Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
We all stood completely still and stared at the unconscious pair of villains, not knowing what was happening or how to proceed, but there was something we really had to do.
"Sensei! Orders!? " I asked Aizawa, my eyes focused on Shigaraki. She had little blood in her body; her organs were about to fail. I looked at Aizawa; he had his teeth clenched, I could see his mind racing, there was no time for that. "Sensei! She's going into shock from lack of blood! " I shouted once more, this time more anxious.
My scream made more than one person jump, but especially Aizawa. He clicked his tongue loudly, glaring at the villains.
"Campbell, heal them both!!" Aizawa said immediately, and Maria jumped.
"W-what!?" Maria squealed, completely confused.
"Sensei, they are villains!"
"Are you sure, Sensei?"
"What if it's a trap?"
"Enough!" Aizawa exclaimed, silencing everyone. "Campbell! Heal them both from a distance, then I'll use my Erasure to disable their quirks. Ragdoll, Miyamura, pay attention to the surroundings! Pixie-Bob, create your ground creatures to create a perimeter! Hebert, get the ants out of Miyamura's shadows and help Pixie-Bob."
"Mandalay, find your nephew and make sure he doesn't stray too far! Tiger, you're in charge of the students. Tell them to get their weapons and equipment, and bring the others back so no one is alone! Vlad Queen, try to contact Nezu and UA immediately. And for the love of the goddess, someone get me my eye drops!" Aizawa growled orders left and right, and everyone moved at the same time.
"Yes, sensei!" "Understood, Eraser !" "I'm already on it!" "You heard him, guys! Move it! "
Ignoring the other screams, I focused on Shigaraki. Campbell did as Aizawa had ordered; she raised her hands, and a golden light emerged from her palms before Shigaraki and Kurogiri's bodies fully regenerated, although both were still unconscious.
Even so, Aizawa's quirk activated immediately and struck both villains. I did exactly as he asked, letting Taylor's ant monsters emerge from my shadows, while Taylor began to spread them throughout the forest, looking for any abnormalities.
My haki was at full power as I scanned everything in the forest that had any kind of aura.
"Sensei, Shigaraki's quirk is a 5-point quirk; we could put individual thimbles on each finger to prevent her from activating it," Taylor said while frowning. Aizawa stood still while nodding.
"Cut off her fucking finger!" Bakugou growled.
"There are… handcuffs that tie both wrists together and then the fingers to prevent the arms from moving and from being able to grab or hold things." Darkness said timidly.
"I can always brainwash them into cooperation," Hitoshi Shinso said, frowning, or well, as I learned her correct name, Hitomi Aizawa, daughter of Aizawa and Kayama-sensei, which was surprising. Aizawa sighed.
"Yaoyorozu, make some thimbles, and… some handcuffs to keep her from taking them off. Dustiness, help her," Aizawa said finally. "Make some ropes for both of us, too."
"Yes, Sensei!" Momo said as she began to create everything necessary. Once she finished with Darkness's help, Aizawa simply pointed at me and signaled for me to restrain them. I simply nodded.
I grabbed one of the nearby chairs and brought it over to both villains. I placed Shigaraki on one of them and began tying her up. Before I knew it, my hands had moved completely on their own, and instead of restraining her normally, I ended up tying her in a rudimentary Shibari knot that accentuated Shigaraki's breasts.
"Miyamura… please stop sexually harassing unconscious villains." Aizawa said so dryly that it made me shudder. I ignored Darkness's perverted smile, smiled crookedly, and finished tying Shigaraki up. The ropes, the arm restraints, and the silicone thimbles.
I went to find another chair and placed Kurogiri on it. This time, I tied her quickly and normally.
"Since you're there, see if they have anything on them, cell phones, scrolls, anything will do." Aizawa said, I wrinkled my nose and began to carefully feel all the clothes of both villains carefully to avoid missing anything.
"They're clean!" I said once I finished inspecting them. Aizawa just nodded, and I backed away.
"Miyamura, can you tell when they're about to wake up?" Aizawa asked after five minutes, and I hummed in response.
"Yes, I should be able to tell, organs work differently when they're unconscious, they slow down, unlike when they're awake, and the aura too." I said directly, and Aizawa nodded.
"Okay, watch them closely, let me know the moment you think they're about to wake up. I need my damn drops and for my eyes to rest." Aizawa growled, and I nodded and began to stare at both villains.
"There's nothing in the forest, Eraser !" said Pixie-Bob. Aizawa nodded.
"Okay, still, keep them there. Vlad Queen, were you able to talk to Nezu?" Aizawa asked.
"Yes, the principal has already sent buses to pick up the students, along with several reinforced trucks to transport the villains. All Might and the others are coming with them." Vlad Queen said, Aizawa nodded.
"Well, we have no choice but to wait then." Aizawa said with a sigh. "Kurogiri's teleportation quirk is too hard to dodge if I lose sight of her. I need coffee." Aizawa grumbled.
"I'll go get ready with some girls. I have a feeling we'll all be awake for several hours." Mandalay said, sounding tired as she gestured to several students to follow her.
The next half hour was frantic, and most of the students were tense and anxious; all of them were prepared, fully armed, to attack at any moment and tensed at every sound from the forest.
My eyes focused on Shigaraki. She shuddered slightly, and all her muscles tensed.
"She's waking up!" I said immediately when I saw the difference in Shigaraki's body, everyone around me tensed up, Aizawa especially, as he used his quirk.
"-what- where am I?" Shigaraki muttered as she slipped back into consciousness, quickly freezing, her hands beginning to twitch as her alertness levels went from 0 to 100. Shigaraki glared at us and only tensed up further, only beginning to relax when she looked to the side and saw Kurogiri.
"Shigaraki, you really surprised us. Is this a new strategy of the League of Villains?" Aizawa asked dryly, and Shigaraki just ignored him.
"Kurogiri! Get up! " Shigaraki growled. I could still hear a hint of pleading in her voice. To my surprise, Kurogiri shuddered slightly before waking up. I could almost see Shigaraki sigh in relief.
"Shigaraki." She murmured immediately as she looked at her partner. "Are you okay? You're completely healed?" Kurogiri asked immediately.
"Of course, heroes are predictable; they wouldn't let anyone die, even villains." Shigaraki snorted disdainfully.
"And these heroes have questions: why are you here? What are you planning? " Aizawa interrupted. Shigaraki clicked her tongue.
"Why am I here? I'm here because of your students! " Shigaraki hissed. "If that damn Midoriya and his hateful friend Miyamura hadn't talked, everything would be fine." She snarled. My eyes widened slightly.
"My fault?" I asked incredulously. Shigaraki looked at me disdainfully as her nose wrinkled.
"Yeah, it's your fault. You planted that damn seed of doubt in my mind by telling me all those things at the mall! It's all your fault! " Shigaraki growled childishly. I raised an eyebrow at that.
"I don't know what's going on, but she seems focused on you, Miyamura, Midoriya, continue talking to Shigaraki! She seems focused on you, make her talk, we have to know what's going on! The others don't interfere! " I heard Mandalay's voice transmit through my mind.
I could see Aizawa discreetly make some signs to Mandalay, apparently Mandalay understood since she took a deep breath and nodded slightly.
"This is considered an S-Rank mission at this time. Any information exchanged between the villains and Miyamura and Midoriya is completely top secret and confidential. They will say nothing, react to nothing, and there will be no questions asked while the villains are present. Anyone who violates those orders will be severely punished." Mandalay said completely seriously.
I could hear more than one person gulping audibly, and I snickered in Shigaraki's direction as I took a step forward.
"My fault? You were the one who came up to Izuku and threatened him at the mall. What a good plan, Shigaraki." I said mockingly. Shigaraki just grunted.
"And everything would have been perfect if he had stayed like the stupid hero he was supposed to be and not answered in any way; if you hadn't interfered, it would have been better." Shigaraki growled. I raised an eyebrow in her direction.
"You're barking up the wrong tree, Shigaraki- no, Tenko, that's what this is about, isn't it? You got curious about what I said-" "Shut up." "- and you tried to confront AFO, and I guess it didn't turn out well."
"I said shut up," Shigaraki growled as she glared at me.
"That means I'm right," I said simply.
"Tenko... what... what happened?" Izuku asked, sounding worried. Shigaraki grunted.
" Don't call me that," Shigaraki growled. "And what do you think happened? I thought Sensei wouldn't lie to me, so I asked her straight up. I told her everything your idiot friend told me." Shigaraki hissed at me. "And what do you think? She didn't deny it," she spat.
"I'm sorry," I said honestly.
"Don't you dare feel sorry for me!" Shigaraki snarled. "That wasn't all. When Sensei finally realized that I already knew the truth behind her 'good deed' in saving me, she knew All Might should know it too."
"So she decided that if she couldn't make All Might suffer with the truth about my identity, then she would hand me over as a corpse, so she tried to kill me." Shigaraki said, my eyes widening.
"I... oh..." I finally said. I really didn't expect AFO to try to kill her directly. Or even Shigaraki to confront her head-on. That... went really wrong.
"Yeah, oh." Shigaraki spat out.
"You're… awfully talkative." I said softly. Shigaraki laughed bitterly.
"And why wouldn't I? It's not like there's any point in hiding things. Sensei wants me dead, but hiding only turned out to be temporary; she keeps tracking me wherever I go. All Might is my only hope right now, even though I hate him." Shigaraki growled.
"So you were looking for him? Wouldn't it have been easier to go to UA? " I asked curiously. Shigaraki snorted loudly.
"Of course not, idiot. Sensei has that place guarded; she can intercept Kurogiri's quirk." Shigaraki snorted.
"Speaking of Kurogiri, she's a Nomu. I really thought she obeyed all of AFO's orders." I said in surprise, Shigaraki sneered.
"That doctor screwed up with Kurogiri. Kurogiri is one of his first successful prototypes. There were a few orders during her creation, and they all have to do with keeping me safe and protecting me. She obeys me, not Sensei." Shigaraki said, I could feel Aizawa tense up.
" And I suppose Kurogiri is okay with that?" I asked dryly as I looked at Kurogiri, and she nodded.
"I am… Tomura is my protégé; it's my duty and job to protect her." Kurogiri said without a shred of doubt. " And by the way, thank you for healing her." Kurogiri said while bowing her head as much as she could despite being tied up.
"Don't bow to them, Kurogiri!" Shigaraki spat angrily.
"It's courtesy, Tomura, you should thank them for healing you, too." Kurogiri chided, almost sounding like a disappointed mother. Shigaraki gritted her teeth as she glared at her.
"I'm not going to apologize to those idiots! They caused all of this! " Shigaraki growled angrily. I laughed lightly, which made Shigaraki glare at me.
"I guess that explains most of it. I'm surprised you were able to escape AFO," I told her honestly. Shigaraki clicked her tongue.
"The only reason I didn't kill her myself there is because Kurogiri saved my life, but ever since we were on the run from her damn killers, they finally caught me." Shigaraki growled almost contemptuously.
"Assassins? She really wants to kill you? " Izuku asked, really surprised. Shigaraki laughed dryly.
"Of course she does, Sensei hates All Might. She really hates him; she seeks to make him suffer in every way he can. And killing his niece is just one way to achieve it." Shigaraki mocked. I could hear the gasps of everyone present.
"Silence!" Mandalay immediately exclaimed mentally.
" And I'm not the only one who she wants dead… am I right, cousin?" Shigaraki asked with a mocking smile. "After all, you can't hide it any longer, right? As All Might's son, you're also her target." Shigaraki let out an almost unhinged laugh.
This time, the shock was even greater for everyone around us; even the pro-heroes were surprised by the news, except for Aizawa. Everyone up until now had been terribly confused by the conversation, which didn't surprise me.
Almost no one knew about AFO's existence, at least not among my generation. It was practically a legend at this point. The most they've heard are rumors, but her name definitely wasn't one of them.
To the other students, Shigaraki should be the leader of the League of Villains, so they wouldn't be able to understand that she was really just a tool in AFO's hands without any context.
"Tenko," Izuku said pitifully, not caring about the information that had just been revealed.
"I told you not to call me that! You don't have that right! Where was Grandma to save us!? Where was All Might to protect me from my father?! From his brother!? From his All For One?! " Shigaraki exclaimed, freaking out.
"Grandma and Grandpa wanted to protect your father." Izuku said honestly. Shigaraki grunted.
"Grandma abandoned him like the plague!" Shigaraki growled. Izuku shook his head.
"No... You said it yourself... All For One wants to make Dad suffer, but not only him... our entire family, Grandma Nana was her previous target. Uncle Kotaro never wanted to be a hero, unlike Dad... that's why Grandma wanted to protect him."
"She knew All For One would go after him simply for being her son… so she gave Uncle Kotaro up for adoption even though it broke her and Grandpa's hearts… but they did it to protect your father… I'm really sorry about how that all turned out after." Midoriya said sadly.
"Shut up," Shigaraki growled.
"You didn't deserve any of what happened... Uncle Kotaro's hatred and resentment towards heroes, which he took out on you... I'm really sad about your childhood and having lived in that kind of home." Midoriya sounded really hurt.
"I said shut up!" Shigaraki shouted as she shook. But Midoriya wasn't going to stop.
"Grandma and Grandpa didn't want to keep an eye on Uncle Kotaro from a distance so that AFO wouldn't notice his relationship with them, so they had to separate completely... and then AFO killed Grandma Nana," Midoriya said, sounding really sad. Shigaraki just grunted.
"No more," Shigaraki grunted as she shook her head.
"All Might had to go to America to protect himself from AFO. No one thought AFO would lay her claws on your family... Grandpa and Dad thought they were completely safe... that he had started a family and was happy..."
"What do you think?!" Shigaraki snapped angrily. Midoriya looked at her sadly as he took a step forward.
"You were never unwanted, never, Tenko… Grandma would have loved you, Grandpa and Dad will love you… I will…" Izuku stood in front of Shigaraki as the latter glared at her. Izuku barely flinched, and to my disbelief, he gently hugged Shigaraki. "You are loved, Tenko, never doubt it." Izuku said.
Shigaraki's eyes widened in complete shock. It took her a few seconds to finally react, and she shook herself.
"You lie! You all lie! Loosely fuck! Loosely once! Damn liar! I'll kill you! I'll kill you all! " Shigaraki screamed madly as she shook. Izuku didn't even falter; he continued to hug Shigaraki tightly, even when she bit his shoulder hard.
"You are loved, Tenko," Midoriya repeated, sounding almost on the verge of tears. Shigaraki continued to growl and spit out insults, but Midoriya never let go. Finally, Shigaraki stopped, trembling slightly. They both fell silent, Izuku still holding her.
That… really worked? Was it a protagonist's thing to be able to change minds and redeem villains with words? I looked at both of them in disbelief.
"I truly apologize for interrupting such a touching moment, but Sensei, we have company!" Kyoka shouted loudly. "There's a... helicopter approaching? Something flying, several kilometers away. Are those the teachers? "
I saw that she had some kind of antenna in her hand. Radar? Something that seemed to enhance her ability to hear farther. I didn't recognize it as something she normally had, some creation of Yaoyorozu's?
How powerful was that thing that she could hear it before I could feel it from miles away?
"Fuck, they're here." Shigaraki growled as she straightened up I could see her eyes slightly reddened. Midoriya finally released her from his hug. "Hey! Let me go already! Those bastards are coming for me! " Shigaraki exclaimed furiously.
"Vlad Queen?" Aizawa asked with a frown.
"Nezu didn't mention any helicopter," Vlad Queen said with a frown.
"Stay alert! Until they identify themselves, they are potential villains! " Aizawa shouted without hesitation.
"Yes, they are, idiot! Just let me go and let me go with Kurogiri! Stupid heroes! " Shigaraki growled. I bristled completely when I felt several aura signatures appear.
"They're getting closer! They're definitely villains! I feel 16 in total! Some of their auras feel horrible!" I exclaimed when they finally entered my Haki range. Quickly, the noise of the helicopter reached normal audible range as it approached at full speed.
In a few seconds, the helicopter was above us. Actually, it wasn't even a helicopter; it was a... a bullhead? A very large one, easily enough to hold 16 people, it seemed.
Once the bullhead stopped above us, it became almost silent, then the side door opened, revealing a group of people I couldn't make out in this darkness.
"Well, well, well, how nice of heroes to be, securing my objectives for me. You have my thanks. Now, if you could step aside so I can take you, that would be nice." Mire mistook the voice of the woman in front of her.
"Don't even dream about it, Villain." Aizawa said without hesitation. The woman sighed.
"That's why I don't like heroes, they're so... stubborn. Then it'll be the hard way." The woman said, then her body burst into flames, and I saw her face. My eyes opened wide.
Cinder Fall?! What the hell is Cinder Fall doing here!?
"Come on, boss, them refusing makes this all the more fun." A woman next to Cinder laughed. That was… Mercury Black? My transparent world didn't work with her legs, which indicated prosthetics. Along with the gray hair, yes… that was Mercury Black.
"Calm down, Mercury." Cinder scolded.
"Are you done with your speech, Fall? I want to get this over with." Another voice growled as another woman appeared next to Cinder. That woman was wearing a mask, a suit, and a top hat. Compress?!
"Calm down, Trickster, are you scared?" Cinder asked almost sweetly. Trickster growled, but said nothing.
My eyes opened wide. What the hell. That was Trickster, not Compress?!
Cinder, from RWBY, working with The Travelers from Worm?! How the hell did that happen?!
"Shut your mouths already. I couldn't care less what you're talking about. Let me down now. I'm so euphoric my legs are shaking." a sadistic voice laughed. The woman was hooded, and I couldn't see her identity.
"Hey, Shaggy! We came for you!! " laughed another teenage girl's voice happily.
"Fuck, not the crazy one," Shigaraki growled. I looked at the blonde girl. At Himiko Toga. If Himiko were here, then I would have no doubts. The hooded woman was Muscular, his female version, but she was Muscular nonetheless.
What the hell… so the League of Villains was still here?!
Cinder Fall and her group, The Travelers, and the League of Villains, all together... what the hell were they all doing together, and why were they looking for Shigaraki? Did they just want to kill her? Were they under AFO's orders? If that were the case...
What was AFO planning? Gathering so many villainous groups from other countries... whatever her plans were, I just knew she was becoming increasingly dangerous.
I pulled Wado Ichimonji out of my shadow and held her firmly in my grasp. This had become much more dangerous than before. We had a civilian and two hostages to protect, 40 students, and five pro heroes. There were 16 villains, several of them with kill counts.
16 vs. 46, and for some reason, it seemed like we were the ones at a disadvantage… yet a smile formed on my face from the excitement. Well… I had to protect everyone… without holding back. Time to fight.
Author's Notes: Did the camp feel short? I really wish I had added more interactions with other characters, but I also wanted to start with the climax of this arc that I've been mulling over for a while. I hope the conversation with Shigaraki went well. There'll be a POV of Shigaraki later on, and maybe AFO's.
PS: With Arthur Watts and Merlot on the AFO roster, it was obvious that Cinder was going to be included!