left them with only bad options.
The current theories were that she was either the daughter of someone highly influential, used as a hostage for leverage, or that the girl was in possession of an extremely powerful quirk that Overhaul intended to either cultivate to his benefit or… reproduce when she came of age.
Nonetheless, the HPSC and the police were launching a joint investigation to track the Shie Hassaikai down. The group had far too many resources at their disposal, and posed a sizable threat with how organized they were. They needed to squash them now before Overhaul disappeared or got desperate.
But as much as the HPSC's Chief of Security wanted to lead the charge, he had something else he had to do first.
Dixie barged into the hospital director's office without so much as knocking.
The old woman sitting at her desk sighed but didn't voice her complaint, she was used to this by now.
"What's your patient's status?"
"Which patient?" The woman chuckled dryly. "We have hundreds, and each is just as important to me as the last."
"The only one that actually matters. Enji Todoroki."
"He's doing remarkably well, actually." The elder hummed as she pulled out a file from her desk, something she kept on hand precisely for these visits, and handed it to him. "He's made incredible progress. With the help of our physical trainers, he should be able to move on his own without assistance soon."
"He's just now beginning to walk?" Dixie exclaimed as he flipped through the papers. "We need him on stage in three days! How's he not recovered yet? We had UA lease y'all Recovery Girl!"
"And her quirk is the only reason he's come as far as he has in such a short time." The doctor bit out. "When you brought him to us, he was more of a corpse than a man. What has happened here, even with Recovery Girl, is nothing short of miraculous, and possible only thanks to the incredible ability of our team, and the will of that man to survive."
Dixie stared at her, his expression unreadable but clearly displeased.
"Triple the dose."
The doctor nearly recoiled in shock. "What?"
"You have him on what, two hits from Recovery Girl every day?"
"Are you insane? We only have him on one dose a day, and that's only when we're sure he can handle it."
"Well there's the damn problem!" He slammed the file onto her desk. "Three hits a day, minimum. Four if y'all can get away with it."
"That will kill him! Her quirk will eat him from the inside out you can't-"
"There are very few people who can tell me what you do, and you ain't one of them. Triple. The. Dose. Feed him through a tube if you have to, I don't care! But in three days time, I'm going to escort him from this building, and he's going to be walking on his own." Dixie leaned down towards her until he was eye level.
"Do I make myself clear, little lady?"
"...Crystal."
-Main of Pins-
Toga gasped as she slammed into the ground. She was covered in bruises, and bleeding from several cuts, nothing was broken, but pain throbbed all over her, and everything ached, and it all just hurt so GOOD!~ She had to bite her lip to fight back a moan, every time she let one slip she got a disappointed look from her senpai that hurt her insides in a bad way.
But as her mind was occupied with indecent thoughts, her body wasn't idle, carrying her momentum with a roll and using her hand to spring herself to her feet, avoiding a boot coming down where her head was, and all in perfect form.
Oh, would she get praised for her gymnastics again? Senpai had been very impressed with her abilities when he first saw them in action, especially when she had mentioned it wasn't from her quir-
"Owchie!" She whined and brought her hands up to massage the big bump on her head.
"Your mind is distracted." Stain said, swatting her with the blunt of his blade a second time for good measure. "Body and mind must move together in harmony. If either wing fails, the eagle cannot fly."
"But Stainy Senpaiii~" Toga whined. "You're still all banged up, how can you fly?"
"I can't and won't be able to until I recover, I feel like I'm moving in slow motion, but that is irrelevant." He pivoted, avoiding a surprise attack from Spinner, and slammed his sword's hilt into the lizard's head. "For now, you all are still but worms, and I hardly need to soar to tear you out of the ground."
"Mnnnya~" Toga flashed forward, her new knife singing as it cut through the air, so much better than her old boxcutter. "Call me a worm again while looking down at me in disgust!"
Stain responded by grabbing her wrist, swiping her feet out from under her, and hurling her at a wall, far away from him.
This time, when Toga hit the ground, she couldn't suppress her noises.
Stain kept an eye on her for a few seconds to make sure she didn't get back up, before turning to look over the twenty or so others in red scarves whimpering on the ground around him.
"Pathetic." He stated, not in spite or anger, merely factual judgment. Nonetheless, it caused them all to sink even deeper into the floor in shame. "But surprisingly good basics for a lack of real experience. We're done for today. Rest, recover, and eat. Report back tomorrow and now that I have a grasp on your abilities we'll begin your training."
Stain sheathed his blade and other members of the "Blood Guard" rushed forward to help their comrades to their feet. Some were nurses and healers who had skipped the fighting, others were just as banged up, members who had lost in one of the previous spars, all wore the crimson scarf.
When he had hijacked the Sports festival broadcast to spread his message with the help of Izuku, he hadn't expected much to come of it. He merely wanted to explain, to address the lies that were being spread about him, but his words had found fertile soil in the minds of the downtrodden and oppressed. Those who wanted to make a difference, those who were disillusioned with the current corrupt society, but hadn't lost themselves enough to fall for the league's aimless chaos and mass destruction.
Fewer in number than the sheep that flocked to Shigaraki like sharks to blood, but stronger in dedication, true in their beliefs. They were those who chose to do something for the sake of change, not for revenge or to ride the coattails of glory.
…Unfortunately it turned out being sound in spirit, didn't necessitate being sound in mind.
Stain narrowed his eyes as Toga skipped towards him, clearly factoring one leg.
"What'd you think Senpai? I'm pretty good in a fight, aren't I?"
"You weren't lying when you said you were the best fighter here." He held off the 'unfortunately' he wanted to tag on. "As I promised, if you prove yourself to truly uphold my message… I will train you."
"Yay!" The school girl cheered.
"Sir! Don't ignore me." A pained voice called from below, as Spinner pushed himself to his feet. "I'm the second strongest one here! I've beat everyone else, and am the only person who can put up a fight against her."
"Yes," Stain nodded without so much as glancing at him. "But I refuse to acknowledge your existence until you get rid of that abomination you carry around."
"ABOMINATION!? Sir! This is my blade! My soul! Forged by my own will! My own hands!" Spinner proudly lifted his weapon, which was composed of over a hundred different blades, from swords to kitchen knives, all welded together with metal, duct tape, and passion to the point it resembled a club more than a sword. "This is my torch against the dark! Life Ender! It is my partner! And I will never abandon-"
Stain swiftly kicked the physical manifestation of the concept of 'mistake' in the middle, causing it to shatter into pieces, and Spinner to make a dying noise.
"LIFE ENDER!" He fell to his knees, cradling the shards.
"You need a real weapon." Stain shook his head at the mutant before glaring at Toga as she nuzzled up against his arm. "And you need help."
Toga whined as he pulled his arm away but didn't press the matter, seemingly content to buzz around the edges of his personal space, occasionally taking weirdly deep breaths as if she were trying to taste the air.
"Fortunately I know of a place where we can get both, and it just so happens to also be the same place that I planned to go to get further medical attention." Stain met the gaze of a woman tending to the wounded, a nurse, and nodded at her. He didn't smile, but it was enough to show his approval. "The healers your group has employed here are commendable in their skill and dedication, but they lack proper materials to fully treat my injuries."
"Sir, please, this isn't our group, it's yours!"
Spinner's remark caused Stain to hesitate, pausing for a second. They kept telling him such, but he didn't really know how to handle that. He was glad others had taken his message to heart, but he was a soldier, not a leader. But the second was just that, a second, and he swiftly pushed any concerns he had aside.
"Where are we going?" Toga asked. "A hospital of sorts?"
"You don't need to be concerned with that, what you need to be focusing your entire effort on instead is trying to keep up."
And with those words, Stain launched himself up, out of the window of the old building, and onto the next roof over, leaving his two students to desperately scramble after him.
-Rail of Snails-
Izuku hummed to himself as he held one of his new gauntlets over his head, turning it over in the light, and marveling at its craftsmanship.
It was a piece of slick black machinery that covered the entire length of his forearm as well as his hand, clamping down atop his coat sleeves, but wasn't very bulky width wise.
"Pretty neat, huh?" Mei bounced on her toes next to him, eager for his approval. "The designs you gave me were super inefficient, and the firing mechanism took up way more space than it needed to, so when I slimmed that down I was left with a lot more room to put in new goodies!"
She began pointing at different parts of the gauntlet. "A more compact firing mechanism means more ammo storage, and I put in shock absorbers along the sides here so it could offer decent protection even with the limited armor, and I managed to fit a grappling hook on the top for good measure just to try to impress you…" She trailed off, her usual bubbly demeanor slipping slightly as she glanced at his face. "I, uh, did manage to impress you, right?"
"Don't worry Mei, you did a phenomenal job." Izuku smiled under his mask as he clicked the claws at the end of the gauntlet together. "This is more than enough to convince me to fund your new project."
"AWESOME!" Mei sang, her mood brightening in a flash as she was again abuzz with energy. "It was just that it's pushing a bit on what we agreed on, so I was just slightly worried you wouldn't approve, and I didn't want to go behind your back or you might cut my funding, and that would be bad because then I couldn't make my Babies, and-"
"You're rambling again."
Her mouth clicked shut. "Sorry."
"I didn't say it was a bad thing." The scientist chuckled as he turned towards her. "Just something you should be aware of."
"Yes sir!" Mei beamed, giving him a thumbs up.
"I do have a question about this, theoretically obviously, could you add something else for me? Just to test your abilities of course."
"Absolutely, just name it and I can fit it in there, no sweat!"
"Could you add a fog generator? A way to hook it up to a tank and pump gas into the air?"
Mei froze half way through her automatic "no problem" response as her brain processed the request, and her grin became just a bit more nervous.
"Well, yeees, but gas pumps like what you're describing go through a lot of liquid pretty fast, so the options would have it be capable of a few small bursts, or to carry around an external tank of liquid on your back."
"Make it capable of hooking up to an external tank." He said as he handed her back the gauntlet. "Build a pressurized backpack to hold as much fluid as possible. I know this has all been an odd request, but I really want to see what you're capable of when it comes to commissioned equipment before I finance those experimental designs of yours."
"It's no problem at all boss! I'll get this patched up and give you the finished product by the end of the day!" Mei gave him a mock salute before rushing off in the direction of her personal workshop, which was based on the topmost floor of the Origin's lab, far away from any of the more… adventurous science happening on the lower levels.
She was provided a room to sleep, food to eat, and all the materials her heart desired. She was free to leave and visit home at any time, but Mei was the type to sleep on her workbench, and lose herself in her work- something greatly exacerbated by the lack of windows in the underground facility, and the strange absence of clocks anywhere near her workshop.
Mei was already beginning to spend more time at the lab than she did at home, and would begin to lose track of the days after prolonged periods of time in her new workshop.
Here in a controlled environment, where her access to news was filtered, where the information she had access to was filtered, slowly but surely she would eventually stop leaving all together. Mei already did half the work on sealing off the one good lifeline she had, turning off her phone while she was working, but just to add pressure on top of that, phone calls could be so finicky while underground…
Almost as if to disprove that statement, Izuku's phone chose that moment to ring.
He pulled it out to see a message from Yuyara. It was a picture of a screen displaying security cam footage from outside her lab, which had a very annoyed Stain trying banging on the door with two smaller figures behind him.
A second message came through.
'The girl scouts look a lot different from what I remember, mind getting them off my lawn?'
He couldn't help the snort of amusement that slipped out. He quickly swiped to a different message tab, and sent the coordinates for the front of Yuyara's lab.
In the room below him, Adam stirred in his tank, wires feeding information directly into the squid nomu's brain as it spun up its artificial warp quirk.
A great gray glob of strange sand and metallic slime bubbled into existence in front of Izuku, and from the goop tumbled out Stain and his two mini-me's… as well as several bushes, a squirrel, and at least ten pounds of dirt.
"Note to self, work on Adam's long distance accuracy before use in the field." Izuku muttered to himself before turning his attention to the three people pulling themselves off the laboratory floor.
"Spook." Stain greeted him, and although there was still suspicion in his voice, the world lacked the hostility it had before.
"Stain." Izuku greeted him with a nod, before leaning slightly to look past him at Toga and Spinner, noticing their matching scarves. "I didn't know you had a fan club."
"Neither did I." The red ghost grunted.
"We're not a fan club!" Spinner glowed, puffing up his chest and crossing his arms. "I'm Stain's first disciple! I follow him because I wish for him to train my body to fight, and teach my mind his gospel."
"I wouldn't mind being a fan club." Toga stalked forward with a cheshire smile. "And who's this cutie Sempai?"
"This is Spook, or Shade as the media calls him, he's the shadow that's been helping me recently. He's trustworthy. We have a… similar enough view of society to aid one another."
"Wait Shade!? The Lord of Shade!? The Shadow Devil behind the gas and the monsters at the festival attack!?" Spinner shrieked. "Why is he working with us!?"
"Because I'm a pragmatist, and Stain is mostly correct in his beliefs."
The scientist stepped forward, his black cloak drifting behind him.
"Stain is right in his conclusion, but flawed in his thought process. Hero society is rotten and brimming with parasites that lust for power, fame, and wealth, that's all true. But it's merely a symptom, not the disease itself. Society as it is, is fundamentally flawed due to its over reliance on quirks, its glorification of them. Once the foundation has been fixed, and we begin to value people for who they are and not the quirk they're born with, then Stain's 'pruning' will begin to have an effect. As it is, it doesn't matter how frequently he culls the crops, from poisoned seeds will forever sprout rotten flowers."
Izuku scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as the two freshbloods stared at him in bewilderment.
"Was I clear, did that make sense? I actually practiced those talking points a few times by myself so I wouldn't mess up."
"As I said." Stain grunted. "Similar enough view."
"Yes, and our interests happen to align near perfectly in all of this. Really, there's no logical reason not to lend aid to one another." Izuku turned and motioned for them to follow. "Come now, I noticed you favoring your right leg heavily. Let's get you patched up, and give… what? You're pupils? I'll get them some actual gear, it just so happens I have a new mechanic who's eager to prove herself."
Stain followed without complaint, and Spinner copied his idol's footsteps to a T, but as the boys marched along, Toga couldn't help herself staring at the scientist's retreating back with great interest.
Her quirk…
She'd been bullied because of her quirk being "evil". "Freak" Vampire" she'd been called all sorts of names for her quirk.
And the urges she got every time she saw blood, she wasn't stupid, she knew it was unnatural. Normal girls didn't get flush in biology class while covering the human vascular system, normal girls didn't find dead birds to be pretty, normal girls could drink water and stop being thirsty.
But it didn't matter how much Himiko drank, ever since her fangs grew in, she was so thirsty. So… so thirsty.
Her parents had scolded her and demanded she act "normal". Her mamma had even sent her to those special lessons with the therapy doctor.
And she'd tried! She really had! But when her school crush Saito had gotten into that fight, she rushed over to help him, and well… She could remember catching the sweet rich scent of iron, and then blacked out. When she came to, she had Saito pinned to the ground, a straw buried deep in one of his cuts, and the most delicious ambrosia dancing on her tongue.
It was like taking a sip of water and realizing you've been stranded in a dessert for years, dehydrated as a raisin.
She remembered him crying, begging her to stop.
She kept drinking.
And the rest was history.
She was only 8 when that happened, when she ran away from everything she knew, when her parents publicly disowned her on the news, calling her a demon.
How many times had she begged to any higher power that would listen to take it all back and have her be born with a different quirk?
"Once the foundation has been fixed, and we begin to value people for who they are and not the quirk they're born with, then Stain's 'pruning' will begin to have an effect. As it is, it doesn't matter how frequently he culls the crops, from poisoned seeds will forever sprout rotten flowers."
Toga hummed, puffing out her cheeks in thought as she skipped to catch up with the others.
Maybe working with this guy was a good idea?
…
Stainy Senpai was still hotter, though.
"So what's your name Mr Spook?" Toga giggled as she caught up, earning her an annoyed glare from Spinner. "Senpai called you Spook, and the people online call you shade, but surely you have a real Villain name by now, right? I mean, you are the number one most wanted Villain in the country."
Izuku glanced at her over his shoulder, his brow furrowed.
"I… Well, to be honest I've been preoccupied with work, but…" His eyes took a far off look, as if he were looking at someone who wasn't there. "I wish to give power to the powerless, hope to the hopeless, and quirks to the quirkless. To let the blind see, and the feeble to stand alongside the strong by fruit of their own labor. I need to lead Humanity back towards the truth, shepherd them onto the right path, not because I want to, or because it's my destiny, but because I'm the only one who can. I am a scientist, it is my job not just to find the truth, but to teach others and guide them to it as well… Yes, that will do."
His gaze focused, his eyes glowing emeralds as they seemed to pierce into her soul.
"You can call me Prometheus, he who will steal the secrets of life itself from God, and gift it to Humanity."
-Rain of Sins-
"So you can do your job." Martin hummed as he smoothed the paper out on his desk, stacks of others had been brushed aside, and this one almost had well over a hundred different selections on it, but his gaze was locked on the one at the very bottom.
"S-Sir," The representative of the PR branch shifted on her feet anxiously. "I know you want something attention grabbing, but you had us really scraping the bottom of the barrel on ideas, and that on is, well, don't you think it might be, I don't know, a bit extreme?"
"Nonsense, this is perfect." The Vice president of the HPSC couldn't help the smile of satisfaction that crept on his face as he rolled the name that would be plastered on every news feed in Japan by the end of the day.
"The Sovereign of Sin"
-Chapter End-
Sorry for the slight delay, Life's just been hectic the past week, can't even muster up the energy for a snappy AN. Finale for this arc is around the corner, one more chap to set it up, then I pull the pin on the grenade.
"But Zack, you haven't set anything up? How will fight happen?"
It is set up, and even mentioned a few times in passing, you just don't see it.
(Well, some of you don't, others predict shit like 3 arc away and I'm just like "HOW?" Make your guesses in the comments.)
*Would SIp Hot Chocolate But I'm All Out*
In other new, LoV gets flushed out some more, Eri is introduced (That's a surprise tool that'll help us later!) And Izuku gets an official Vilalin name. Yay
Now, if you'll excuse me, there are birds outside my window with how late I stayed up binge writing the last 2k words of this, and I have a shoot I gotta be at tomorrow (read: today) with all the camera equipment to film shit, and it's gonna be fucking hot, and I'm gonna die, but the sweet promise of a paycheck for the project will keep me alive. Also, I can't die, I have to play that Hololive fighting game that came out today (yesterday), Idol Showdown.
Yeah, I'm a fucking Vtuber simp, fight me.
…But you'd already know that if you joined the discord! Fools! Join! Now! There's a link at the end of like every chaper! Just Do-IT!
(All the line breaks from his chapter came from the guys on the discord btw)
Next Chapter: May 20 (ish)
https://discord.gg/Hy7g6UqGQd
Or look it up as the Chocolate Republic in the server search thing, it'll be very obvious it's mine with the fucking Hot Chocolate flag icon.
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