Monoma Time Loop (MHA)

[iamawesome300]

Soon enough, it was time for the school festival. I decided to not bother changing our plans for the play. It went well enough last time. Although, at least this time I made sure all the props were complete.

I couldn't watch Class A's dance performance due to practice. Even though I already know the script I still have to be there to support my class. From what I can gather, It went about as well as it did last time, so they seem to be managing… everything that happened well enough.

"Who do you think will win in the beauty pageant?" I overhear Fukidashi asking Tsuburuba.

I half expect him to say the frog girl, before remembering that he doesn't like her yet.

"Hmm, not sure. Kenranzaki won the last two years, right? It would be a pretty safe bet to go with her."

Fukidashi grows a smile emoticon on his face. "Yes! She deserves to win, definitely! She's by far the most attractive woman here."

I enter the conversation wanting to smack both of them. "And why aren't you two rooting for your classmate?"

Both Fukidashi and Tsuburuba give me a confused look.

"Erm, Monoma." Tsuburuba finally responds, "There isn't a member of Class B in the beauty pageant."

Oh right, I didn't sign up Kendo this time. Shit, this is getting difficult to keep track of.

"Why?" asks Fukidashi with a smug emoticon, "Is there someone in Class B that you think should win?"

"No, certainly not. The winner should be from among the women who put themselves up there. It's unfair to give the victory to someone who didn't sign up."

"He's dodging the question!" shouts Fukidashi with a "lol" on his face.

"Or maybe it's not from Class B," responds an equally smug Tsuburuba. "After all, earlier today, Uraraka from Class A accidentally walked in on you changing."

"Ugh, don't remind me of that. It was nowhere near as enjoyable as you assume it to be."

At least this time I was fully dressed.

"Well?" continues Fukidashi, "Who is it? Who do you think should win the beauty pageant?"

As if I'd tell you, I haven't even told her.

"Kenranzaki has a large number of admirers. It stands to reason that she will win again."

"Agh! He's just giving the name of the most popular girl so he doesn't have to actually say who he's attracted to!"

"Doesn't that apply to you too Fukidashi? You're the one who said she was the best looking woman in the school."

Fukidashi's emoticon turns to anger. "I love Kenranzaki because she's beautiful and kind! She helped me improve my uniform when I went to the support course!"

Fukidashi slumps his shoulders. "She'll never notice me. How could any woman fall in love with a guy without a face? The face is 50% of attraction! That means I'm 50% less attractive than other guys."

Ah, crap. I stepped on his insecurities. "Fukidashi, I'm pretty sure that's not how percentages work."

"Don't worry, bro!" comes the voice of the always exuberant Tsuburuba, tossing his arms around Fukidashi. "You're amazing! No girl can resist you!"

I push Tsuburuba off to the side. Fukidashi needs cheering up in a way that isn't blind idiotic optimism.

"Fukidashi, you have enough to worry about just being in the hero course. You wouldn't even have time for a relationship, none of us do."

"Yeah." comes the voice of a weak Fukidashi. "I guess you're right."

We finish getting ready for the play.

Shoda, Awase and myself take the stage. I prepare for my first monologue when a cloud of smoke appears before me on the stage.

"Students of U. A., you have had a fine year working in the hero course. You've felt quite safe behind the walls of your school, haven't you?" says the cloud of smoke. "I thought I would infiltrate your School Festival, just to show you how weak your security really is."

Oh come on! What change did I cause to have this asshole show up? I'm getting real tired of this timeline bullshit.

The cloud of smoke disappears, revealing a short little… girl? Woman? Hard to tell the age with this one. In any case, she's wearing a poofy outfit and has a camera. Standing next to her is a smiling gray-haired man wearing a costume similar to mine.

The costume makes me want to puke. It's so overdesigned! The ridiculously high collar, the way-too-long cloak, the purposeless cane. I cover my mouth with my hand to choke back the vomit.

"Um, Monoma," I hear Awase say behind me, "Is this an uncle of yours or something?"

I turn to Awase in an extensive rage. "Of course not! I would never be associated with someone who has such gaudy taste!"

The man turns to look at me with a furious glare. "My word! U. A. apparently has no time to teach it's children the meaning of good fashion sense!"

"Good fashion sense?" I scream at the man. "You look like you work at a theme park!"

The man slams his cane on the ground to gain everyone's attention. "I am Gentle Criminal, the modern day gentleman thief!"

"You bastard! You stole my costume!"

Gentle Criminal sneers at me. "It's called an aesthetic. I doubt a plebian from U. A. could ever truly understand fashion."

"You! Don't! Understand! Fashion!" I scream at the top of my lungs.

This fucking asshole! He steals my look! He steals my attitude! He steals my stage time! I'll beat the shit out of him!

Shoda stops panicking long enough to say something. "How did villains manage to break into U. A.?"

The villain smiles, pointing to his assistant. "La Brava is an exceptional hacker."

The small… female beams with pride.

Awase responds. "So you're smart enough to break through the security system, but you're not smart enough to realize you're outnumbered ten to one?"

The two villains and I turn around to the back of the stage, facing the pissed-off looks of all members of Class B.

"CLASS B, ATTACK!"

"You ruined our play!" Comes the unholy screech of an enraged Pony, tackling him from the rafters along with Shishida.

"Gentle!" the assistant screams, as Awase and Shoda begin beating her with the prop swords, with Togake and Rin stepping forward to join in.

Those from backstage join the battle, which ends as soon as it starts, except now Shiozaki has wrapped the heavily bruised villains in her vines.

The audience cheers at this feat, probably surprised they received front row seats to a live villain capture.

The teachers come to the stage a few seconds later to haul off Gentle Criminal and La Brava.

"I have to admit," Mr. Aizawa says, "Class B gave an incredible performance."

Ugh.

 

[iamawesome300]

"We're ending the School Festival." Mr. Aizawa announces.

"You can't do that, we didn't get to show off our play!"

"Monoma," Mr. Vlad pleads. "You understand why we have to do this."

"We're perfectly safe! No one is going to attack us!"

"I would think that the villains you just fought would prove that belief wrong." says Nighteye, pushing up his glasses.

"No one else is going to attack us." I rephrase.

"It doesn't matter. Security is shut down and we need everyone to leave."

"Now hold on, Eraserhead." says Present Mic. "We haven't had the beauty pageant yet! A lot of the girls have been working hard on their costumes!"

Mr. Aizawa pinches his brow. "Mic please don't make this harder than it needs to be."

"Why just cancel the festival? After all, we have someone who can tell us just how safe it will be!" Present Mic says, pointing to Nighteye.

Oh right, Nighteye can tell the future. Seems strange to forget until you realize everyone can do something strange.

"...Let me get this straight. You want me to use my Foresight to see if we can continue a school festival."

All the teachers and students turn to Present Mic, who smiles. "I like festivals." He says in a tone of voice you would use for saying the sky is blue.

Nighteye turns to Mr. Aizawa for a way out.

Mr. Aizawa sighs and waves his hand. "You may as well do it. He'll never shut up otherwise."

Nighteye gives a sigh of his own and activates Foresight. Whoa, his eyes look all weird and purple.

Nighteye deactivates his quirk and freezes in place, eyes widening.

"Well," Present Mic asks, "Is it safe to continue the festival?"

An air blast shoots the group we're standing in, knocking us all to the ground. I hear screaming all around me as I struggle to stand up.

Nomus are attacking other groups of people, trying to force everyone to scatter.

"Everyone who flees can keep their quirks." says a voice from above the Nomus.

I look up into the sky.

All For One is attacking U. A.

I turn and run.

I try to creak my head as I'm fleeing, praying that the teachers can stop All For One.

Mr. Aizawa stands up and erases All For One's quirks, forcing him to land.

"Ah, I know you." All For One motions to the Nomus. "Him first."

One of the Nomus with a gun grafted to it's arm fires a bullet into Mr. Aizawa, who remains standing.

All For One reactivates his quirks, turning toward Nighteye.

"If I kill you, he's bound to show up."

"No you won't!" shouts Mr. Aizawa, using his capture tape to pull All For One back.

Mr. Vlad activates his quirk

Nighteye throws one of his heavy weighted stamps into All For One.

All For One stumbles backward, activating many of his quirks, turning his arm into more of a weapon than a limb.

"NO!" screams Present Mic, sending All For One flying back.

It isn't enough, All For One hits Nighteye with his weapon arm, knocking him to the ground in a bleeding heap. He doesn't move.

More Nomus fires bullets at the teachers, who dodge in various directions.

All For One turns his attention to the now quirkless Mr. Aizawa.

I start running away full speed, I don't want to see any more of this.

This isn't happening. Why is All For One attacking U. A.? How did he manage to get the quirk destruction bullets? Eri was rescued before-

My eyes widen in horror. I forgot Eri.

I grab a knife from one of the food stands before running for the security room. I hope I won't need it.

It's only as I'm fleeing from All For One's battle that I realize how many Nomus are attacking the school. This is the most Nomus I've seen in one spot in both lifetimes.

The closer I get to the building, the more bodies start piling up.

I see Class A, or what's left of them.

The multi-armed man is holding back a Nomu's arms while the sugar boy is punching it. The Nomu overpowers him, tearing all of his left arms off, causing his eyes to roll back in his head as he falls to the ground. The Nomu punches the sugar boy with enough force to slam him into the nearing building.

Kaminari is kneeling over the earlobe girl, who is unmoving and bloody. Although, I guess I can't call her that anymore, as whatever killed her made sure to destroy her quirk first.

A Nomu lands on the boy crying his eyes out, crushing both of their bodies. I look away when I notice Kaminari's arms are still twitching.

I run past them.

Further away, I step over the corpses of the frog girl and another girl I can't pin a name to. It's only when I take a second look that I realize it was Ashido, unrecognizable without her quirk.

This isn't happening. This isn't happening.

I finally step inside the U. A. building itself. Safe as far as I can tell.

I enter the security room, it's been rebooted since the first attack.

Damn it! Those two villains must have been useful idiots for All For One.

I turn on the camera system to see what's going on.

All For One has killed Mr. Aizawa and Present Mic. Mr. Vlad is still standing, but given how much of his blood is on the ground, not for much longer.

All For One laughs "A quirk that uses your blood as a weapon! Why it must be quite a horrible thing to lose it!"

Mr. Vlad throws one last punch at All For One before falling to the ground.

"NO!"

All For One turns further into U. A. where there are still pockets of students fighting the Nomus.

He notices the tape boy latched onto one of the flying Nomus and raises his hand to shoot him down.

All Might makes a heroic save at the last second, pushing All For One's hand toward the side.

"Ah, I was wondering when you would show up!"

All Might is silent, wearing a face so filled with hatred that I flinch. I've never seen a look like that on him.

All Might punches him again and again, but All For One keeps going, seemingly unharmed.

"Where is the boy?"

What boy? Does he mean me? I check the door to see if anyone is there, but I seem to be alone.

"Far away from here. Even If I fail, I know that he will grow strong enough to defeat you."

All For One laughs again. "I'll make sure to tell him how much you trusted him when I take his quirk."

Not me then, must be someone else.

All Might finally knocks All For One to the ground.

Yes! We're saved!

As All Might stands above him, preparing the final blow, Shigaraki tackles him from behind, disintegrating him into nothing.

I slump down in my chair, unable to speak.

That was it. That was the world's last hope. And he's dead, reduced to ash.

I cry myself to sleep in the room, hoping that this is just a nightmare, that I'll just wake up in my apartment, like any other day.

I wake up unaware of where I am, before remembering the horror story that happened yesterday.

No, not a horror story, it really happened. I cradle the knife I took from the food stand.

I can end this. I can make it all end. I can just go back to my apartment for real this time. All this suffering will end and all this suffering can be prevented.

I raise the knife to my throat and attempt to cut, as the tears form in my eyes.

"I can't do it! I can't do this!"

I bury my face in my hands as the tears come streaming out.

I can't kill myself. Even when I know how bad it is, even when I know that it's hopeless. I can't do it. I just wasn't meant to be able to do that kind of thing.

All For One has access to quirk destruction bullets, probably bought from the man who tortured Eri. If I get hit by one of those, then everything will truly become hopeless.

But, even in spite of that, I'm still selfish. I can't put myself through that pain. I can't force myself to admit that I caused this, that I was responsible for this dead world.

I refuse to kill myself. I will die fighting, or I will never die.

I exit the security room knife in hand, pointing toward the enemy this time.

I walk through the halls, covered in blood and a small amount of corpses.

I don't even want to imagine what the outside looks like.

I hear the sound of a shambling Nomu around the corner. I grip the knife and turn the corner, screaming as I do. I jam the knife into the Nomu's eye causing it to shriek. It slams me against the corner.

Oh no, not good. I can feel something broken. I don't know what it is, but I can't force myself up.

So this is it, I guess. I look up to meet the only working eye of my killer.

Suddenly, a knife embeds itself in the Nomu's brain, it's wielder pulling it out as swiftly as they jammed it in.

The monster falls to the ground as I turn to thank my savior, stopping when I recognize them.

It's the Hero Killer, Stain.

 

[iamawesome300]

"You… You're the one responsible for this! If you hadn't attacked Iida and Midoriya, none of this would have happened!"

Stain glares at me while I struggle to stand up. I fall to the ground on my first attempt, whatever got broken hurts greatly.

Stains sheathes his knife. "Ah, you must be talking about the U. A. boy that I killed in Hosu. Pity that I had to paralyze his friend, but he kept trying to save the unworthy no matter how many times I knocked him down."

I cling to the wall with my left side.

"Saving the unworthy is the definition of a hero." I spit out through the pain.

Stain narrows his eyes at me. "And you were the one who won the Sports Festival. You tortured your final opponent."

I laugh in his face, no longer caring about what happens. "Trust me, if you knew my final opponent, you would have supported that behavior completely! He was a piece of shit! An egotist to the core! By all of your definitions, a fake hero."

Stain remains silent at my words. He notices my strange posture and investigates.

"Your scapula is broken."

"What's it matter? This world's dead anyway!"

Stain grabs me, forcing me to stand up. "What's it matter, is that we need to fight against All For One!"

"And why would you want to fight against All For One? After all, he's killing heroes, just like you wanted!"

Stain grabs my shoulder, digging his fingers inside. I cry out from the pain. I look up at his face, anger barely visible through my tear-blurred eyes.

Stain screams at me. "You think I want to just kill heroes? What heroes did you think died fighting against All For One?"

He slams me against the wall. I can barely hear what he's saying through the pain. "It's the fake heroes who need to die! The fake heroes that ran away from All For One once they saw he was capable of destroying quirks!"

He pulls me closer to his face. "The heroes that died fighting All For One, they were all true heroes."

He lets go of me, giving me a second to reorient myself.

Stains hands are on his sword, shaking with rage. "We need to kill All For One. To avenge the true heroes."

"You want. Ha. To kill. Ha. All For One? He'll destroy your quirk first."

Stain turns back to me. "You think I care about losing my quirk? If we don't kill All For One now, there will be no one left to stop him. Did you think the dead heroes cared about losing their quirks? No! They fought against All For One because it was the right thing to do."

"Well, I'm different from them."

Stain returns to screaming. "And you think you're better than them? You think your quirk is more important than those who have already lost theirs? Arrogance!"

"Yes!" Fuck it, it's not like it can get any worse. "If my quirk gets erased, this dead world will become permanent!"

It would be so much easier if I was capable of killing myself. It's just as Stain said. I'm too arrogant.

Although, maybe the appearance of the Hero Killer can be useful.

"Why don't you kill me?" I ask him. "I can't do it myself."

Stain waves me off. "If you want to commit suicide, then fight against All For One. I've met many heroes who have only fought me in the efforts of ending their lives. I don't give them what they want. A hero must be self-sacrificing, but there must be something they are sacrificing for."

"You don't get it." I pull myself back up the wall. "I copied a quirk that sends me to the start of the year when I die. I can prevent this."

Stain studies me. "You're telling the truth, aren't you?"

I give my attempt at a nod. "Yes. I've already died once. This would be my second time."

Stain's face turns blank. "Did I kill you the first time?"

"No, I was dropped from the sky by a Nomu."

Stain's face turns contemplative as he raises his hand to his chin. "Tell me everything you know about the previous world."

I tell him as best I can.

"All For One arrested." Stain says, trying to understand the situation. "Why wasn't he defeated this time?"

"I don't know. My best guess is that I scared him by preparing for the attack on USJ. Is there any information you can give me about the League of Villains?"

Stain grumbles. "They tried to get me to join them at one point, but I refuse to work with a group of villains who want destruction without any greater purpose."

"Can you tell me anything?"

"They teleported me to a bar, but I don't know where it was located."

A bar huh? Not much to go on.

"Do you have a plan for what you're going to do next time?"

"No. I hate to admit it, but I don't know."

Stain looks down at me, disappointed. "I see."

"You have to understand, I wasn't prepared for this! How was I supposed to know I would copy a time-loop quirk?"

"None of us are prepared for the duties that are forced onto us." Stain says, looking me in the eye once more. "That doesn't mean we refuse to do them. What's your alternative plan? Live out your life praying that All For One doesn't take your quirk?"

I know I'm wrong, but I don't care. "I… I just don't want to deal with the suffering anymore. I just want it to stop. I want everything to stop."

"The only way for it to stop," Stain says, resolute, "is for you to keep going."

I don't have anything to say in response. "What are you going to do in this- I don't even know what to call it. Other timeline?"

"I will do what I said I would. I will hunt down All For One and kill him."

"But, I still don't know how this quirk even works! This timeline might just be permanently erased when I die! There might not even be a splitting off point."

"I don't care." He says. "If I am erased upon your death, then I will be satisfied knowing I did my duty."

I look in Stain's eyes, desperate to understand the man behind them. His eyes are filled with the conviction I lack.

"Sit seiza-style."

I chuckle a little. It's hard not to, considering the absurdity of the situation. I doubt even Nighteye could have foreseen Stain acting as my kaishakunin.

Stain draws his sword behind me. "Do everything you can to prevent the creation of this world of the dead. I don't want to have to do this again."

Stain pauses a moment before speaking again. "Save the world, hero."

 

[iamawesome300]

I wake up in my apartment again.

I can't will myself out of bed. All the events of my past life are seared into my memory.

Iida, Midoriya, Eri, Class A, Class B, All Might, the teachers. All I can think of is the people whose misery I'm responsible for. And those are just the ones I know for sure.

How am I gonna get out of this?

I sigh, finally managing to force myself up. I told Stain that I had no plan, but that was somewhat of a lie. I have a plan, but I don't like it.

School is a few days away. I have a few days of moping before I actually have to do something.

The first day of school comes. I effortlessly defeat Tetsu and Kendo in the Battle Trial by using Komori's quirk.

"What did you do to them?" asks a horrified Tokage.

"Created mushrooms in their lungs. They'll be gone in ten minutes." I run back to the viewing room as fast as possible.

"Erm, Congratulations!" says an awkward looking All Might, while most of the class looks at Komori and takes a step away from her.

The other Battle Trials go the same. Except for Honenuki, who managed to win this time, probably because he went straight for the bomb realizing Komori was a massive threat.

I don't even bother running for class rep, I'm not going to be needing it this time.

The classes are even more tedious a third time through. I want to run up and tell Mr. Vlad that I already know all this shit, but I have to keep quiet. I stare into space a lot more.

Tokage flips out on me. "How the fuck do you keep passing? You don't pay attention at all!"

I want to scream. "I want to defeat Class A." I tell her.

Well, it wasn't a complete lie.

I don't tell Nezu about USJ. Unfortunately, it's the only way I know how to get the villains to attack the training camp.

I go through the same plan in the first round of the Sports Festival. Why are these people listening to me? Can't they tell I barely care?

I don't bother creating a team for the cavalry battle. I don't want to have to pay attention.

I look at the teams partnering up and notice Shinso talking to Aoyama as his eyes go blank.

Perfect. I walk up to Shinso. "Hello there, what's your name?"

"Shinso." He smiles. "What's yours?"

I match his smile. "Monoma."

I wake up for the final round.

Excellent. Like I skipped a cutscene.

I look at the bracket. Midoriya fights Todoroki at some point. Good.

I use Komori's quirk again on my first round opponent. I forget who it is. I'm basically sleepwalking through my life at this point.

The crowd is shocked at this, I'm already leaving the stage before they start shouting again.

My next opponent gets mushroomed as well. That time the crowd gets angry.

"Boo! Stop using that mushroom quirk! It's boring!"

I don't have the patience for this. I turn to the heckler. "Will you fuck off? I know it's boring! But I have shit to do today!"

Mr. Vlad speaks to me before the next match. "Erm, Monoma. You don't you could… not use Komori's quirk for your next match? The Sports Festival exists so that students can demonstrate their strength for hero agencies to offer them internships."

I sigh. "I am treating every opponent with the severity they deserve."

Mr. Vlad leaves when he realizes I won't budge on this. He looks uncomfortable. Someone will probably yell at him for this. I'm sorry.

The semi-final match ends in another mushrooming. I walk back to my section as Class B half-heartedly welcomes me.

"Monoma, what the fuck?" asks Tokage, spelling it out for everyone.

"I want to defeat Class A." I respond with the same answer I give to all of the "What the hell is wrong with you?" questions I've been getting this loop.

The final match is against Bakugo again.

"You better not underestimate me, you copy bastard!" he shouts, firing his explosions at the start of the match.

"Yeah? Well, Bakugo… Eh, fuck it." He plummets to the ground with mushroom filled lungs like everyone else who was unlucky enough to be my opponent.

"Listen I already gave a speech about how much I hate you, but right now I'm too tired to come up with anything. So… How about I just tell you to suck my dick. Are you cool with that?"

Bakugo responds with the sounds of him struggling to breathe.

I think he's cool with that.

Everyone in the arena's pissed. But I'm just glad that it's over.

All Might hands out the first place medal to me. "Congratulations, Monoma! You truly showed off the power of your quirk!"

I burst into laughter at that. "I think you mean, 'I showed off the power of Komori's quirk.'"

All Might gives an awkward smile.

During the break after the Sports Festival, I don't bother leaving my apartment. I know that assholes will yell at me how I "betrayed the spirit of the festival," or something like that. I don't really care at this point.

The first day back, Mr. Vlad shows us the internship offers from the festival. I have the most, obviously, but Komori has more than Tetsu, even when she didn't make it to the one on one fights. Poor Tetsu.

I look at my list of offers. "Best Jeanist" says the first one.

Yeah, no. Not falling for that one again. I'll just pick Slidin' Go again. He might support the Meta Liberation ideology, but that doesn't mean he's a villain.

As much as I hate to admit it, I'm not the most intelligent person in the world. I can't come up with genius plans to stop the end of the world on my first try. If I was to go through this loop the same way I went through the last one, except fixing all my mistakes, I'll just fuck something else up. I don't want to play whack-a-mole trying to figure out how to beat All For One.

I can't make a plan unless I know what All For One will do. And, unfortunately, the best way to learn what All For One wants, is to be close to him.

This loop, I will have to join the League of Villains.

 

[iamawesome300]

My internship passes uneventfully. Slidin' Go is still as over-the-top as before, only this time seeming impressed with how fast I "learn" about being a hero.

For my final exam, they have me and Kendo fight Mr. Vlad again. That's the third time now. Why do they keep doing that?

Eventually, quirk training finally arrives. I hide a gas mask close to the test of courage. I wouldn't want to be unconscious before facing the villains.

Night comes, and we prepare for the test of courage. I'm partnered with Tokage, both of us using her quirk to mimic dismembered corpses.

"We're gonna scare them shitless, Monoma!"

"Absolutely."

Where are the villains? It shouldn't be much longer now.

The gas starts rolling in, from what Tetsu said, this was when the villains attacked.

I grab the gas mask and leave Tokage as silently as I can.

I reach a clearing where some of the villains are located. The costumed one, Twice, and the fire one, Dabi, is watching a clone of Dabi's fight Mr. Aizawa.

I enter the clearing. Dabi turns around and aims his fire at me as Twice makes a kung-fu pose.

"Relax." I say, raising a hand in greeting. "I'm here to join you."

Dabi smiles. Twice looks a bit more suspicious.

"Ooh, Dabi, I don't trust this one. I trust him, wholeheartedly."

"He's one of the targets. Shigaraki must have been right about him."

"I've been wondering if you might show up. I had know idea how to join."

Dabi nods, a portal forming behind him. Twice swan dives into it.

"Monoma, what are you doing?"

I freeze in horror.

I turn around to see Tokage looking at me with a face of betrayal.

Damn it, no! I thought I was quiet enough that she didn't notice!

Dabi raises his hand to shoot his fire at her.

I grab his arm, forcing his aim skyward, so he misses.

"No! Don't hurt her!"

Dabi glares at me as a disembodied hand wraps around my throat, knocking me off of him.

I turn back to the hand's owner. She's glaring at me with a look of disgust and hatred. That face will haunt my nightmares.

"You fucking traitor! I'll kill you!"

Tears are streaming down my face. I choke out a few words trying to pull her hand off of me. "Setsuna! I'm sorry!"

I struggle to breathe past her hand crushing my windpipe. Her grip strength is strong, probably because of adrenaline, or just how much she wants me dead.

I hear the sounds of other people approaching.

"We need to go. Now." Dabi says, shoving me into the portal.

I land on the floor of a bar. Someone helps pull Setsuna's hand off of my neck. I gasp for air, finally able to breathe.

I look up at the person who helped me. Shigaraki, the face of the League of Villains, is wrestling with Setsuna's hand like it's an angry kitten.

Dabi exits the portal a second after. Noticing Shigaraki's plight, he grabs a cash box from under the bar and helps Shigaraki shove the hand in it. The box is locked shut, continuing to bounce on the ground as everyone around the bar stares at it baffled. Except for Dabi, who just looks bored.

I look around at the people gathered in the bar.

Twice is squatting on the floor, poking at the box with a broom. It keeps bouncing in his direction.

The man with the lizard quirk, Spinner, is standing behind Twice, looking over him to see the box.

The girl who can mimic a person's appearance, Himiko Toga, is leaning over the bar counter to get a good look at it.

Shigaraki is in the corner of the bar, being held up by the teleporter, Kurogiri, who seems to be checking him for injuries.

Dabi is further away from the others, leaning against a wall.

Kurogiri seems to be the most responsible one so far.

"You should know that Momo put a tracking device on a Nomu." I tell him. "Wherever you put those things, you need to leave that place."

Kurogiri nods, teleporting away.

Mr. Compress enters the room and gives an exaggerated bow. "I managed to retrieve the other target." He announces, pulling out a marble.

Kurogiri walks up to him, catching Bakugo as Mr. Compress deactivates his quirk.

Bakugo glares around the room, eventually landing on me. His face goes blank, until his small number of brain cells finally realize why I'm not being tied up like he is. His face settles on hatred.

Yeah, I hate you too, Bakugo.

Shigaraki raises his hands to give a speech. "Katsuki Bakugo, we would like to offer you a chance to join our organization."

I snicker at this. "Shigaraki, I hate to tell you this, but Bakugo will never budge on this issue."

Shigaraki stops his speech. "He won't?"

I shake my head. "No. It might look like he has the makings of a villain, but he's just a preview of the worst heroes there are. Trust me, I've known him long enough."

Spinner grits his teeth at this.

"It's unfortunate." I say with a dramatic flourish. "But it's probably best just to drop him in a dark alley or something."

Shigaraki tilts his head. "You're right. It is unfortunate."

Shigaraki grabs Bakugo's face and activates his quirk..

Bakugo's screams echo through the bar. His skin begins splitting from his face showing the muscle underneath it. The muscle soon follows.

Shigaraki keeps digging into Bakugo's skull, which he can now fit his hand inside, as I'm left with a more horrifying sound than Bakugo's scream, Bakugo attempting to scream.

Shigaraki pushes his hand through, all the way to the other side of Bakugo's head, which finally goes limp.

He removes his hand from Bakugo's corpse and turns to face me. "Now let's get you a place to sleep."

He leads me to a small room. The only thing inside it is a bed and a small dresser.

I stare off into space for a while before falling asleep, the image of Bakugo's death burnt into my thoughts.

I won't be needing Stain's help to kill myself this loop.

 

[iamawesome300]

Twice pounds on my door.

"Hey! Wake up! Go to sleep!"

I get out of bed. I may as well face the day.

Twice takes me to a kitchenette and sits me down in a chair. He sits across from me.

"So…" He says in a dramatic voice. "Why do you want to join the League of Villains?"

"I want to defeat Class A." I answer him.

"Who?" Twice shouts, leaning over the small table with a hand behind his ear.

"Class A." I sigh. "They're one of the classes at U. A."

"Oh." Twice says with realization. "Okay!"

This one's quick to trust.

He starts digging through the cupboards. "I'm making breakfast, you want some?"

"Um, sure."

I'm still trying to get my head straight from what happened last night. Twice's erratic behavior is not helping.

We silently eat together, or as silently as you can do anything with Twice.

"Boss'll be with you soon. He's talking with his Sensei right now."

All For One.

Next, Twice leads me to the same bar area I saw yesterday. Shigaraki is sitting in a chair, scratching at his neck.

"You eat?"

I nod and sit down.

We sit quietly, the only sounds coming from Twice drumming on a bar stool.

"It is good that at least one of the people we thought we could convince joined."

I bite my tongue. I still don't want to think about the one they couldn't convince.

"Well, I already wanted to join, I just didn't know how." I give an awkward smile. "It's not like you put up flyers or anything."

I still don't know how to act around this guy.

Shigaraki takes a moment to think. Man, it's hard to tell his emotions while he's wearing that hand on his face.

"Recruitment has been a problem. Kurogiri and Giran can only do so much. Although…" Shigaraki starts scratching his neck. "The Hero Killer has helped to solve that."

He sounds angry… I didn't know he hated Stain. I thought they worked together, given how close their goals were.

He recovers. "Right. Speaking of which, why did you want to join us in the first place?"

"I want to defeat Class A."

"Class A?" He questions. "Of U. A.?"

"Yes."

"Then you must be very happy right now."

"I… Yes."

"We have a lot in common."

That makes me feel disgusted.

"Do you know Izuku Midoriya?"

Huh? Why Midoriya?

"Uh, yeah. Why do you ask?"

He starts scratching himself again. "I want to kill him. He looks up to All Might. He reminds me too much of him."

Midoriya is too much like All Might? That doesn't seem to be the case. Although, I guess it's not like there's anyone else in Class A that fits that description.

"I'll… try and tell you what I know. But I don't have much experience fighting him."

Shigaraki continues scratching himself. I take that as a request to continue.

"He always fights recklessly, but his quirk is so powerful he ends up injuring himself." I try to think back to my very few instances with Midoriya. "He really cares about his classmates. I insulted his classmate during a fight and he lost control."

He did a lot more than "lose control."

Shigaraki stops scratching. "That sure sounds like an annoying hero." He pauses for a moment. "Can you copy my quirk?"

"What?"

"That is your quirk right? It was hard to tell. Some other people said your quirk was growing mushrooms, but that was just your classmate's quirk, right?"

"Uh, yeah. I can copy most quirks just fine. It's only accumulation quirks I can't use."

"Twice." He commands. Twice grabs an empty bottle and brings it to our table.

Shigaraki holds out his arm. I touch the back of his hand to copy his quirk.

"Hold it above the table." He says. "We don't want to have to replace it."

I hold the bottle as he described and activate his quirk, disintegrating it into dust.

"Impressive!" He says gleefully, as Twice gives applause in the background. "You can really create an exact copy of my quirk!"

Shigaraki's tone turns serious again. "You'll have to learn all of our quirks so you can copy them in battle."

He turns to Twice. "Twice's quirk lets him copy anything, but he refuses to copy himself. If you can copy his quirk, then we will become unstoppable."

Shigraki turns back to me, pulling another hand out from his pockets. "Sensei told me to give this to you."

I flinch when I look at it closer. It's Setsuna's hand, only modified in the same manner as the ones on Shigaraki.

"It was strange to see a hand that was moving even detached from its owner. It stopped bouncing around at some point."

"It's Setsuna's quirk. She can split her body into different pieces, but they stop moving after a period of time."

He tilts his head. "Was she one of your friends?"

"No… just a classmate. But, it still hurt to have her try to kill me."

He leans back in his chair. "Consider that hand a welcome gift. It means you're one of us now. Put it on your face like I do."

I look at Twice, who has the face of a relative that wants you to put on the clothes they just bought you. I turn back to look at Shigaraki.

I… really wish I knew how much I had to take this guy seriously.

I put her hand on my face. It takes a moment to figure out how to get it to stop slipping.

"You look good." He says.

I take Shigaraki's words with the largest grain of salt.

We sit there in silence for a moment, until my patience runs dry.

"How the fuck do you see through this shit?"

The room turns silent. Oh fuck, he's going to kill me.

"It took some getting used to." He finally says.

 

[iamawesome300]

"You don't have to wear it like I do." Shigaraki says.

Thank fuck.

"You just have to keep it close to you. Let it be a reminder of your hatred for hero society."

It's clear that Shigaraki is just as crazy as Twice, only marginally better at hiding it.

Twice crushes me in a bear hug. "Hooray! You're on the team!"

Why do I always get stuck with the huggers?

"Dabi and Spinner are probably in the training facility if you want to talk to them." Shigaraki says.

Why not? Let's explore this asylum.

Twice leads me to wherever I'm going.

I'm a little disappointed in how easily they believed me when I said I was a villain, or maybe disappointed in how entirely possible such a scenario really is.

The "training facility" is more like a gym. Spinner is attacking a punching bag, while Dabi is just leaning against a wall.

I'll talk to the tired one first. If he attacks me, I can dodge.

"Hi, uh, Spinner? Shigaraki sent me around to meet you."

Spinner takes a break from the punching bag, turning to me. "What do you think about Stain?"

Uh, that's a difficult question.

"Uh, he's cool?"

Spinner begins to rant loudly. "Stain taught me the way to save society! We need to destroy these fake heroes, so that true heroism can begin to flourish! Only by following Stain's tenets is that possible!"

At least he wears his heart on his sleeve.

Spinner looks past me toward Dabi, who began to leave the room the second Spinner started ranting about Stain.

"Hey…" He says in a much quieter voice. "You can copy quirks, right?"

I nod my head, surprised by the rapid switch in volume.

"Can you copy heteromorphic quirks?"

I rub the back of my head. "Yeah, it just… makes me uncomfortable when I do it."

Spinner grimaces. "I can understand that."

Oh shit, I look prejudiced.

"Uh, listen. It's not that I'm uncomfortable using the quirk, it's just that copying it is uncomfortable."

Spinner nods. "So… Can you copy my quirk?"

I take a deep breath. Well, this is something I'm going to have to do sooner or later. I grab onto his arm and copy.

It's a strange feeling, having every part of your body transform at once. The face is the worst part, as I can feel it protruding as the transformation finishes.

I take a step back, trying to get used to this new body I find myself in. I look down at my hands, which are now more like claws.

"Huh." Spinner says in quiet surprise. "You really look like me."

"Do you not meet a lot of other heteromorphs?"

He wrinkles his nose. "People like me, we try not to go out a lot."

"I see. I can understand the feeling."

Spinner looks down at his feet. "I wish I had a quirk like yours."

I chuckle. "You know, it's strange. Most people either envy my quirk or mock it relentlessly. There's nobody that says, 'Wow, Monoma, you sure do have a normal quirk.' I'm either the good kind of special or the bad kind of special. There's no in between."

"I wish I could be 'the good kind of special,' even for a moment."

"At least you have something to be proud of. I only have what I take from others."

Spinner laughs. "Proud? I got nothing to be proud of. All that I got from this quirk is misery."

"Aside from the lizard form-"

"Gecko."

"Aside from the gecko form, what does your quirk do?"

He shrugs. "I can climb on walls. That's about it."

I look up at the walls of the gym. I stick my hand against the wall and climb up it. I make it to the top before climbing down, exhausted.

"Takes more energy than it looks, doesn't it?"

"Yeah."

Spinner's one of those types of people who will give you their life story just after meeting.

Exiting the gym, I notice Dabi outside.

"Hey, Dabi-"

"Don't talk to me."

Two types of people.

"Toga is probably in her room." says Twice from behind me. "You wouldn't want to disturb her."

Yeah, probably not.

"Well, since you're here anyway, why don't I try your quirk?"

Twice flinches. "Um, my quirk's a bit complex. You'll need to know the exact measurements of what you're copying. I have the measurements of everyone in the League written down, but we'll need to get yours too. I think Mr. Compress can measure you."

"Fair enough."

Mr. Compress's room has clearly been decorated. The bed, the desk, the dresser, everything in the room can be described as fancy.

Mr. Compress begins his measurements and begins talking with me. "I found out your hero name was 'Phantom Thief.' Always a pleasure to meet a fellow fan of great thieves."

This is now the second villain who has copied my fashion. It's getting tedious.

"Monoma, are you aware of who Oji Harima is?"

"The great thief? Of course I know who he is, everyone does."

"Well then," Mr. Compress says turning to measure my other side. "You will be delighted to know that I am his progeny."

"You're related to the great thief?" I ask, shocked. Twice mimics my response, pressing his hands to his head in an exaggerating fashion.

"Indeed!" says Mr. Compress. "His descendants have carried on his mission of fighting corruption to this very day."

My head's in a whirl. This man is no mere copy. He certainly has the credentials for the role.

"If you would like, I could create a replica of your costume for later."

"Please." I nod to the man who has finished the measurements.

I leave Mr. Compress's room with Twice following after.

"Wow! Who would have thought that Mr. Compress has such a famous family!"

"Yeah."

Why does Twice keep following me? Is he keeping watch or is he just lonely?

I come back to the bar, where Toga is drumming on the bar stool just like Twice was earlier. Shared brain, these two.

The girl pauses her drumming to study me. "Hmm, no. You're not my type."

I feel a wave of rage wash over me, before mentally smacking myself, remembering that I'm getting angry about being rejected by a psychotic murderer. I wish I wasn't so desperate.

Shigaraki speaks to me from behind. "Sensei called again. He wants you to speak to him."

 

[iamawesome300]

I stand in front of the screen Shigaraki uses to communicate with his teacher, a wave of fear washing over me.

The screen turns on, but I can't see anything. It looks like a dark room. Some medical tubes are visible but that's it.

A powerful voice comes through the speakers. "Greetings. I am All For One, founder of the League of Villains."

Everyone in the room flinches, except for me. I've been knocked down to my knees, paralyzed by fear.

"I can see that you have been told the horror stories of my actions." He pauses. "Neito Monoma."

Hearing his voice say my name forces me to shiver. I clearly underestimated how horrifying it would be to even hear his voice, let alone be in his presence.

"I'm… sorry." I croak out. "I… still have the lessons they burned into me."

All For One laughs. "This hero society spreads word of my evil actions, terrifying all who come across me. They do not spread word of immense kindness I am capable of." He pauses once again. "But that is not the only reason you fear me, is it?"

"No, it isn't…" I trail off, not knowing how to refer to him. "What should… I call you?"

He gently chuckles. "You may refer to may by whichever name you desire," He pauses again. "Neito."

Hearing him call me by my first name makes me sick to my stomach. Not even my classmates call me Neito.

"Then… I will call you 'Sensei,' just as Shigaraki does." If I don't call him 'All For One,' maybe it will be easier to speak to him.

"Well then, 'student.'" He says in a voice that I almost think is sarcastic. "Why is it that you hold such fear for me?"

He probably has some type of lie-detecting quirk. I should be as honest as possible, even if it would hurt my chances of gaining the villain's trust.

I take a deep breath before responding. "You quirk… Sensei," the word coming from my mouth like I swallowed an emetic. "I am terrified that you will take my quirk from me."

He laughs again, but I'm not sure if his laugh is meant to be reassuring. "You do not have to fear the loss of your quirk, Neito, if you follow my orders with obedience. Besides," He pauses again, as if to make sure he has my attention. "I have no current desire for your quirk, Neito. It is redundant with my own."

I allow myself to feel a moment of relief. I don't care if it hurts me later, I need this now.

"Your quirk is nothing more than a copy of mine."

The words punch me in the gut.

"If there is a quirk I desire, I will simply take it. I have no need for your quirk, as it is inferior to my own."

I sink lower into the floor, if that was even possible. I was happy to learn that he didn't want to steal my quirk, but to learn it was because it was worthless to him, it's devastating in ways I can't describe.

"Did Tomura give you my present?"

Setsuna's hand? It felt more like a warning than a present.

"Yes… He did, Sensei."

"Wonderful! But do you know why I gave it to you?"

"To… show the similarities between myself and Shigaraki? The hand on his face is his father's, correct? And the one you gave me was my classmate's. You want us to bond?"

"Well, that was certainly part of the reason. But the main reason I gave it to you, was so that you always have something that will make you remember how you had betrayed your classmates."

I wish I could forget that.

"It will be an important memento of the day you finally became a villain."

'Finally became a villain' he says. Not just, 'became a villain.' Like it was a question of when, not if.

"That is all I have to say to you right now, Neito. But you should know, I look forward to how you will follow my commands. And of course, how you follow Tomura's."

The screen goes dark.

I take a deep breath. I hadn't noticed how my heart was racing during the conversation.

My first interaction with 'Sensei,' wasn't the best or worst case scenario, but I don't think it matters. It's clear to me that even if he trusts me, my new Sensei doesn't think I'm a threat. He might even be aware that I'm spying on him, only allowing me to do so because he knows I can't stop him.

"He's a very kind man." Shigaraki tells me, lifting me off my knees. "You don't need to be afraid of him."

I wish I didn't.

I give Shigaraki an awkward smile. "Right. Just a bad first impression."

Twice gives me another hug, which I welcome this time. I would be willing to accept a hug from anyone at this point.

"The first thing you need to do," Shigaraki announces, "is train your control of Twice's quirk."

I nod, following Shigraki and Twice to the gym.

I hold in my hand a paper that has the measurements of all the League of Villains written down, myself included.

"You might not want to start with yourself." says Shigaraki.

I copy Twice's quirk, before creating a double of Shigaraki.

The Shigaraki double looks around the room confused.

"You are a Twice double, you were created to see if Monoma could copy his quirk." says the real Shigaraki.

"Ah." says the double, before disintegrating itself.

"There doesn't seem to be any difficulties in copying the quirk itself." I tell Shigaraki.

He nods. "Try doubling yourself."

"Wait, Shigaraki!" interrupts Twice. "If he doubles himself…" He trails off.

I follow his gaze to Shigaraki. "Are there any dangers in using the quirk on myself?"

"Twice used his quirk on himself. It led to him being the way he is now."

"What specifically caused that?"

Shigaraki begins scratching himself. "Twice often commanded his doubles like he was royalty. They led a revolt, tying him to a chair as they argued over who was the real one, and killed each other."

I turn to Twice. He's hunched over, grabbing his shoulders like a scared child.

"Is there any way to prevent that from happening?" I ask Shigaraki.

"Just use it for small things. Don't treat them as permanent servants."

I use Twice's quirk on myself. It's strange to look at myself when it isn't a mirror.

My double goes through the same confusion as the previous one, before locking it's eyes with mine.

"Another me?" It says.

Twice has curled into a ball on the ground, moaning.

"Actually," Shigaraki says. "You're the double."

The double doesn't break eye contact with me.

"We're not afraid of dying, right?"

"No." I reply. "We're not."

 

[artanis00]

The double doesn't break eye contact with me.

"We're not afraid of dying, right?"

"No." I reply. "We're not."

Click to shrink...

Wait, how does this interact with the time travel quirk?

 

[iamawesome300]

I spend the next few days mastering my "teammates'" quirks.

As far as I can tell, every member of the League of Villains is some type of crazy.

Twice has split personality disorder, I think. My only psychology experience is skimming a textbook. After all, I'm not a psychiatrist. In any case, it's obvious he's extremely lonely by the way he latched onto me instantly. He constantly asks me if I'm okay with copying his quirk, worried that I might end up with a similar problem. I tried to ask him about his life before the League of Villains, but he refused to tell me, saying "It's not a fun story." I'm trying to think of a way to help him for next loop, but considering how long he's suffered from his affliction as well as his already lengthy criminal record, I don't have high hopes.

Dabi speaks to me as little as possible, but that's something I share with the rest of the League, so I'm not worried about it. He's incinerated twenty people by media estimates. The real number could be more or less. I think he has antisocial personality disorder. Or he just likes burning people. I can't think of a way to help him, given most of the murders happened before the loop.

Toga says her blood-related quirk causes her to kill people. I think that's bullshit because Mr. Vlad has one too, but he's never killed anyone. But then again, I haven't spoken to him about that. I know, I'm a poor student for never asking my teacher if he's ever wanted to kill someone, but strangely the question never came to mind.

I tried asking Toga about her life before the League of Villains and she threatened to kill me, so I don't see a lot of options down that path. I know she snapped and attacked a classmate, maybe she needs a counselor or something. Unless she already had a counselor and it didn't help. It's hard trying to work with someone who is a threat to you. I barely have any idea how to help her.

Spinner is the least crazy out of everyone, although that's not a high bar to pass. He was a shut-in, bullied for his heteromorphic quirk. He saw Stain's video and idolized him, fashioning himself as Stain's "legacy." I doubt he would have ever joined the League of Villain's if he had friends.

Mr. Compress is obsessed about his family legacy. He says his family had numerous "great thieves" who fought corruption. I wish I could understand how helping a sociopath take over the country is "fighting corruption."

Kurogiri is completely silent about the topic of his past. He only talks about how he is Shigaraki's caretaker. The man's obsessed. Shigaraki seems to respect him a great deal. I think Kurogiri really just wants to see Shigaraki succeed. I have no idea why though.

Shigaraki is the grandson of All Might's predecessor. He says that his Sensei saved him when he was a child. Shigaraki has been raised by him ever since. I doubt that Shigaraki will ever turn on him, having spent his entire life listening to his criticisms of hero society. One thing that surprises me about Shigaraki is how independent his leadership of the League of Villains really is. I had assumed that Sensei would have given him commands or even guidelines, but he seems free to allow Shigaraki to do whatever he wants, not that it makes Shigaraki happy. He seems really anxious all the time for reasons I don't understand. He's always scratching himself and sometimes he'll randomly fly into rage only to be emotionless seconds later.

I wish I could help these people, but they all have problems beyond my capabilities. I doubt even Kendo could help them.

I flinch at the thought of my classmate. I've been trying to avoid thinking about them lately. Whenever they come to mind all I can think about is how they all hate me right now. I keep telling myself it's just for this loop, but I still have trouble continuing. I'm nothing without them.

Shigaraki speaks to me one day. "Get ready. We have to meet someone a bit from now. A yakuza named Overhaul."

Overhaul. I remember the partnership between Overhaul and the League didn't end well last time. Maybe this time I can prevent it from ever forming?

"Shigaraki, we need to be careful about Overhaul."

He scratches himself. "You know him?"

"We learned about him in hero class." I hope he buys that lie. "His quirk allows him to tear someone apart and put them back together. He also has bullets that destroy your quirk if you're hit by them." I pause a moment. "He's known to be an asshole, even by criminal standards."

Shigaraki nods. "I'll keep that in mind." He goes to ask the others to prepare for the meeting. I'm preparing for a fight.

The meeting is in a warehouse. I'm standing close to Shigaraki, Kurogiri and Mr. Compress in case I need to copy their quirks.

Overhaul enters the warehouse with Twice coming behind. Twice takes a spot next to me.

Overhaul looks around the warehouse before resting on Shigaraki, the obvious leader.

"I was led to believe you are under the leadership of All For One. Where is he?" He asks.

Shigaraki responds. "No. All For One is our founder and my sensei, but I am the leader of the League of Villains. He trusts me to handle this."

Overhaul scoffs. "Fair enough. I have come today to offer a business opportunity for All For One. If you are acting in his stead, then you should hear it, correct?"

Shigaraki pauses. "That depends on what it is. What are you offering us?"

Overhaul raises his hands to draw attention. "I have a method of developing a bullet that will destroy the quirk of someone struck by it."

Eri.

"With funding, I could create a large quantity of these. More than enough to assist in your plans, whatever they may be."

Shigaraki turns to me before looking back at Overhaul. "We have no need for such a weapon. We have all the strength we need."

Overhaul glares at Shigaraki. "I am disappointed. I expected more from All For One, even just a representative. Such ego will not help you face down a hero."

Shigaraki replies. "It isn't ego. We have belief in our strength. It isn't our fault that you don't."

"Don't get smart with me kid. I've been in this longer than you have. I have no need for a child to tell me what to do."

I copy Shigaraki, Kurogiri, Mr. Compress and Twices' quirks. The League is temperamental. This is going to lead to violence.

Spinner shouts out. "We don't need a yakuza to tell us what to do!" He charges at Overhaul.

There it is.

I create doubles immediately, teleporting them to protect Spinner. One pulls him back as Overhaul tries to grab him. The double continues to teleport to Overhaul, grabbing and disintegrating him to a pile of dust..

"Boss! No!"

Four yakuza members break through the walls of the warehouse. My teammates have recovered enough from the initial shock to prepare themselves for combat.

"No! Stay back! Let the doubles fight!"

Of the four yakuza, one is giant, one is miniscule and two are normal-sized. The normal-sized ones have guns, so they get targeted first. One of the yakuza uses his quirk to freeze a double in place, but is quickly disintegrated by other doubles. The second yakuza with a gun continues firing until he runs out of bullets, having been overwhelmed by doubles. The final two yakuza are easily killed by the doubles, with the miniscule one growing larger as a result of his quirk.

The fight started and ended in minutes.

I'm breathing heavily, as the last few doubles disintegrate themselves. I turn to my teammates, who are breathing just as heavily as I am. Spinner is still in the spot I pushed him to, only with a look of horror on his face.

"You-" He sputters out. "You saved me."

I give a nod to Spinner before turning to Shigaraki.

"That was impressive, Monoma." He says. "Congratulations for killing them so quickly."

Killing them?

My heart stops as the gravity of what I've done finally hits me.

I just killed people. That was the first time in any life that I've done that.

I fall to my knees.

"Whoa! Are you okay buddy?" Asks a concerned Twice.

"I killed… I just…" My words fail.

"Relax." Offers a dismissive Dabi. "It gets easier."

That is not what I want to hear.

I fall to the ground and start puking.

Twice pats my back until Kurogiri teleports us away.

At the bar I remain sitting in a chair reflecting on my actions.

It's not real. This loop will be replaced anyway. It doesn't matter if I kill someone now because they'll be alive next loop.

But it doesn't matter. Ending a life, even if only temporarily, still affects me.

One by one, the villains leave to go to bed until only Shigaraki and Twice are left.

Shigaraki sits beside me. "Hey, are you okay?"

No, I'm not okay you crazy asshole.

I don't say anything.

"Listen," he says in a small voice, "I sometimes feel weird after killing people too. I usually feel better once I put Father's hand on my face. Why don't you try it with your friend's hand?"

I give Shigaraki's insane suggestion a gentle nod of acceptance before standing up and walking to my room.

I can't get to sleep.

I sit up on the bed turning to gaze at my dresser. I put Setsuna's hand in there, and it's remained there since I received it.

I open the dresser to remove the hand, holding it tightly, as if I'm afraid it'll suddenly come to life again.

Aside from the costume Mr. Compress made me, this hand is my only possession. I feel pitiful.

Shigaraki can't be serious about the hand thing, right? He's just a crazy person.

But what if he's right?

I attach Setsuna's hand to my face. It's much easier the second time. At first, I don't feel anything, until I suddenly feel a warm, calming sensation deep inside me.

Maybe Shigaraki was onto something about the hand thing. Maybe he isn't crazy.

Or maybe I'm just as crazy as him.

 

[iamawesome300]

The next day I spar with Spinner.

He catches one of my punches and steps back.

"You're not like us, are you?"

There's a million different things he could be talking about so I keep my mouth shut.

"I mean, like, you have friends."

"Friends?"

He nods. "Your classmates. You clearly miss them."

"I don't really think of my classmates as my friends. They're way too high above me to ever really be my friends."

Spinner sits down to rest. I join him.

"The rest of us only really joined because we didn't have any options." His tone switches anger. "But you had options. You didn't have to join."

"I'm sorry, I-"

"No, no." He waves his hands. "I'm not angry at you, I'm angry at myself." He looks down. "I wish I had to give things up. Becoming Stain's legacy would mean a lot more if I had to sacrifice something." He turns to look at me. "You believe in this more than any of us."

Yeah, that's right. I believe in this.

"Friends, huh?" He sighs. "What's it like?"

"I already told you I don't think of them as my friends."

"Well, tell me what it's like being close to your classmates, then. Because I never even had that."

I take a deep breath as I try to think about what Spinner wants from me. Does he really just want stories of Class B? I doubt that.

"Well, it isn't as glamorous as you would think. Not that I'm mad about that, anyway. I thought the same thing at first. I really believed that U. A. would be a new start, where I could finally… I don't know. Be important, I guess? It seems so stupid now."

"What went wrong?" Spinner asks.

"Heh. Nothing went wrong. At least by U. A. standards. Class A received all the attention. My class, Class B, was always in the background because of them. They fight off some villains and they think they're so much better than us. It's ridiculous. My class is so much better than they could ever be. I just wish I could show them."

"Man, I thought it would have been so much easier. But if you weren't even happy, what chance did I have?"

"I don't think anyone would have had a chance. Ever since the attack on U. A., Class A is all that's mattered. And it gets worse over time. The Sports Festival, Stain, Overhaul, Class A gets all the attention."

"Wait, they fought Overhaul too?"

"Uh, yeah. That was how I got the information about Overhaul from."

Shit, that was sloppy. I need to calm down.

"I get the feeling that no matter what I do, they'll always be treated like they're better than us." I turn to Spinner. "You never had someone like that?"

Spinner brushes his hands on his pants. "I sometimes get afraid that I'll never live up to Stain's legacy. But I don't think I have that feeling as bad as you do."

I guess not. It'd be pretty hard to have it as bad as me.

"All the time."

"What?"

"All the time. Them being better than me. All the time, it's all I think about. They get interviewed by journalists, they get more support from the teachers, they get internships with the top heroes." I lower my head. "They get treated like people. That's more than I'll ever get."

Spinner leans away from me, averting his eyes. "Stain says that heroes shouldn't demand recognition. It corrupts the concept of heroism."

"Well of course we shouldn't demand recognition. But that doesn't mean we don't want it. I'm not asking to be treated like a god, I'm asking for someone to actually give a fuck about me. You know?"

He responds in a soft voice. "Yeah. I guess I do."

We spend a moment sitting on the bench. I hadn't even noticed how tired I was just from talking.

"What do you mean 'we?'" He says.

"Huh?"

"You said 'we' shouldn't demand recognition. Like you still think of yourself as a hero."

I don't have the energy to be shocked or panicked, I just turn to look at him. "In our own way, we are heroes. Right?"

Spinner is staring down at the ground. "Yeah."

I'm embarrassed having unloaded that on Spinner. I guess it's good luck that I did it with someone as understanding as him. Toga might have tried cheering me up by cutting an arm off or something.

A few days later Shigaraki calls us to the bar.

"Sensei wants to talk to us."

The screen turns on, once again showing the dark room Sensei resides in, surrounded by medical tubes. I never put much thought into his injuries. I wonder, is the only reason All Might defeated him because he was wounded? That's a horrifying thought. I guess during the next loop he'll have to be defeated before he can heal.

"Tomura, I have a gift for you."

I shiver. He somehow manages to make gift-giving a nightmarish act. Though I doubt it's pleasant.

"Thank you Sensei."

"I have a subordinate of mine hidden in the mountains. I want you to meet him."

"Of course, Sensei."

The loyalty that Shigaraki shows his Sensei makes me uncomfortable. How miserable did Shigaraki's previous life have to be for him to care so much about a monster? I hope it was something horrible. It's a strange thing when I'm hoping that someone's life was as terrible as it could possibly be. But here I am, hoping that Shigaraki wasn't a normal person. Because I don't want to think that anyone could become him.

"His name is Gigantomachia. His appearance fits the description. If you manage to form a relationship with him the same way I have, then nothing will ever stop you from achieving your dreams."

I try to analyze his statement for any hidden meaning. Unfortunately, he seems to be being completely open right now.

"Kurogiri will be teleporting all of you directly to him. Good luck, my apprentice."

 

[iamawesome300]

We exit Kurogiri's portal to rocky terrain. A quick look around shows some trees behind me but aside from that area is as mountainous as Sensei described.

The earth shakes suddenly. Our group turns to look in the sound's direction, where a shape is coming from further away, gradually appearing into focus as I can see that it's human. Or looks that way, in any case.

The person grows larger as they come closer to us. Far larger than any person should be able to be. I take a step back as everyone near me responds with further shock.

"Are you Gigantomachia?" Shigaraki asks… it.

"Master! Master! Where is Master?" it says in response.

"Is 'Master' All For One?" Shigaraki responds.

The creature responds with tears of joy, cheering for the recognition of his "Master."

"I was sent here by All For One to form a relationship with you, similar to that of the one you have with him."

Its tears turn to shock. "Why Master? Why is he the one you sent? Why someone so weak?"

The rest of us turn to look at each other. This was clearly not what anyone was expecting.

Shigaraki turns to his caretaker. "Kurogiri, what do we do?"

"You have to demonstrate your strength to Gigantomachia. He won't obey you otherwise."

Shigaraki groans. "Sensei wants me to prove my strength. He must see this 'Gigantomachia' as a worthy test."

"Does that mean he's testing all of us?" asks Twice.

Who knows what that psychopath wants.

"He sent us all here, so he must expect all of us to fight him."

Joy.

"Are you out of your mind Shigaraki?" asks a panicking Spinner.

"Sensei trusts me to defeat him. I won't fail."

Yes.

Shigaraki rushes into combat against the giant creature, with Dabi and Kurogiri following after him. The rest of us stand back, clearly not wishing to join this fight.

"He might get mad if we do nothing." Mr. Compress says after a few minutes.

"Yes, but it might take him a while to get to that point." I add.

"A while" seems to be a couple hours, as that's when Shigaraki returns from the thrashing at Gigantomachia's hands.

"You need to help me in this!" He shrieks.

We sigh. No point in refusing him. I copy Twice's quirk and create some doubles.

The doubles look up at the creature and turn back to me. "I see no point in fighting this battle. It's pointless." A double says.

Twice flinches at that and raises his arms to drive a fist through the offending double.

"Certainly." I reply. "You can be the Monoma that has to speak to Toga."

The double winces before heading to fight Gigantomachia. The creature will be less painful.

The fight against the creature stretches into days. Kurogiri has set up a campsite. Toga has found a bag of marshmallows, God knows where, and is toasting one over a fire.

Spinner has his uniform off, both hands stuffed in his jacket pocket. "Toga, you joined the League of Villains because of Stain, right?"

Spinner must truly be lonely if he's looking for conversation with Toga of all people.

"Yup!" She claps her hands. "I joined because of Mr. Stainy!"

"But," He says quieter. "Why do you stay in the League of Villains?"

Having a change of heart Spinner?

"I love Mr. Stainy! I love Izuku! I love Ochako! I love being able to become so many that I love!"

I have a hard time wrapping my head around Toga's "love." Never thought I would feel bad for members of Class A.

"You sure are free." says a resigned Spinner.

"I don't think she's really 'free,' Spinner." I say wanting to save him from giving up. "She's just as trapped by Stain as you are."

"Trapped?" He says confused.

"You might have chosen to follow Stain, but even if that was your choice, his actions force yours more than you would like."

Spinner looks down. "I have to follow Stain's tenets. No matter how miserable I am."

"It's the only thing that keeps you going?" I ask.

"Yeah."

I wish I didn't understand.

I turn to the other one "What about you, Toga? Is your 'love' the only thing that keeps you going?"

She has a strange look on her face, like she didn't completely understand the question. "What else keeps people going if not love?"

If not for your definition of love, that statement might be very thoughtful.

"Heh. You're right Toga." says Spinner. "It would be a lot harder without our friends." He suddenly leans back. "We are friends, aren't we?"

Toga slams her stick into the dirt. "Of course we're friends, Spinner!"

He turns to me. "And you?"

I panic a little at the question "Um, sure. We're friends."

Great. Now that I've said it, I'll start believing it.

Spinner gives an uncomfortable smile. I just now realized something. Uncomfortable smiles might be the only smiles he can make.

"Yeah." He says with the little amount of happiness he's capable of feeling. "We're friends."

The fight against Gigantomachia continues from days to weeks. Shigaraki's become sleep-deprived. The rest of us are more bored than tired.

"I'm a lot closer, compared to when we started." Shigaraki says. "I swear I'll bring that gorilla to his knees!"

Can't fault his determination, at the very least.

Twice gets a phone call. Surprising, since we're all out here.

"Oh? It's Giran."

"Who?" I ask.

"Arms dealer guy." Dabi reminds me.

"You don't remember Giran?" Twice asks, shocked. "You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Ah." I say in remembrance.

"And after everything he's done for us too!"

Twice shakes his head and picks up his phone.

"Are you Jin Bubaigawara, villain name Twice?" says a distorted voice.

"Who is this? Where's Giran?"

"Right here. Alive of course."

 

[iamawesome300]

"Who the fuck are you?" asks a furious Twice.

"I am Re-Destro, the supreme leader of the Meta-Liberation Army."

The Meta-Liberation Army. So this must be how the PLF formed.

"We're in the middle of something." Shigaraki added. "Release the broker."

Re-Destro laughed. "We have made preparations for this day. We have 116,516 warriors!"

I know he's not exaggerating. I have enough proof from all the bases from before.

"Niigata, huh? You sure are high up in the mountains."

I flinch at that. "How the fuck do you know our location?"

"We have a satellite camera locked on you."

Fuck, Detnerat has more resources than I thought.

"We will notify the heroes of your location, if you do not do as we say. You have taken our limelight, and we will destroy you personally, demonstrating the righteousness of Meta Liberation!"

I can't fault the man for his strategy. If he wants people to support him, defeating an enemy the government couldn't is an excellent way to make that happen.

"You will come to Deika City in one hour and we will release Giran."

I become nauseous. Deika City was destroyed in a villain attack last time. I'm not looking forward to finding out the exact way it happened.

"We have to save Giran!" Twice shouts.

"We don't even know if he's still alive." Toga says.

The other members continue to bicker about what to do about the kidnapped arms dealer as I sit on the ground, thoughts running a mile a minute.

This is not going to go well, I know that. What the fuck am I supposed to do now? An entire city is going to be destroyed, followed by the largest terrorist attack in modern history. And I'll be forced to sit through all of it.

I can't do this. What the fuck am I supposed to do? What the fuck am I supposed to do?

"It's simple." Shigaraki says. "I'll toss Gigantomachia at those 110,000 and let them fight it out."

Kurogiri teleports us to Deika City.

"Hey, are you all right?" Spinner's voice is filled with obvious concern.

"I'm just… terrified about the coming fight."

"It's all right. We'll be fine if we stick together."

You might be. Not so sure about myself.

"Stop!" shouts a familiar voice.

No…

"I've been commanded to be your guide." says Slidin' Go, appearing before us.

"Slidin' Go, why?" I scream at him, finally losing it.

"Monoma?" He says shocked. "I had heard you joined the League of Villains, but…"

"Why? Why did you join the Liberation Army?"

Tears are streaming down my face.

"Monoma," Spinner asks, "You know this guy?"

"I interned with him." I say, wiping the tears from my eyes. "I never expected him to- to-"

"Monoma." Slidin' Go answers. "I have questions of my own, chum. Why did you join the League of Villains? I knew you were troubled but I never thought this was where you would end up."

Slidin' Go's disappointment manages to hit me, even though I've discovered his own secrets.

"I… I'm sorry."

Even if I told the truth he would never believe me.

"Why did you join the Liberation Army? Please, I need to know."

Slidin' Go gives me a sad smile. "I had no choice, Monoma. Meta Liberation has to be fought for no matter the cost."

"But why did you need to fight?" I plead in desperation. "Why couldn't you just vote for the parties who support it?"

Slidin' Go looks at me with a serious face. "Monoma, do you realize what an outrageous request that is? To demand someone wait for popular opinion to change? To demand someone wait for the slow tide of bureaucracy to turn? To demand someone wait for the government to give them their own freedom?"

"I… Well is it better to become a vigilante? To fill the world with more violence than it already has?"

Slidin' Go closes his eyes in resignation. "If the government refuses to make quirks a basic human right, then violence becomes the only possible solution." He looks me in the eyes. "Whatever it takes for Meta Liberation."

"Whatever it takes," he says. I guess I never thought about how all-encompassing those words were until now. I was foolish to think I understood how much it took. And it could take even more than this.

"You're right." I answer. "You're right, but I can't support you anyway. And I realize how ridiculous that is. I don't know if it's because I've fallen for propaganda or if I'm just too broken."

Slidin' Go gives me a gentle hug. "You're not broken, Monoma. It's the system that's broken."

"The system. Me. It doesn't matter which one's broken. Even if both are broken, the result stays the same. I'll never be happy."

"Don't say that Monoma. You can never abandon hope."

Hope. I guess that's what separates me from Slidin' Go. He's an idealist at heart. He will never abandon hope. But I'm the opposite. I don't see the point in hoping for anything. Hope is a burden. If you hope for something, you'll just end up disappointed. I wish I could be like Slidin' Go. I wish I could believe that the world is a good place and that good things will happen, but I can't do that.

"I'm sorry, Slidin' Go, but I don't believe that. I wish I could."

"You can join us, Monoma. The Meta Liberation Army can help you. They've helped thousands of people just like you. Even when normal quirk counselor's fail, the Liberation Army's don't." He looks directly into my eyes. His eyes are filled with hope, with warmth, with conviction. "I know that you are not broken."

Shigaraki steps forward. "Monoma works for me. I won't let you take him from me."

I pull Shigaraki back. "I want to take you up on that offer, Slidin' Go, I really do. But unfortunately, I can't." I need to learn Sensei's plans.

I return Slidin' Go's gaze, looking him in the eye with the little strength that I can muster. "I've got a mission of my own."

Slidin' Go grows a small smile. "All right then. Come with me and I'll take you to the leaders of the Liberation Army."

For all of his faults, inside him is someone who understands.

 

[iamawesome300]

We follow Slidin' Go into Deika City. The streets are empty, but some people are watching us from the rooftops.

Shigraki is mumbling something. "This whole city…"

"That's right!" A man dressed in a suit walks out from an alleyway.

"This is Deika City." He continues. "A liberated district where ninety percent of the population consists of liberation warriors."

An entire city where most of the population are in the Meta Liberation Army. How could nobody notice this?

"Hey," Mr. Compress says, "Isn't that Hanabata, of the Hearts and Minds Party?"

A politician? I guess this is just more proof of "whatever it takes."

"Now," Hanabata says, raising his hand, "Let us begin."

He snaps his fingers, as people jump out from nowhere and begin to attack us.

Shigaraki, Kurogiri, Mr. Compress and Twice. I copy their quirks and begin making doubles.

"Where's Giran?" Twice shouts.

"He is with our supreme leader." The politician says.

"Head to the tower!" Shigaraki commands.

Some of my double's teleport to the tower only to be destroyed immediately.

I shout to my teammates. "Guys! My doubles were destroyed when they teleported to the tower!"

"The boy who abandoned his hero course and joined the League of Villains. You're the U. A. traitor, Neito Monoma, aren't you?"

I turn to the voice, rage burning inside me. Standing across from me is a woman with purple-blue hair and skin, wearing a dress that matches, with a red jacket covering it. She has a gleeful smile on her face, using her thumb and index finger to make a frame with me in it.

"Why did a high school boy betray his classmates and turn to villainy? This shocking interview where he tells all before his death. Will you do that interview with me?"

"I didn't betray my classmates, so you can shut the fuck up about that."

I create more doubles who teleport to her. The doubles are destroyed by explosions before they can grab her. I teleport on top of a small building so I can look down at the woman, creating more doubles who jump down.

"Oh really? That's strange, since from what I read from their interviews, the betrayal they felt was indescribable." She says looking up at me, her hand above her eyes to block the sun. "What I wouldn't give for an interview like that."

The doubles are charged by other liberation warriors. They grab onto the doubles and explode. I step back, reeling from the fact they interviewed Class B, as well as the liberation warriors who threw away their lives.

Class B was finally interviewed, but it was because of my betrayal. I caused them to suffer.

"Why don't you come down from there? It's easier for us to talk." The journalist says.

The building explodes beneath me, sending me flying into the air. I compress myself into a marble to prevent death from falling.

Okay, what do I do now? I can't teleport out of compression, if I get lost I might become compressed for the rest of this life. I need to exit compression before I do anything else, but that would allow the liberation warriors a free shot on me. Create more doubles? No, the decompression might be screwed up by the extra mass, leading to death or worse.

I exit compression and teleport directly above me. With a bird's eye view, I would be able to-

"Argh!" I get knocked out of the air by an explosion sending me plummeting to the earth.

I teleport back into the air to recover, followed by quick teleports to surrounding buildings to throw them off.

"Don't hold back against him." The journalist says, holding some type of support item. "His copies have time limits. You need to keep at him, so he can't create any doubles."

How the fuck does she know that? I need to stop her now.

I spam teleports, creating doubles in the lag time, while gravity is attempting to control me. The doubles teleport directly to her, reaching out to use Decay. A liberation warrior grabs onto the double and explodes.

"You can't attack me!" The journalist shouts. "Our warriors will sacrifice themselves to fight for liberation!"

I teleport over her, dropping a double to attack her. I return to a rooftop, ready to teleport again in case this one explodes. The journalist grabs the double itself, exploding it in her hands.

"How can you throw away your warrior's lives like this? Don't you have any guilt in the deaths you cause?" I shout from the rooftop.

The building explodes, forcing me to teleport again. She clearly doesn't care about the city either.

"It's no different from the doubles you create! Sending them down to fight your battles for you!"

I teleport again to drop another double. Another building explodes before I even reach it.

Shit, they want to deny any safe landing spots.

"The difference," I explain to her, "is that I only sacrifice myself!"

I teleport to the ground, creating a double that is just a hand. I already know that Twice's quirk only needs a hand to be activated. The hand creates a double behind me as a warrior tries to tackle me. The warrior explodes on the double, covering me in his bloody remains.

Fucking hell, these people aren't normal.

"Tell me!" The journalist shouts, manic. "I need to know what caused your betrayal!"

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you!" I shout, teleporting around the rubble of the destroyed building, trying to avoid as many warriors as possible. I manage to create a full double, just as another liberation warrior tries to grab me.

"Stop it!" I scream at the exploding warrior. "Your lives are worth more than this!"

I teleport away again, tears mixing with the blood that now covers me.

"You don't think I would understand?" She shouts again. "Your classmates understood well enough! They said you betrayed them because you were desperate to grow stronger! Desperate to beat your rival class!"

I scream even louder, my voice breaking from all the swarming emotions.

I can't do this. Why? Why do my classmates hate me so much? Why did they so easily believe I became a villain? They really can't even guess that I'm doing this for other reasons?

Another liberation warrior explodes a double behind me.

I can't do this. This is too much. Too much death. Too much misery. Too much. I can't do this.

I grab a liberation warrior, activating Decay to kill him.

Why am I forced to do this? Why am I forced to kill or be killed? Why can't they understand? Why can't they understand they matter? Why can't they understand that I care?

"The constant inferiority!" She shouts.

"Shut up." I teleport above her again. She needs to be stopped.

"It drove you insane!"

"I said 'shut up!'" The double is exploded before it even hits the ground. Explosion quirks must inherently make people assholes.

"It forced you to become a villain, just so you could finally make it stop!"

"Shut the fuck up!"

I teleport above her once again, much higher this time. The doubles are dropped before immediately activating Decay. They land on several liberation warriors, leaving explosion craters in what used to be a normal street.

At least their blood isn't on me.

"Tell me more!" She commands. "Tell me how this society failed you! Tell me how it forced you to compete, just for the right to be treated like a person!"

Even if she's right, I don't care.

I try to use Compression to contain the liberation warriors, but it doesn't matter. Most of the time, all I compress is an explosion.

"You clearly have a tactical mind." She says, stepping over the corpses she made. "What made you like this? What made you spend your entire existence on winning a petty grudge?"

"It's not fucking petty!" I wade through the gore-covered rubble, creating doubles as I try to reach the woman responsible for this.

"I have to defeat them! It's the only way for me to be happy!" I compress as much of the street as possible, trying to make sure the liberation warriors can't reach me.

"I see now!" The woman fires explosions at me as she speaks. "Your quirk is copying! You had no choice but to compare yourself to others! Your classmates called you insane!"

"No they fucking wouldn't!" I ignore the explosions, teleporting directly toward the journalist. "They love me!"

A warrior tries to grab my arm. I create a second double arm to take the explosion. I'm covered in an ocean of red, unable to see. I don't want to think about what's in my eyes right now. I teleport six thousand feet in the air, clawing at my face trying to get the blood out of my eyes. It isn't enough so I can see what I'm doing. I'm still looking through streaks of red as I approach the ground. I teleport again to land on a patch of rubble to get my bearings.

"You didn't read their interviews, did you?"

Damn this woman never quits.

I search around for her and teleport away when I fail to see her.

"They said it was inevitable! You were a villain waiting to happen!"

"I'm not a fucking villain!" I compress the remaining warriors around me and go off in search of the fucking lunatic.

"They called your parents from overseas! They didn't even bother coming back to Japan to help the police!"

Who gives a fuck? Class B is all I really care about.

I march toward the voice. It needs to be silent.

A piece of rubble explodes beneath my feet, flinging me forward. I land on my back, wounded.

A hand grabs my face, pulling me up to look into the voice's eyes.

"You poor boy. You were told you were a monster so much that you had no choice but to become one."

I try to focus my eyes to look at the voice. A face appears in my view.

"Your quirk caused you to be treated so horribly. Like you were a thief, just for trying to be yourself. That's why you chose 'Phantom Thief' to be your hero name, wasn't it?"

The journalist. She is cradling my face like I'm some kind of infant. I struggle to push myself up off the ground.

"'Phantom Thief.' An archetypal character that is distinguished by traits such as wittiness, charisma and only stealing from deserving targets, such as the rich, or the corrupt. That's why you chose the name. You were told all your life that you were nothing more than a thief, so you decided, 'If I must be a thief, then I shall become a thief that people respect.'"

She stops cradling my face and raises her hand to attack me one last time.

"You will become a martyr, showing the world just how broken this hero society is. Through no fault of your own, you were born to play the role of a tragic character."

It's pathetic. As I'm sitting here listening while this journalist prepares to kill me, all that I can think about is how Setsuna once said those same words.

"Are my guesses correct? Please tell me with your own words."

It doesn't matter. Even if the people I love hate me with all their hearts, I will keep fighting for them.

"You are wrong about two things." I spit out.

"Oh? Tell me what they are, I wouldn't want to get anything wrong."

"The first is that I am not a tragic character. My story has a happy ending."

The woman gives a gentle smile. "You still believe you can survive this? Another admirable trait."

"And the second is that I am not a villain. I still desire to be a hero in spite of everything that stands in my way of achieving that."

I reach in my pocket, grabbing the compression marbles within.

"If you think I'm a villain, then you don't understand your subject at all. Some journalist you are! Let me show you who I really am! My name is Neito Monoma, and I am the thief who stole time!"

I shove the marbles in her face, decompressing them causing all the explosions within to be released.

The woman lands on the ground, now missing a head.

"Why don't you taste some of the suffering you've inflicted on others."

I take a moment to look around at the scenery. The street has been completely destroyed. Every building on it has been obliterated. Piles of rubble lie all around covered in blood like a dropped bucket of paint.

Looking down at myself, I'm not much better. My costume is drenched in blood, damaged beyond repair. I try to see around for any survivors from the battle, but I can't find any.

I wanted to save all those people? Some savior I am.

I take one last look at the journalist's corpse before heading to find the others.

If this was the kind of journalist Class A had to deal with, then I don't want to be interviewed anymore.

 

[iamawesome300]

It's clear that my teammates don't need me that much. The dead and wounded are strewn about the streets, more clumped together the closer I get to the tower. Or what's left of it anyway. The tower has taken a beating in the fight as well.

The ground shakes suddenly.

Looking to the outside of the city, I can see Gigantomachia walking toward my location. I decide it's best to just leave right now, after I find the others.

A spray of blue flame is seen over the rooftops.

Dabi wouldn't be my first choice, but at least it's someone. I teleport on top of a building to get a better view. Dabi is in combat against a man with an ice quirk, the sprays of fire and ice clashing in the sky.

"Monoma! Over here!"

I turn to the voice. Mr. Compress is visible down below waving his hands. I teleport to him.

"Monoma, I'm so glad you're safe. Have you seen the others?"

"The others? You mean you haven't seen them either?"

He shakes his head. "No, we were all separated by the explosion. Twice and Toga were together, as well as Shigaraki, Kurogiri and Spinner." He wipes some blood off of his mask. His costume is stained with blood, although it's nothing compared to mine. "We need to find them and get out of here."

I nod. "Gigantomachia will destroy the city." I turn to look at the burnt man battling above. "What about Dabi?"

He shakes his head. "It's no use. I can't get him to move. He's going to fight that ice user to the very end."

"All right. I have Kurogiri's quirk. We can teleport around the city until we spot the others."

Mr. Compress is surprised "Really? Still? I'd have thought your time limit would be up by now."

"It was. Double creates copies of the quirks as well. I've been copying those off of myself for the past while." I grab Mr. Compress and teleport up above. "I'm glad Double isn't an accumulation quirk, otherwise I would have died by now."

"You'll have to thank Twice for that next time you see him." Mr. Compress says, difficult to hear over the wind. He points in a direction. "What the hell is that?"

I look in the direction he's pointing. In the city lies a gigantic crater. That wasn't there before.

"Not sure. Must be man made, though." I teleport us back up into the air to spot the others again.

"There, I see them!"

I turn to follow his gaze, noticing Twice, Toga and Giran on the ground. I teleport down to them.

"Are you guys all right?" I ask.

They're out of breath. "We're fleeing." Twice sputters out.

I look past them where an angry mob can be seen. "All right, I'll teleport us."

I create a portal back to where Dabi was. Looking around, I can't see him.

"Hey! Dabi! Get back here!"

I turn to where Twice is yelling. An angry looking Dabi turns to walk to us.

"What happened to the ice guy?" I shout to him.

"Got smacked by Gigantomachia." He shouts back.

Dabi makes it back to us, as we all try to recover from our exhaustion.

"Anyone seen Spinner?" I ask.

Twice shakes his head. "Not since we last saw him with Shigaraki and Kurogiri."

A giant explosion is heard from far away.

"What the fuck?" Twice turns toward the loud sound.

"That's the direction of the crater. We need to get out of here."

I create a final portal, teleporting the group back to the bar. The others have Kurogiri.

We all crash in a booth, too exhausted to do anything else.

I turn to the other great thief on the team. "Mr. Compress, I'm sorry I got my costume ruined after you put the effort into making it."

"Not to worry, apprentice." He says. "You performed an amazing vanishing act."

After a few minutes, we have enough strength to at least get some drinks. Good, because I'm thirsty.

Mr. Compress's phone starts ringing. "It's Kurogiri." He says, picking it up.

"Are you there?" Kurogiri's voice comes from the phone.

"We're all here Kurogiri. Are you all right?"

"Yes, we're all right. Shigaraki and Spinner are both okay."

"Where are you guys right now?"

"Well," Kurogiri pauses for a moment, "Shigaraki has, erm, won."

The faces around the table turn to smiles.

"So…" I start. "What happened to the corporate guy?"

"Well," Kurogiri answers again, "The League of Villains has just gotten… quite a bit larger."

The next few days are spent getting used to the changing circumstances mostly. Detnerat's resources allowed me to get a new costume. I try to avoid the former Liberation Army members. I doubt they're happy that I killed one of them. We transfer operations to a villa up in the mountains. It was necessary with the increases in scope.

One of the strangest changes has been Shigaraki. Apparently the fight he had with Re-Destro led him to remember a few things he had forgotten. He seems to be less crazy now. Although, considering he wants to destroy everything, that's probably not a good thing.

"We're going to have a celebration." He tells me one day.

"What do you mean?"

"A formal announcement on the merger between the League of Villains and the Meta Liberation Army."

The PLF.

"And Sensei wants to speak to you."

I don't think I can handle any more of him.

"Well, take me to the screen." I tell him

"No, not like that. He's coming here. He wants to meet you in person."

 

[iamawesome300]

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

"Of course. When is he going to get here?"

"An hour or two." Shigaraki says.

"Right. I need a second to prepare."

I wave Shigaraki goodbye and attempt to make it to my room as fast as possible while still walking. Not very easy.

I enter my room and lock the door behind me. Not like it'll stop anyone, but it makes me feel better.

Speaking of, I pull Setsuna's hand out of my pocket. I've been keeping it close to me. It's become more and more calming in these past few anxiety-ridden days. I curl myself into a ball with the door to back, attaching her hand to my face.

How am I gonna get through this? If Sensei takes my quirk everyone's fucked, not just me. My only chance is to prepare a method of escape if he tries.

Twice knocks on my door after a while. "Monoma, get up. He's here."

I drag myself out of the room. It's just like getting lectured, except the whole fucking world's at stake.

Twice opens the doors to a well-lit room with chairs dotted all through it. A parlor, if you wish.

The members of the League of Villains are already sitting down, as are the remaining leaders of the Meta Liberation Army. The one with hair in his eyes, Skeptic, grits his teeth at my presence. Sensei is sitting next to Shigaraki, although Shigaraki has the more central position.

Sensei raises his hands in greeting. "Welcome, Monoma! Glad for you to join us!"

I sit down next to Spinner and try to control the fear running through me. "Glad to be here. What are we talking about anyway?"

Best just to get to it.

"We were discussing the leadership of the Paranormal Liberation Front." Skeptic answers me, in an annoyed voice.

"I… see." I really wasn't expecting a response from Skeptic of all people.

Re-Destro tries to calm his associate down from his wheelchair. "Skeptic, you must be more conciliatory to our new allies."

Skeptic grumbles in his seat as attention returns to Sensei.

"Yes. 'Skeptic,' as it is, is correct. We are currently discussing the leadership, more specifically your place in it."

Fuck. I hope he just kills me.

"It has been noted how your mentality does not match the rest of us."

"Well," I awkwardly laugh, "isn't that what we're doing this for? To be less easily seen as 'the bad guys,' right?"

"But you never saw yourself as 'the bad guy' anyway, correct?" It would be so much easier if I could see his face. That helmet of his makes it impossible to know what he's thinking. "Monoma," he continues, "what are your reasons for joining us, anyway?"

Shit. "Well, it's like I said from the beginning. I want to defeat Class A. I joined you because I knew I could be stronger."

"Yes, your desire for strength is obvious to all of us. Not just me. Which is why we are perfectly willing to grant you leadership of one of the regiments, along with Twice."

Everyone in the room is shocked from his announcement. Skeptic gets out of his chair, but Shigaraki speaks first.

"Sensei, you just mentioned how Monoma's loyalties are still untested. Why would you want him to have a leadership position?"

I guess that's my fault for not having a better relationship with Shigaraki, but there's only so many "I want to destroy everything" conversations you can have before giving up.

Sensei raises a hand to gather attention. "Monoma's loyalties might be questioned, but not his goals."

Goals? I would have thought those would be even more questioned.

"In fact, I wish for Monoma to be given command of the PLF, if anything were to happen to Tomura."

That gets Skeptic to speak. "Are you out of your mind?" He shouts. "This bastard killed Curious, and you expect us to take orders from him?"

The dead have names.

"If giving me leadership threatens the alliance between us, then I am completely willing to not take the position. I care about the stability of this movement more than my personal gain."

And I don't want leadership in the first place.

Re-Destro scowls up at Sensei. "We swore an alliance to Tomura, not to you. We would appreciate it if you stop giving suggestions like a leader."

Sensei raises his hand again. "I wasn't giving my suggestion as a leader, only my personal opinion." He turns to Shigaraki. "Tomura, I understand your apprehensions of Monoma, but you should be aware that out of everyone in this room, Monoma is the person most like you."

Shigaraki flinches at that, as do I. "What do you mean, 'most like me?' He barely holds any desire to destroy this hero society! He's only angry at his teachers for not paying enough attention to him!"

"Tomura, while your goals are different, they intersect in an important way."

Shigaraki scratches himself. "And what way is that?"

"The most important way. Izuku Midoriya."

At the sound of his name, Shigaraki scratches himself more fervently. The former villains shift in their seats, while the former liberation warriors blink confused.

"The hate that Monoma feels for Class A is almost the same amount that you feel for their attempts at stopping you, Tomura." Sensei now turns to me. "Only because Monoma refuses to take the steps necessary to beat them."

"What the fuck are you talking about? I have trained my hardest and more to defeat Class A!" Nobody fucking questions my determination to defeat them.

"Your strength is not what I question, Monoma, it is your mentality."

"You think I'm holding back?" I shout at him.

"Not subconsciously. Your mentality is someone you've willingly chosen." He stares at me through that helmet of his. "You refuse to kill them."

"I can defeat Class A without killing them."

"No you can't, you childish idiot."

I feel he just punched me. I grit my teeth preparing for an argument before he continues.

"You love Class A."

"No I fucking don't!" What is this asshole talking about?

"Really? Then why else do you lose to them? You love Class A, you still view them as people. This is why you lose to them. Do you think Class A sees you as a person or as an enemy?"

I don't know what Class A thinks. "Well, I assume some of them see me as a person-"

"Did Bakugo?" He interrupts.

Another punch. Unfortunately, he's right.

"You said it yourself. 'A preview of the worst heroes there are.' Bakugo wasn't even a villain, but he was strong enough to know that the only way to be truly strong was to stop thinking of your enemies as people. He was stronger than you, it appears."

Hearing my own words thrown back at me hurts, but it hurts even more to be told that Bakugo is stronger.

"I am not weaker than Bakugo. Don't you fucking tell me that." I say determined.

"Then you must become stronger. You must hate Class A with every fiber of your being."

"I do!"

"No you don't. The only way you can become strong enough is to stop thinking of them as people. You must become ruthless. You must grow past the petty morality that has been forced onto you, only then will you be strong enough to defeat them. Monoma," Sensei presses his hands on both of my shoulders, "How would you feel if you had my quirk? What would you do if the only way to obtain your copies was to truly steal quirks from others? Would you be strong enough to steal the quirk of a member of Class A?"

"I…" I can't give him an answer. "As much as I want to say yes, I'm not sure. I'm not sure if I am willing to permanently remove someone's quirk, even if they are in Class A."

Sensei nods. "And there you have it. How you hold yourself back." Sensei turns to the room at large. "I have a quirk that allows me to see the emotions others feel. The hatred Monoma has for Class A is almost enough to match Tomura's. But that 'almost' is what prevents it from being strong enough. I firmly believe that if Monoma's hatred is allowed to grow, then he will be an excellent replacement if something happens to Tomura. I only ask that you consider this. I do not demand."

Skeptic grumbles in his seat. "Even if you're correct, we don't want the leadership of the PLF to fall to someone unproven."

Sensei laughs. "Well, that's a simple problem to fix! All we need is a chance for Monoma to prove himself!"

 

[iamawesome300]

Does anyone have a good name for the man with the time loop quirk that Monoma copied in Chapter 1? He'll be appearing in a few chapters and I don't have a name for him yet.

 

[Dantalion]

Does anyone have a good name for the man with the time loop quirk that Monoma copied in Chapter 1? He'll be appearing in a few chapters and I don't have a name for him yet.

Click to shrink...

How do you feel about Jojo references? I would think that Kosaku Kawajiri would fit well enough.

 

[iamawesome300]

I'm standing backstage listening to Re-Destro ramble about the PLF. The sounds of a large audience are heard in the background. I hope it's larger in my head. I don't want to have to think about how many have joined the PLF.

"Monoma," Shigaraki lectures, "stand up straight. You should be glad that Sensei vouched for you."

"Yeah."

I don't feel glad. I already said I didn't care about leadership positions, but I was given one anyway, working with Twice. I still don't fully understand why Sensei likes me. I guess it's better than the opposite, in any case.

Shigaraki wheels his way onstage. I remain waiting for my cue, along with the others.

Shigaraki calls his lieutenants, as we take the stage to deafening cheers. The audience is massive. Yeah, that's right Monoma. They're just an audience and this is just a performance. Just play your role and this'll all disappear. A famous actor whose shitty performances are forgotten.

"This day is not just one of festivities." Shigaraki says. "Today we take our first step toward liberation."

Hmm?

"Monoma, our lieutenant, will be leading a mission to liberate Tartarus prison, the most obvious symbol of oppression by this hero society."

"What?" I yell at him as the cheers of the audience grow even louder. I grab his arm to get his attention. "What the fuck are you doing?"

He tilts his head, unable to scratch himself. "Sensei told me to command you. He said this will be an excellent opportunity to test your loyalty."

"And will you be coming along with me?" I ask, enraged.

"No." He responds. "Sensei told me he is taking me to a secret location where I will be put through a procedure to make me stronger."

"And where is this secret location?"

"Not sure. Sensei told me it was where he was healing from his injuries."

The place All For One was healing from his injuries. If I have that information, I'll finally have enough to put him away before he can cause any damage.

I stare intensely into Shigaraki's eyes. He's staring back at me, waiting for me to make a move, I know it. Waiting for me to prove that I'm a spy or a traitor, or whatever he thinks I am.

"Then who will be coming with me?" I finally ask.

"Anyone who wishes. Kurogiri will help you teleport soldiers to the prison, although it will be necessary for you to copy my quirk, to destroy the entrance."

I copy his quirk, still refusing to let go of his arm.

"Your arm is injured." I say, looking down at it. It's missing bits of flesh. "Will that happen to me if I use it?"

"I doubt that you can use my own quirk better than me. It won't be strong enough to injure you."

"But it will be strong enough to destroy the prison, somehow?" I ask, disbelieving.

"You're smart enough to figure it out." He says, refusing to flinch from my questions.

I let go of Shigaraki and turn my attention to the others on stage. I'll need to copy Twice's quirk to keep my quirk's active past my time limit and I'll need to copy Kurogiri's to even get to the prison in the first place. Along with Shigaraki, that only offers me a single choice of whose quirk to copy.

Who to copy, then? Mr. Compress? It's the one I've been using whenever I'm forced to. I guess it'll be fine until we break through the prison. There's people inside I can copy from, as much as I hate to think about it.

I bury my face in my hands. I've killed people before, but they were villains. I haven't had to kill innocents until now.

I raise my head and put a fake smile on my face. This is just a play, and I'm just an actor.

Kurogiri turns to speak to me. "We'll have to work together to teleport Gigantomachia."

"What?"

"We're going to teleport him first, to draw attention, then everyone else."

I sigh. "All right, let's get this over with."

I create as many doubles as possible to help out with the teleportation. Spinner holds a map in front of my face so I don't fuck up where I'm aiming. All of the "soldiers" willing to fight have clustered around doubles. Kurogiri and I finally teleport Gigantomachia as a double is sent after him to destroy the entrance. The remaining doubles teleport everyone else.

I turn to Shigaraki who is being teleported by Kurogiri to wherever Sensei was healing before. He waves me goodbye. Fucking prick. The crowds have shrunk, most jumping into the portals. There's only a few left.

I take a deep breath and jump through the portal.

I'm greeted by the sounds of gunfire, as well as Gigantomachia's roar. I try to get a handle on my surroundings, but it's difficult, as rain is falling and the sky is dark.

"Monoma! Over here!"

I turn to the voice, seeing Spinner crouching behind a large, multi-armed corpse.

"Spinner!" I rush to him. "What's going on?"

"One of your doubles destroyed the walls, but guards are still fighting the others back."

"And what happened to the one that destroyed the walls?"

"It disintegrated afterward."

Fucking Shigaraki.

"All right. Follow me and we'll get through this."

I create more doubles to widen the destruction, giving Gigantomachia enough room to make his way into the prison.

"Let's go."

I grab Spinner's arm with one hand to lead him into the prison. My other hand is in my pocket, grabbing Setsuna's like my life depends on it. And it may as well depend on it.

We follow Gigantomachia. I create more doubles as the previous ones start to get killed. The further we get inside, the more bodies start piling up. Guards, soldiers, even further inside we start to see the corpses of prisoners.

I step over another corpse, one of the soldiers that teleported in. I double take, looking back to notice its age. Fuck, that kid's probably a middle schooler. If hell exists, this is it.

We start to meet more organized points of resistance. The whole prison looks like it's ripping itself apart as explosions and projectiles fire throughout the hallways. A guard attacks me from a corner, swinging a blade. I let go of Spinner's arm to disintegrate the attacker, turning him to dust. Behind him is another corpse. It must have been where he got the sword.

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

I take a moment to rest in this spot. Looking around, I can see this is a guard booth. I find a diagram mapping out the prison. I find the location labeled 'head of security.'

"Spinner, I'm going to teleport us to the head security room, okay?"

Spinner is staring behind me, looking out for any other guards. He isn't responding.

"Spinner, are you there?"

He blinks, his eyes coming back into focus, pointing his sword at me before remembering who I am.

"Spinner, we're teleporting to the head security room."

He nods slowly. "Okay."

I grab him and teleport into the room. It's filled with people. Fuck.

I create as many doubles as possible, as Spinner and I begin killing the guards before they can react.

A bloody dust cloud fills the room, as shouts are heard from outside. It's fine. This is just a play, and I'm just an actor.

I start looking through the room's computer, trying to find anything that looks like it controls the prison cells. Spinner is piling anything he can find against the door.

I'm desperate for anything to keep my mind off of this. "Hey, Spinner! Aren't you glad you'll finally get to see Stain?"

"What?"

"Stain! The guy you like?" I shout to him.

Spinner's face grows a look of confusion before remembering all of a sudden. "Oh, yeah. Stain. Um, I guess."

"You guess? Wasn't he the guy that inspired you?"

"Um, sure. I guess he was, but um…"

"But what?" I ask, turning to him.

"I guess I stopped really caring about him."

"Spinner!" I shout to get his attention. I guess he doesn't have the luxury of a time loop to forget his sins. "What do you care about if not Stain?"

Spinner isn't there. His body is, but he isn't. He's sheathed his sword and is looking out the window to the cells below. I follow his gaze outside, looking at the destruction of the prison. Entire catwalks are missing, torn off the wall by some quirk. Gore covers the walls and floor. It's impossible to tell what some parts even are. The bodies still put together aren't even in that much better shape. Prisoners dot the floor below, killing the remaining guards or even their fellow inmates.

I turn back to Spinner. "Is this what you care about now, Spinner?"

Spinner speaks in a voice that sounds just like mine. "Man, I don't think I care about anything anymore."

 

[iamawesome300]

Gunshots are heard outside of the room. Spinner and I prepare ourselves for combat.

"Are you the teleport guy?" asks a female voice. "We're all grouping together at the bottom, waiting for you to teleport us out."

We remove the blockade from the room and open the doors. The woman stands in front of us, a rifle where her arm should be. Fuck, that gunfire was her quirk.

She leads us down below. Kurogiri teleports in just before we get there.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, too tired to show my anger.

"All For One sent me to help teleport the prisoners when it was clear you succeeded."

I nod and create portals to teleport us to the villa. The prisoners are cheering their newfound freedom, but I drag myself and Spinner back to our rooms. I give him a hug goodbye.

"Monoma," he squeaks out, "you're hurting me."

"Sorry." I awkwardly say, letting go of him to enter my room. Wonderful, now I've become the hugger.

I pull Setsuna's hand out of my pocket and attach it to my face. It's more difficult than normal, because my hands are shaking so much. All For One gave me this hand because he wanted to remind me of my betrayal, but it hasn't fulfilled the purpose he wanted it to. It has reminded me of why I have put myself through this. Class B, the only reason I have to keep going. Without them, I'm nothing. The world refuses to see what I see. How great they truly are. One day, I will show the world just that.

I lay down on the bed, incapable of sleep, only staring up at the ceiling above me. Just a little bit further, that's all it takes.

I spend the next couple of days paying the bare minimum attention to my surroundings. I only really leave my room to eat, and even then I always keep her with me. Or should I say "them?" After all, her hand has become a representative of my feelings for all of Class B, not just Setsuna.

Twice wakes me up to tell me I have to show up for a meeting later today and I drag myself out of bed.

I accidentally bump into someone in the halls. Damn, it's hard to look at someone with this on my face.

"Monoma? Is that you, chum?"

Slidin' Go? Fuck, am I happy to see a friendly face. I take the hand off and wrap my arms around him, desperate for… I don't know what at this point.

"Whoa, chum! Are you all right? You seem distraught."

"I- I- I killed people. Guards in- in the-"

"It's all right, chum." He says, returning my hug. "Whatever it takes for Meta Liberation."

"Whatever it takes." I repeat, crying into his costume.

Slidin' Go pats me on the back "I was wondering where you had ended up, chum. Slidin' Go and Phantom Thief, together again! Just think of all the outrageous adventures we'll go on, now that we're both in the PLF!" He turns to speak to someone. "Monoma is a true hero, isn't he? Looks like you picked the wrong student to intern with you, hmm?"

I remove myself from Slidin' Go, to see who he's talking to. It's the pro hero Hawks. He has an uncomfortable look on his face. I can understand, I probably look like shit right now.

"Hawks?" I question. "You're in the PLF too?"

"Um, yeah." He says.

Wow, the Paranormal Liberation Front really has a wide degree of support.

Slidin' Go chuckles. "Outrageous! Just think of what you could have had, chum! But, Monoma chose the true hero to intern under, while you had to settle for third place! It appears Monoma knows that hero rankings are irrelevant when it comes to true heroes!"

I look at the wing hero. "You had someone intern under you, Hawks?"

Hawks scratches the back of his head. "Um, yeah. You know Tokoyami, the bird guy?"

I grit my teeth at this. "He's a member of Class A."

His face turns uncomfortable again. "Um, sorry?"

I detach myself fully from Slidin' Go to glare at Hawks. "Why didn't you choose a member of Class B to intern with you?"

Hawks takes a step back and looks from Slidin' Go to me. "Listen, I only had him intern with me because I wanted information about the League of Villains. And look, we're all together now, so it's all good, right?"

Of course, The USJ. I flip out at Hawks. "Every fucking hero only cares about Class A! Why? Because they fought some fucking villains? They don't deserve that much credit! Class B would have done the same thing! We would probably be better, anyway!"

I glare at Hawks some more. His face has changed from uncomfortable. Now it appears… fearful? No that's not it, but something close to it.

Slidin' Go puts a hand on my shoulder. "He's right, chum. You really should have picked a better intern. But I got it right!"

Hawks laughs it off. "Yeah, you sure are right, Slidin' Go. I won't make that mistake again."

"It's all my fault, isn't it?"

Both Hawks and Slidin' Go turn to me at that.

"The reason nobody supports Class B this time. They think we're all crazy because of me. But they're not crazy. They're the best heroes in the world. They all hate me!"

I shed another batch of tears, turning back to Hawks. "What's it like for them? Do you know? Do you care? Are they doing okay without me?" I look down at the ground. "I don't know if I'll be more hurt to hear they're better or worse."

Slidin' Go puts his hand on my shoulder again. "It's all right, chum. One day they'll understand how much you did for them."

I hope he's right, even if he doesn't know why.

We stay together for a while, resting in one of the many rooms in the villa. Slidin' Go goes to do his hero work, leaving only me and Hawks.

"You miss your classmates?" He asks after a few minutes of sitting.

"They're everything to me."

"Can you tell me a few things about the PLF?"

I sigh and look at him. "Why do you care?"

He gives a cheerful smile. "I just want to hear you talk."

"You're lying."

He freezes at that, dropping his hands to his side.

"You're doing that thing where you pretend to care about me because you don't want to listen to me complain. Adults do that all the time."

Hawks takes a deep breath. "What happened to you, kid?"

I look in his eyes, taking a moment to find the answer. I don't even think I know what it is. I give the best guess I can. "I want to defeat Class A."

"And that's why you're here?"

"Yeah. I guess it is."

That's all I am, huh? Just a monster made of hatred? Like Bakugo?

I flinch at my own thoughts. At least when Bakugo died, he stayed dead. I keep existing for some reason. To learn? That's what I tell myself anyway.

I'm not like Bakugo. I know that. Bakugo is selfish. All I care about is Class B. I might be hateful or emotional or a sore loser or many other things that people call me. But I have people I care about. And that makes me better than him.

"I hurt them." I say. "And that's why I hurt now. Because I care about them. They're angry at me, and they have every reason to be that way." I turn back to Hawks. "I had to hurt them to save them. That's what everyone says when they hurt the people they care about, right? But I mean it. And I also know that it doesn't matter. The only thing that will make them care about me again is my own death."

Hawks sits up straight to look directly at me. "Then, can you tell me about the PLF?"

I sigh and wave for him to continue. "What do you want to know?"

"The man behind it. I know that All For One is in charge, but where is he right now?"

I bury my face in my hands. "I don't know. I wish I did, then I wouldn't have to be here anymore. But, I don't know."

We sit in silence until Slidin' Go returns.

"Ready for the meeting, chums?"

Sure, why not.

The three of us make our way to the meeting room and take our seats.

"Why's it so dark in here?" I ask.

"To see the movie, of course."

I swivel to the unknown voice. Dabi sits behind us with a smile on his face. I've never seen Dabi smile before so I'm frightened.

"Movie?" Hawks questions.

"Yes." Dabi says, his body shaking with excitement. Fuck, it's like when I'm about to fight Class A. What the hell did Dabi do?

He runs a hand over his face. "It's just an old family video." He says.

Skeptic enters the room and speaks to those gathered. "We have finished recording a propaganda piece about the hero society. It will be shown across all television broadcasts in a moment."

Skeptic turns on the television and takes his seat.

Dabi is shown on the screen, sitting in a hunched over position.

"I am Toya Todoroki, the eldest son of Endeavor."

"Dabi, what the fuck?" I turn back around to him.

"Just watch the movie." He says, shaking.

The Dabi on the screen continues his speech. "When my father found himself unable to surpass All Might, he despaired."

Dabi is the son of who?

"To concoct even stronger quirks, my father forced my mother to marry him."

No, this can't be right. He must be lying.

"My father created me in pursuit of his egotistical dreams."

Dabi can't be Endeavor's son.

"But I was a failed creation, and my father rejected me."

He's simply trying to destroy the reputation of the number one hero.

"These murderous flames of mine are Endeavor's flames."

Yes, it must be a lie.

The prerecorded Dabi pulls out a piece of paper. "There is a 99% match between my DNA and a sample of Endeavor's."

Easy to fake.

"Since I'm sure many of believe this is an elaborate hoax-"

It is.

"I'll just have to convince you."

Nothing could convince me.

"After all that, Endeavor made sure Mom kept having kids. Little Shoto was the successful creation."

I didn't even think of that. Dabi's trying to claim that Todoroki is his brother. What a joke!

"And he even abused that successful creation. I've seen him do it many times."

Heh. Dabi's trying to spread the same lie that Todoroki did.

I ignore the screen. I'm certain Dabi will just lie more. I turn to the man sitting next to me.

Hawks is out of his seat, staring forward at the screen. His teeth are clenched.

Man, the number two hero is really stupid enough to fall for this?

Dabi starts laughing from behind us. "Isn't it great? Isn't it wonderful how Endeavor's corruption has been brought to light."

I smile. "Yes, your propaganda will surely tarnish Endeavor's name."

Hawks slams his arms on Dabi's shoulders. "Dabi! Did Endeavor really abuse you?"

Dabi smiles. "Well you should know my father better than anyone. Even the people who like him say he's an asshole."

I decide to add myself to this conversation. "Yes, but there's a difference between being an asshole and being abused." I turn my head to Hawks. "Don't worry, Hawks! Endeavor isn't really abusive! Dabi just made that up to ruin his image!"

Hawks turns from Dabi to me, although his horrified expression remains.

"Uh, Monoma, do you not believe me?" Dabi says in a confused voice.

"Well, of course not! Everyone knows that Endeavor would never abuse his children! He's far too nice of a person to do that!"

Dabi, Hawks and Slidin' Go all give me a strange look that I don't understand. Slidin' Go is the first one to speak. "We should probably take this to a different room, chums."

Hawks presses his hand to his temple. "Yeah, we should."

The four of us exit the room and find another to talk amongst ourselves in. I'm the only one smiling for some reason. Hawks has a look of betrayal on his face, Slidin' Go has one of disgust and Dabi has one of anger.

"The idea that Endeavor abused his children…" Hawks trails off.

"He still does." Dabi answers.

"Why are you all so down? It was a lie to hurt Endeavor, after all." I'm confused by their dour emotions.

"Monoma, Endeavor really is my father." Dabi says in a gentle tone of voice. It's strange to hear him talk gently. It's like All For One becoming a preschool teacher.

"Endeavor can't be your father, because that would mean you're a Todoroki."

The room returns to silence after that.

Slidin' Go coughs. "Dabi, your family name is Todoroki, correct?"

Dabi is getting a bit angry. "Yes, I am a Todoroki. I don't know why Monoma's in denial about this."

I'm getting a bit angry, myself. "You can't be a Todoroki because that would mean- that would mean-" I trail off trying to find my words. Dabi's insistence is starting to scare me.

"That I'm Endeavor's son, yes." Dabi impatiently responds.

"But if you're Endeavor's son, then that would mean you're… Todoroki's… Todoroki's…"

"Yes! I'm a Todoroki! What the fuck is wrong with you?" Dabi is almost screaming at this point.

"But if you're telling the truth, that would mean Todoroki wasn't exaggerating when he said Endeavor was abusive!"

Dabi takes a step back. "Shoto spoke to you?"

I wipe the tears from my eyes. When the fuck did I start crying? "He told me he was abused by Endeavor! He had to be exaggerating! He couldn't actually have suffered!"

Dabi grabs my shoulders and forces me against the wall. "Of course he suffered! We all did! All because we were Endeavor's children!"

"No! He can't have suffered! He's a member of Class A! People in Class A never have anything go wrong for them! Their lives are perfect!"

Dabi's rage has shifted to confusion. "That's what you're worried about? How the fuck do you not realize how stupid what you just said is?"

Slidin' Go tries to calm him down. "Easy, Dabi. You have to be patient with Monoma, he isn't all there."

"I know it sounds stupid. All right? I know! But it's the truth! Todoroki can't have suffered because he's in Class A."

Dabi switches back to rage. "It is true! He was abused by Endeavor! Get it through your fucking head!"

"No! It can't be true!" Dabi lets go of me and I fall to the floor. I lean against the wall, clinging on to my knees with tears streaming down my face. "If Todoroki was abused then I can't hate him! And I have to hate him because he's in Class A!"

Dabi looks down at me for a moment before taking a deep breath and running his fingers through his hair. "Monoma," he says in a slow deliberate voice, "you can still hate Shoto, even if he was abused."

"I- I can?" I wipe the tears from my eyes.

"Yes, Monoma. You can still hate Shoto."

"But wouldn't that make me a bad person for hating an abuse victim?"

Dabi turns to Slidin' Go who seems to be the most capable person in the room right now. Not a good sign.

He turns back to look at me and speaks. "Monoma. Shoto continues to obey Endeavor's orders. He didn't rebel against him like I did. Shoto is not a victim. He chooses to remain in Endeavor's household. He is nothing more than Endeavor's puppet."

That- That's right! Todoroki isn't a victim! He chooses to obey Endeavor! I've been thinking about this backwards! Todoroki isn't a bad person because he doesn't listen to Endeavor, he's a bad person because he does listen to Endeavor! Dabi is right! I can keep hating Class A and not be a bad person! All I have to do now is start hating Endeavor!

"Thank you, Dabi!" I jump up and wrap my arms around him in a hug.

"Get the fuck off me!" He says before throwing me into the wall.

"Do either of you have anything to say to me?" Dabi shouts to the others in the room.

Slidin' Go grimaces. "It's disgusting how your father treated you."

Dabi nods. "And you?" He says to Hawks.

"This- This will take some time to get used to."

"I'm sure." Dabi says before leaving the room.

I stand up and brush myself off. "Man, am I thankful that I'm working with the best Todoroki!"

Sldin' Go helps me stand up straight. "Monoma, I was scared that Dabi was going to kill you right then."

I laugh. "Why would Dabi kill me? We're friends!"

Slidin' Go opens his mouth before closing it again. "Yes, Monoma. You and Dabi are friends."

The three of us return to the meeting room.

Man, it's a disappointing thing that Dabi didn't tell us about his identity earlier. I get the feeling that he and I would have been friends immediately.

We return to our seats as the film starts to end. Another starts where the person on camera is the woman from the prison.

"No…" Hawks says softly.

"You know her, Hawks?" Dabi asks rhetorically.

The woman begins speaking. "My name is Lady Nagant. I was a hero hired by the Public Safety Commision." The woman's face turns to anger. "I was hired to kill people. Terrorist organizations, corrupt heroes, whoever had to be killed secretly, to protect the fake peace."

"Hawks, she's lying, right?" I look into his eyes. He looks away.

"I was only a child when they hired me. A child forced to kill because law and order fail to hold society together."

This…

"Hawks please. You work for the HPSC. Tell me they're not evil. Tell me that they can keep the peace without secretly killing people."

Hawks remains silent, only now he's crying.

"A mere cog in the machine. The dark side that keeps the light from going out."

I turn to the person on my other side. Slidin' Go's only reaction is a quiet shudder. Fuck, he was more right than anyone would have guessed, wasn't he?

"A society that needs a fragile illusion, is not one that can exist."

I wrap my arms around Slidin' Go and return to crying. I don't know what else to do now. What can I do, when I just found out how the HPSC is evil?

"One where the public can stargaze, where the truth gnaws away at someone else."

"It's disgusting," Slidin' Go says, "how the HPSC has acted. What kind of monster forces children to kill?"

 

[iamawesome300]

What the fuck am I supposed to do?

The future number one hero was revealed to be abusing his children, but that's irrelevant compared to what else I've learned.

I bury my face in the sheets, begging desperately for a sleep that won't come.

The HPSC has been killing people for years now, and by their claims it's the only way to keep society peaceful.

How many people knew? Did the heroes know? Hawks didn't, and he was the hero who worked closest to the HPSC. I would guess that very few people knew, but even then I have to be careful in my next loop.

Oh shit, I'm going to have to do this again. I only worked with All For One this loop because I thought I would only have to do this once. How am I supposed to stop something like extrajudicial murder?

All For One, although powerful, can be defeated before he grows enough support. But the HPSC? They're an entire government agency. How am I supposed to stop them?

I feel so fucking weak. It's almost funny. I have a power that most people can only imagine, but I still can barely do anything. Left without Class B, what am I? It seems obvious now. One man can only do so much.

Yeah, right. Like I even count as a man right now. Mr. Vlad should have been given this quirk. He'd have done far better than I would.

But no, I was the one given this quirk and I've done nothing but squander it with my own incompetence. I might have infinite time but that means nothing when it takes me infinite attempts to do anything right.

I finally give up on sleep and open the drawer to grab her. Class B will get me through this. I am a member of Class B. I can do anything.

Even if it's a lie, I have to tell myself it's the truth. The alternative is worse.

I must have found sleep sometime during the night, because I am woken up by Twice knocking on the door.

What now? How could things possibly get worse?

I throw open the door preparing for further trauma. Oh shit, that's not Twice, that's Kurogiri. Even worse.

"Monoma," he begins, "All For One has completed his procedure. He sent me to teleport you there."

"Fine. Hurry up and be done with it."

"Not yet. All of us will be gathering in the meeting room."

I copy Twice's quirk, as well as Mr. Compress's, upon entering. It's become muscle memory at this point.

Kurogiri enters right after me and immediately teleports us, an action I welcome greatly. I don't want to look at these people anymore.

We exit the portal to a clean white room, not what I was expecting from All For One.

Shigaraki is sitting on an operating table, arm over knee. He raises his head and smiles.

"With this, my arrangements have been fulfilled! Apologies to you all, but I ask that you watch over me while I rest."

I take a look around the room. As far as I can tell, it's just some medical facility. A mustached man stands behind a machine I don't recognize.

"Who are you?"

The man laughs. "Given the success, I no longer have to fear being known!" He calms himself before answering. "My name is Kyudai Garaki. I am the doctor that accomplished the greatest medical procedure of this era."

The strange man appears harmless despite his threatening aura. I turn to Shigaraki, who has a calm smile.

"Is that the one Shigaraki was talking about?"

Shigaraki laughs. "Why it most likely was, Monoma!" He laughs again.

I turn to the others. Dabi is smiling. Toga is messing with her nails. Mr. Compress and Kurogiri are stoic. Spinner and Twice are both out of it, in completely opposite directions.

Wait, Dabi is smiling?

I double take. Dabi is wearing the biggest smile I've seen him have, only comparable to the one he had before revealing Endeavor's crimes.

What the fuck did he just do?

Shigaraki laughs again. "They don't seem to understand Dabi, perhaps you could explain it?"

Dabi flashes a frown before returning to the smile. "This isn't Shigaraki. It's All For One."

"What?" comes my only possible response.

The man on the table elaborates. "Tomura is still normal. But this form also contains myself: All For One."

My head's spinning. "You said, 'myself.' What does that mean?"

… It shakes its head. "Tomura is still here. The only difference is that I am too."

I speak slowly, trying to understand. "You are… in Shigaraki?"

"There is nothing you need to fear. The Tomura you knew and loved is still here, as I've said."

I struggle to find the right question. I eventually choose the weakest. "Why?"

"To acquire One For All."

"What?" I repeat. More out of disbelief than confusion. "What the hell is One For All? I mean… I know it's related to you in some way-"

"One For All is a quirk" He interrupts. "One that has been passed down for over a century."

"Passed down? Like through your quirk?"

"Yes, that would be a good example, considering I created it."

That catches me off guard. "You are in Shigaraki's body to obtain a quirk? Why can't you just take it again? You said you created it."

"Yes," comes the cold answer, "I am the one who created it. However, it was lost from me due to the ignorance of others."

He stands up, turning away to speak. "As for why I couldn't just take it, that would be because of who owns it."

I think of possible owners. It doesn't take long to come to the conclusion. "All Might. It's his quirk. That's why its name was never revealed to the public."

"You're partially correct. One For All was All Might's quirk. It has however been passed on to another user."

"You said it was passed down for over a century? What does it do exactly?"

"Stockpile power. The more it stockpiles the stronger it gets. You can see this in All Might's power, as he was the eighth user."

"All Might's quirk was gifted to him?"

"Yes. In fact, he was originally quirkless."

"Ha!" It's hard not to laugh at the irony. The world's strongest quirk is owned by someone quirkless.

I recover and continue my questions. "You said 'was' a lot. If All Might has passed down his quirk, then why is he so strong?"

"He is far weaker than he was before he passed it down to his successor."

That kind of strength is unimaginable.

"You want One For All back because it was stolen from you, right? Who is All Might's successor?"

All For One turns around to smile at me. "Izuku Midoriya."

 

[iamawesome300]

After I stop screaming, I wrap my hands around All For One's throat.

"Where is he? Where the fuck is he? Tell me or I'll kill you right now!"

"Monoma!" Dabi shouts. "I know where he is!"

I let go of All For One and turn my anger to Dabi.

"Where is he?"

"In the Endeavor Agency building!"

I grab Kurogiri and Dabi, copying their quirks while teleporting into the agency.

We land in a crowded hallway. Dabi incinerates a blue haired girl as I send doubles off in every direction. I land a punch on a girl with fire hair, but she blocks the second, instincts talking over from shock. I focus on her, overwhelming her with sheer numbers until the blows send her to the floor.

"Dabi! Where the fuck is he?"

"I don't know!" He screams over the sounds of combat. "I only knew he was here!"

I scream, running off into a hallway trying to find Midoriya. Heroes and random staff are filling the halls, making it annoying to search through the areas.

"Get out of my way! I'm trying to find Midoriya!"

"Deku?" I hear a small voice say, almost unnoticeable amongst the chaos. I turn my head in search of the speaker, finding Uraraka from Class A.

I work Twice's quirk as hard as I can, carving a path from myself to Uraraka.

"Where is he?"

"I'll never tell you where he is!" She screams, charging with ferocity. She tackles me into the wall, before raising her hands to try to send me into the ceiling. A double rips her off of me.

I use the moment to survey the hallway. The doubles have pushed back the heroes to the stairwell. Either that or they've retreated.

I compress a hole in the wall as a loud crash is heard above me. I turn around noticing that a double was sent airborne. Below him, Uraraka is winding back a punch. I catch the blow, pulling Uraraka into the hole using her momentum. I land on my back before Uraraka starts strangling me while activating her quirk.

"What do you want with him?" she screams in rage and fear.

I teleport us both into a conference table, smashing through it, sending splinters flying.

"Where is he?" I repeat, my throat growing sore.

She says nothing, only punching me in the face, trying to get me to let go.

"I won't let you hurt one of the people I love!"

I turn around at the sound of the voice I was hunting for.

He's standing in the hole I made. The man who was given everything.

Uraraka gives a high pitched screech beneath me. "Deku?"

Midoriya punches me, flinging me across the room. I land on my feet.

"Ha! The strongest quirk in the world and you're still so weak! You don't deserve that fucking quirk!"

Another punch, this one I grab his wrist and try to break it.

"Why? Why do you want to hurt the people I love?"

He kicks off the ground, jumping back to grab the wall.

"Because of you! You were handed everything in life! You never had to work for anything! You were loved no matter what you did!"

I activate compression, swinging wildly at him. He kicks me, the shockwave sending me flying.

"Why wasn't I given a quirk? Why wasn't I given love?"

I punch him across the jaw, bruising my hand from the force.

"Why are you still alive?"

He reels his head back, grinning wildly.

"Love."

Something pushes me from behind. I turn, making sure I land against the wall. I teleport across the room to separate from my opponent.

"Listen!" Uraraka shouts. "We need to work together! We can't-"

"Stay out of this!" I say, teleporting into an elbow to the face, "He's the only one I want dead!"

Midoriya's fist is crackling with energy. I step back, eyeing his punch. He takes a swing that I dodge and follow up with another punch to the face. This time I don't fuck up. I throw another punch from my left and repeat until he falls to the floor. I kneel on top of him, landing blow after blow until I hear crunching noises. I get off of him, standing up to look at my handiwork.

Midoriya's face is unrecognizable. What would have once been called adorable is now lumpy and broken. His cheeks are split open, a river of blood dripping down into his blonde hair.

What?

I take a step back. Midoriya's hair has turned blonde and his hero uniform replaced with that of a standard high school girl.

"Damn it, Toga! You did this on purpose! You let me kill you just to piss me off!"

"Are you… insane?" a tired voice behind me says.

I turn to the voice. "Where is he? The real him."

Uraraka stands up slowly. "You really think… she died to make you angry?"

"Of course she did. Why else would someone stand in my way?"

I step toward Uraraka as she takes a step back toward the wall.

"She said it herself. She… loved him."

"That wasn't love."

Uraraka raises her guard and looks me in the eye. "I guess a psychopath like you doesn't know what love is."

She takes a swing that I easily block and follow with a chokehold. I smash her into the wall behind her.

"What do you fucking know about love, you whore? All you know is some stupid boy you think is cute. You can't possibly understand the amount of love I feel for my classmates. Every single one of them shines brighter than a burning sun and I'm nothing more than a white dwarf star who's lucky to shine anywhere near them."

She chokes out her words "You… betrayed your classmates."

I glare intensely, even when I know that it's impossible for her to understand the hatred I feel for her.

"Everything I have ever done has been for my classmates." I let go of her, not wanting her to pass out.

"You're a crazy person."

I ignore her. "Where is he?" I finally say after a few seconds.

"You may as well kill me. I'll never tell you."

I turn back to her. "You think I want to kill you? Why would you think that?"

"You killed her." Uraraka says, her voice a mix of exhaustion and despair.

"What, Toga? Killing her was a public service. Now that is an example of a psychopath."

I sigh. "Maybe All For One can get you to talk."

"BOOM!"

An explosion slams me into the ground, sending me skidding into the wall next to Uraraka. All frustration has been drained from my body. In its place was the worst dread I have ever felt.

"No."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner, Uraraka. I had to help Koji fight off some clones."

I pull myself off the floor and turn around to face my opponent.

Fukidashi stands before me in his hero costume. He stands short, angry emoticon on his face, fists raised, prepared for a fight.

"Are you ready to go to jail, traitor?"

I'd rather fight All For One.

 

[edmantgoog]

i am a bit lost

 

[artanis00]

i am a bit lost

Click to shrink...

Same. Not sure how it went from strangling All for One to hunting for Midoriya.

 

[iamawesome300]

"Fukidashi, I don't-"

"BOOM!"

Again, I'm slammed into the ground. I teleport out of his line of sight.

"Fukidashi, please! Let's just talk!"

He turns toward me. "I think we've talked enough. BOOM!"

I teleport away again.

"Fukidashi," Uraraka struggles to speak, "he can run if he wants."

Fukidashi turns to acknowledge Uraraka before returning to me. He grunts before speaking.

"Fine. Why don't you answer why you betrayed us?"

"I didn't betray you, I-"

"STICKY!" He interrupts, spreading some glue-like material on the floor.

"...am working to stop All For One."

Fukidashi wants to trap me. Fukidashi wants to hurt me.

Tears are streaming down my face. "Fukidashi, don't you understand? I'm your friend! We're both members of Class B!"

He finishes trapping the ground and stares daggers at me.

An emoticon has never expressed so much hatred.

"Stop All For One? You're the one that gave him information."

"I only worked for him to-"

"SPLASH!"

I teleport again to dodge the torrent, while using Dabi's quirk to start melting the glue.

"Fukidashi, I don't want to fight you! Please, don't you believe in me?"

He stands up straight. "Yeah, that's right. I believe in you." He activates his quirk, creating a word balloon with "BELIEF" written on it. It's aimed toward me.

I drop my arms in rapture. "Fukidashi…"

It flies right past me, hitting Uraraka.

"NO!"

I curl into a ball on the floor, rapidly creating as many doubles as I can. They stumble over each other, too slow to escape the new ones being created.

I hear Uraraka shout over the doubles. "Monoma, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"You!" I overturn the doubles, able to see her now standing. "You're the one who did this! You wanted to hurt me!"

Uraraka is looking at me with fear and… sadness? No, it's just a trick, like how Fukidashi tricked… how Uraraka tricked Fukidashi.

"You turned him against me! The only people that matter! They hate me because of you!"

Uraraka takes a deep breath. "Just stand down Monoma. It'll be easier for everyone that way."

I'm hyperventilating at this point. "I'm not a traitor. I just wanted to stop All For One. This was the only way I knew."

"You wanted to stop All For One? Then why did you give him Bakugo?"

I swerve to Fukidashi. He stands amongst a river of defeated doubles. They haven't popped though.

I look down at them. All of them are crying with pitiful expressions on their faces.

Is this what I look like right now?

"You beat them that quickly?" Uraraka asks.

"They didn't fight back." He looks down at me with disgust. "So I'll ask you again traitor, why did you let the League of Villains kidnap Bakugo?"

"You think- you think that was me?"

"Who else could it be?"

"I don't know! I'm not the traitor! I just knew they would attack!"

"You just knew…" He says dismissively.

"I joined to spy on them! It was all for information!"

He crosses his arms.

"And the battle at Deika City? That was also for information?"

"Yes!"

"What about the prison break? All those people you murdered!"

His anger forces me to look away. "I never wanted to kill them! I had to!" I turn back to him, clasping my hands. "Fukidashi it's me! Your friend, Monoma! I might have made some… bad decisions, but I'm still the same person deep down!"

Fukidashi's face is emotionless. "And what about now? How you ambushed this place to murder Midoriya. Was that for information?"

I process the question. I scream, the only possible response.

Fukidashi punches me across the face. I look back up at him dazed.

He pulls back to ready another punch when a communicator goes off in his pocket. He drops his fist to look at it.

"That was Koji. He says that reinforcements have arrived at the ground floor. They've already apprehended Twice."

"Koji? Who?" I ask, still reeling from the punch.

"Koda." Uraraka answers. "We should stay here, Fukidashi. Keep talking to him."

"Or we could break his arms. Start the time limit."

Koji. They're on first names.

"Fukidashi. Look at him."

I wince. I can't let people see me so weak.

Uraraka rests a hand on my shoulder. "Monoma, you'll be able to talk to Mr. Vlad, you like Mr. Vlad right?"

Don't pretend to care about me. That hurts more than calling me the monster I know you think I am.

"Monoma," Uraraka continues, "can you please deactivate your quirk?"

My quirk? What quirks do I have?

"Monoma, are you listening?"

I can teleport… Wait, I haven't found out where All For One was hiding yet.

"Monoma, we need you to deactivate your quirk."

"I can't. I need to complete my mission."

Suddenly it gets difficult to breathe. I try to turn my head as I realize Uraraka has put me in a chokehold.

"Fukidashi, talk to him!"

Fuck, why is she so strong? Wasn't she injured?

Oh right. Fukidashi believes in her. He doesn't believe in me.

Fukidashi stands before me. "Monoma, if you don't turn your quirk off I will burn your hands right off."

"Ugh, I hate when people steal my quirk."

Uraraka drops me to the floor as I turn my head to the new voice.

Dabi is standing in the doorway.

Fukidashi softly swears under his breath. "Shit."

I struggle to regain my breath as I look up at Dabi.

"You're pathetic Monoma, you know that?" Dabi takes a step forward as Uraraka and Fukidashi take a step back.

"You still don't even know how much of a puppet you are."

He sizes up the two heroes in front of him. "You couldn't even kill these two?"

Uraraka speaks first. "Fukidashi-"

"It's all right. We can take him."

His voice sounds like he isn't sure of that.

Dabi laughs. "Seriously? I already killed Shoto. What are you two going to do?"

I can hear Uraraka's breath stop.

"You're lying." says a small voice.

Dabi rubs the back of his head. "No, he's dead. Was a pain in the ass too. Murdered Spinner and Compress after they ripped apart the frog girl."

Dabi smiles. "Ha. Shows what happens when you let your emotions run wild. Just lets someone get a cheap shot in."

He goes back to frowning. "Still, the puppet's death better piss off Endeavor. Otherwise this whole trip was a waste."

"What about Midoriya?" I ask mindlessly.

Dabi laughs again.

…

Fuck I'm stupid.

Dabi sighs. "Ah, well. Guess I have to clean up your mess." He activates his quirk.

Fukidashi takes a step forward to stand in front of him.

I force myself to stand up. "Dabi, don't hurt him."

"Monoma, will you shut up?"

Fukidashi takes a deep breath. "FREEZE!"

Dabi laughs once more. "You picked the wrong move!"

Dabi walks through Fukidashi's ice like it's nothing, grabbing him. I teleport to them, but I'm not fast enough. Dabi unleashes his blue flames, completely destroying Fukadashi's head.

"NO!"

I grab Dabi's face and activate his quirk as strong as I can, incinerating the top half of Dabi's body.

I quickly turn to Fukidashi, kneeling over his corpse. I must be wailing like a madman, but I can't hear myself. All I'm focused on is Fukadashi.

"Fukidashi, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I can fix this! I promise I'll save you! I'll save everyone!"

I continue begging Fukidashi for forgiveness, even after my cries turn to blubbering, I still cradle his corpse.

I hear a hurt voice behind me "Monoma… Your arm…"

Huh?

I turn around to find Uraraka, who's also on the floor. I guess Fukidashi's death caused her to feel her injuries again. She's covering her mouth like she's retching.

What?

I look down at my arm and notice that half of it is missing. A blackened part of burned flesh exists part way below my elbow.

I gingerly touch it.

That turns out to be a mistake, as I instantly fall to the ground crippled by pain.

I look across to Uraraka. I don't know what to say in this situation. What can I possibly do? I'm the reason she's hurt.

We both remain on the floor, too hurt to move, just staring at each other. She looks pathetic. I'm sure I look worse.

Of course she looks pathetic, she just learned her friends died.

And I was responsible for it.

"I'm sorry." I struggle to speak through the pain.

She says nothing, only continuing to breathe.

Why would she believe me? She has no reason to believe I'm sorry. She could never understand why I made any of the choices I did.

I force myself to think of something I could apologize for that she would understand.

It takes longer than I'm proud of to find the answer.

"I'm sorry for forcing you to be the only survivor. I know what that's like. I would never wish it on anyone, not even… not even you."

Again she says nothing, her short breaths are her response.

I wish I could explain, but I need to finish my mission. I can't sit around to hear an "I forgive you."

I don't deserve it anyway.

I raise my only arm and create a portal.

I teleport away.