Location: Tartarus Prison, Japan – My Hero Academia Universe
A heavy clank echoed as reinforced steel doors slid open, revealing a dimly lit corridor that reeked of antiseptic and silence. Guards stood with tense expressions, hands twitching near their weapons. Inside the isolation chamber at the end sat Shigaraki Tomura — not as the mangled wraith of chaos he had once been, but cleaned, composed, and eerily calm.
Adrian Voss walked with slow, precise steps, his black coat trailing just above the ground. With each footfall, the uneasy hush seemed to stretch tighter. The guards didn't speak — they didn't dare.
Adrian entered the room without permission. He didn't need it anymore. By order of Japan's newly formed Quirk Rights Oversight Committee, villains classified as "ideologically manipulated or state-neglected individuals" were entitled to a complete legal reevaluation.
Adrian had made sure of that.
He took a seat across from Shigaraki, whose crimson eyes glinted with amusement — and calculation.
"You've stirred a nest," Shigaraki rasped, his voice still gravelly, but measured. "Heroes are cracking. I hear some Pro Heroes are calling in sick. Others are under review. I didn't even have to lift a finger."
Adrian folded his hands. "You were a symbol of destruction, but not chaos. Not inherently. Society never tried to understand you. That's where their system broke."
Shigaraki leaned forward, chained hands flexing. "And you? What do you get out of this? Some twisted moral compass? Fame? An army?"
Adrian's eyes remained cold. "I get truth. Balance. And perhaps a little justice for the forgotten."
He placed a data pad on the table. "The League has filed for temporary immunity and political asylum under Article 9 of the Quirk Suppression Treaty. With Toga's confession, Twice's post-mortem evaluation, and Dabi's sealed records, we have precedent to argue state misconduct, psychological warfare, and civil rights violations."
Shigaraki blinked, slow and disbelieving for a moment. "We're... being treated like citizens?"
Adrian stood, straightening his cuffs. "You're being treated like plaintiffs."
Location: Hero Public Safety Commission Headquarters
The storm Adrian had unleashed was no longer distant thunder — it was a torrential downpour cracking the very foundation of hero society. The Commission, once unquestioned in its authority, was now flooded with FOIA requests, investigative subpoenas, and legal audits.
Aizawa Shouta sat at a conference table, silent but boiling.
"Damn it," Endeavor hissed, his fists clenched. "They've weaponized our own system against us!"
"They've turned the villains into martyrs," President Ryo of the Commission added grimly. "We're hemorrhaging trust. Public approval for the Hero Registry has dropped 40% in a week."
"Public approval shouldn't matter when we're talking about terrorists," Hawks muttered, rubbing his temples.
"No," Aizawa finally said. "They were victims too. Some of them. And we ignored it for years. That's the issue."
Everyone turned toward him. But Aizawa didn't flinch.
"Adrian Voss may be manipulating narrative, but he's exposing truths we buried under red tape and propaganda. We let a child like Shigaraki fall through the cracks."
President Ryo's expression hardened. "Are you saying we should back down?"
"I'm saying," Aizawa replied coldly, "that if we want to win this war, we need to fix the battlefield."
Location: League of Villains Safehouse – Hidden Forest
It was surreal.
Toga sat on a windowsill, sipping coffee from a chipped mug and watching a butterfly float by. Spinner was on his third round of watching old hero documentaries, noting every contradiction Adrian had exposed. Dabi — recently released into legal protective custody — paced like a caged animal, unaccustomed to not being hunted.
"We're not fugitives anymore," Spinner whispered. "We're... a case study."
Mr. Compress chuckled. "It's the best magic trick I've ever seen. Our sins are being cross-examined — not crucified."
The door opened with a soft creak. Adrian entered, flanked by a woman in a white suit with legal documents and digital tablets — his assistant, Marla Kane, an AI-augmented paralegal and interdimensional liaison.
"Time to prepare," Adrian said. "Your public tribunal begins in a week. The world will watch. You'll speak. You'll confess, clarify, and reframe. Carefully."
Toga tilted her head, curious. "And if we lie?"
"You won't," Adrian said, his tone clinical. "Because I already know the truth."
He passed Dabi a sealed envelope.
"Your father will be summoned as a witness."
Dabi's eyes flared like kindling. "What?"
"Enji Todoroki — Endeavor — will be asked to testify. About your childhood, about the abuse, about the manipulation. This isn't vengeance, Dabi. This is restoration. Or the beginning of it."
Location: U.A. High School, Room 3-A
Izuku Midoriya stared at the screen as news rolled in.
"League of Villains Granted Provisional Legal Immunity Pending Tribunal."
"Shigaraki to Address Hero Society in Live Trial."
"New Witness Evidence Suggests League Members Were Radicalized Youth."
His classmates murmured behind him. Ochaco bit her lip. Bakugou stared silently, arms crossed, knuckles white.
"What if they're... not all lying?" Midoriya finally whispered.
"They're villains," Bakugou snapped. "Don't fall for the show."
"But if they were created by a broken system..."
Tsuyu spoke up. "Then maybe fixing the system is part of being a real hero."
A long silence followed. And slowly, the meaning of hero began to shift in their minds.
Location: Courtroom 09 – Hero Tribunal Chamber
The courtroom was shaped like a stadium, a coliseum of lights and judgment. Seats were filled with international delegates, reporters, Pro Heroes, and even civilians who had won a "Justice Lottery" to attend.
Cameras hovered. Legal drones scanned every breath. Adrian Voss stood in the center, in a black three-piece suit with a single silver tie clip in the shape of a broken gavel.
The tribunal doors opened. Shigaraki walked in.
He wore a charcoal suit. No makeup. No red eyes. No hands clinging to his face. Just a man — tired, scarred, but standing.
The crowd erupted. Some screamed in anger. Some cried. Others whispered in disbelief.
Adrian raised a hand, and silence fell.
"Ladies and gentlemen, honored judges, and victims of a broken world... Today, we will not ask if Shigaraki Tomura destroyed. That much is true."
He turned toward the screen behind him.
"We will ask why he was allowed to become a destroyer in the first place."
A child's photograph appeared. A boy no older than six, smiling with wide, anxious eyes.
"His real name was Tenko Shimura."
The world held its breath.