Kurogiri (or is it Oboro?) has a lot of time on his hands to think these days. There isn’t much else to do after all. He’s trapped by himself with nothing to do. It’s enough to drive a person mad.
It is nice to have a chance to sit and think. When the doctors and psychologists aren’t trying to figure him out at least. Poking and prodding and wondering and questioning. It reminds him of the Doctor.
He hates being reminded of the Doctor.
They aren’t interested in helping him, all they see is a monstrosity. A creature never meant to be. Kurogiri (or is it Oboro?) is not an experiment to be ogled and gawked at. He has his mind back and he’s never letting anyone mess with it again.
He has plenty of time to think, in between silent absent stretches where doctors ask him questions that he does not answer and other doctors whisper to each other about what he is and how he was made. He is himself, that is what matters most.
But who is he? Kurogiri, the loyal minion? Kurogiri, the guardian trying his best? Kurogiri, the decent bartender? Kurogiri, the silent victim? Maybe he’s still Shirokumo Oboro, the idealistic kid who rescued cats and told jokes and wanted to save people. Shirokumo Oboro who left friends and family behind without so much as a warning or goodbye. Shirokumo Oboro who died at 17, a child really, not really knowing what death was.
He isn’t really Kurogiri anymore, not as most people knew him, but he isn’t Shirokumo Oboro anymore either. Shirokumo Oboro is dead. He has been for a long time. Kurogiri takes a day (or what he thinks is a day) to mourn his joyful soul and selfless dreams. It seems right.
He’ll be Kurogiri. What Kurogiri will be, he has yet to determine. He’s fairly certain that the compulsions and manipulations are gone from his mind, he hasn’t felt this free in… well, a long time. It’s been a very long time.
-
Himiko is so excited! She’s really struggling to keep her steady grip on her quirk and her grin. A security guard skipping through the halls would definitely be suspicious right now but she’s definitely doing it on the way out.
They’re getting Kurogiri out! This is the best mission the league has taken by far!
She enjoyed the summer camp, sure, she got to see Izuku and Ochako and Tsu, but getting Kurogiri back is so much better.
She whistles, this guy’s a whistler, and walks with a sense of quiet confidence and purpose. She makes it through security, the exhausted guard running it doesn’t even ask what she’s got in her water bottle (it’s blood).
A stop at the break room has her hiding and dropping her quirk for a bit to rest. There’s no hidden cameras in there from what their intel indicated, once she’s sent a brief message detailing her progress she gets back in character and heads to the monitoring room.
This particular guard spends his days staring slack jawed at the cameras of Tartarus Prison, watching as high-profile prisoners slowly waste away in the misery of solitary confinement, trapped with nothing but their own minds.
Himiko suppresses a shiver, she isn’t one to think about the long-term consequences of her actions before she acts but she knows where she would end up. She doesn’t like it.
She hopes Kurogiri is doing ok, he’s always been calmer and less prone to fidgeting than her. That might help with the stillness, the maddening silence.
She pushes the thought from her mind, no matter how well or poorly Kurogiri is handling prison, it doesn’t matter because he won’t be here much longer.
She takes a sip of her certified, genuine guard blood and gets to work. She has two goals: locate Tomura’s Sensei and Kurogiri, then wait for the signal and break some stuff. So long as they avoid All for One, it should all be ok.
-
Tomura will not admit to pacing, he’s not nervous at all! It’s just… there’s a lot of ways this could go wrong. He hasn’t run anything like this with the whole league by himself before. Sensei was always… Maybe best not to think of him that way anymore… All for One was always in the background, backing him up, manipulating him, telling him how to do things.
Did Tomura ever even want to kill All Might? Was it even his idea? He can’t think of a time he hated All Might without All for One there, egging him on.
He loves his family, he doesn’t love how he came to join it.
They get the signal from Toga and he walks forward to join the rest of the league.
-
The guards at the bridge scramble and squint to see who has the audacity to walk up to the only entrance of their fortress.
A single man in a yellow suit and geometric mask is all they see. Panicked calls and alarms fail to garner a response. The lookouts are alone. The cameras disabled. The guards watching from the prison itself are oblivious to what is about to happen.
Mr. Compress, infamous member of the league of villains, gives a theatrical bow. The guards fumble with their weapons and look up to see a marble rolling slowly towards their feet. The last thing they see before losing consciousness is smoke.
-
Dabi watches the bridge disintegrate with a smile. This may not have been what he had in mind when he became a villain, but it certainly feels good.
He turns from the scene and grins at the looming prison gate. It’s not a nice grin, it doesn’t need to be.
He can’t see their faces through the masks but he hopes there’s fear in their eyes, there’s fire reflected in his.
-
Something is happening, All for One can feel it. There’s fear permeating the air. The guards are shuffling just a little more than usual. The lights flickered for just an instant before coming back on. He moves less than a millimeter, the guns still follow him.
He wonders if it’s Tomura. He had expected this part of the plan to take quite a bit longer, he also hadn’t expected Tomura to do it of his own will.
Perhaps he made him a little too dependent.
Well, it’s no matter. His plans are not so inflexible.
No matter what or who this is, All for One will come out on top of all these blundering fools. All Might is gone, his successor no doubt unprepared to face him.
There is nothing to stop the rise of All for One.
It will be glorious.
He grins, it is not kind, it promises death.
-
Kurogiri thinks of Tomura. He thinks of the broken boy who had nightmares and flinched sometimes when Kurogiri was too quiet coming up behind him. Who could be cruel and impatient and demanding. Who could be passionate and awkward and kind.
Kurogiri still loves him.
He was afraid he might not. That after the brainwashing faded, that fondness and loyalty would fade. His only purpose for a long time has been caring for Tomura.
It isn’t his purpose anymore, it is his choice. It is a choice he wants to make.
He can’t go back and fix things. He can’t undo the damage All for One and his manipulations and cruelty have caused but he can support Tomura.
He always tried to do his best when it came to Tomura, now he can. He really can, without hiding and sneaking comfort and kindness when All for One isn’t looking.
If only he wasn’t here.
He finally has his mind back and now he might never see Tomura or any of the rest of the league again. He might never see Toga joyfully recount a trip to the mall where “she’s sure she saw Ochako-chan Giri! Maybe she’ll get to talk to her again soon!” He might never quietly sit in the same room as Dabi on one of his brooding days. He might never make another fancy cocktail for Mr. Compress. He might never help Twice through another panic attack or watch Spinner and Tomura bicker over a video game he doesn't understand.
He might never see any of them again.
He hardly notices the lights flicker, too caught up in his own grief.
-
Tomura is fucking lost.
He cannot believe this! How is he fucking lost?
This stupid prison is confusing. The hallways all look the same and he isn’t sure where he is anymore. He could ask but Dabi would probably laugh at him so he’s fine. He’ll figure it out.
The lights go off for more than an instant this time and he can hear screams in the distance. Someone must have used the power outage to escape.
Hopefully it isn’t…
Sens-All for One is in front of him.
Fuck.
Fuck!
All for One is out.
Tomura doesn’t want to be controlled, not again, not by him, but he isn’t strong enough not to be. He, he’s alone, he can’t face him.
All for One grins, it’s possessive and greedy and Tomura had never wanted anything more than for Sensei to smile at him before.
He doesn’t want it now.
He doesn’t want any of this.
He wills himself not to panic, begs his lungs to work.
All for One keeps smiling at him.
-
All for One is pleased.
Tomura came for him of his own volition, an interesting choice but not one he’s examining very hard right now.
Perhaps he should have given him more independence earlier. He had thought by indulging his plan to recruit the Bakugou child he had but he supposes that attempting to break him out was an independent enough thought all the same. For all that he would have done it eventually anyway.
He smiles at his… well, Tomura is a good enough description for now.
“Sensei…”
“Yes, Tomura? I must say I’m surprised to see you. The fact that you’re here speaks to your leadership.”
“Thank you Sensei.”
He places a gentle hand on Tomura’s head, just as he had when he was a child. Tomura stiffens almost imperceptibly.
Odd, All for One calls on some of his monitoring quirks. His eyes are useless and he’s still reliant on the frustrating life support systems.
Soon he’ll be free of them and able to breathe deeply without choking. He idly notes that Kurogiri seems to have broken from his control, annoying but unsurprising given how injured he was after Kamino.
Refocusing, he checks on Tomura. His breathing is just shy of normal and his heart rate is elevated. If All for One didn’t know any better he’d say Tomura was seconds away from a panic attack. Now, why would he close to a panic attack?
All for One tilts his head and considers this for a second. Ultimately he doesn’t care whether or not Tomura has a panic attack but he hasn’t been close to Tomura for awhile, who knows what ideas he’s gotten into his head while he was away. All for One doesn’t like being out of the loop.
He refocuses as Tomura calms slightly, the foolish child must have gotten over whatever was bothering him. He’s a little confused when he reaches out but he isn’t concerned. Tomura is his tool, perfectly set up for his role, All for One has made sure of it.
-
Tomura feels like his heart is going to pop out of his chest. He can feel his breathing hitch slightly as All for One reaches out.
He can’t let him know, can’t let him see. He’s never going back to being a puppet. The League is his, his people, his family. All for One doesn’t get them, he doesn’t get Eri or anyone else. He doesn’t even get Dabi’s stupid new hero friend.
Tomura isn’t about to let some old man take his happiness away.
If he does this wrong, All for One will take his quirk and Tomura will be dead, his family will be next. He’s under no illusions of his own importance. Kamino demonstrated that well enough, a pawn chosen only for the pain it would bring All Might.
His hand is on his head. Tomura has to focus.
He reaches out, makes it look like he’s going to touch his arm in awe, like he might have done before.
He lets all five fingers close and pours everything he has into his quirk. Willing it to work faster than it ever has before.
His eyes are closed.
He doesn’t know when he closed them.
He blinks and looks around.
All for One is gone.
-
Dabi is pissed.
Apparently no one knows where Tomura fucking went. Did that idiot get lost? Or worse, captured?
Whatever, he’ll probably be fine. He tries to focus on fighting his way towards Kurogiri.
He does his best to ignore the worried calls of Spinner and Twice behind him as they try to get in contact with their idiot leader.
-
Kurogiri is still wallowing when the alarms finally kick in.
He lifts his head and looks around as best he can in his restraints. As expected he doesn’t see anything different.
He registers loud, distant noises in his periphery. They’re coming closer by the moment.
He wonders if Tomura has come to break his Sensei out. The thought makes him freeze in place, if that’s the case he’d rather stay here. At least in the silent, lonely misery his mind is his own.
The heavy metal lock slowly turns in place, the person opening it likely struggling with the weight. Finally it unlocks with a click and Kurogiri resigns himself to whatever is on the other side. Glad that he had his mind back, even if only briefly.
The door is thrown open and the new person skips in.
Kurogiri blinks.
He certainly wasn’t expecting Toga.
“Giri! Giri! I finally found you! This is so exciting! I have so much to tell you! Oh My God!”
“Toga, what is going on?”
“We’re here to rescue you! I can’t wait to tell you everything!”
She starts rambling as she helps get him out of his restraints. Something about an Eri? Kurogiri will have to ask Mr. Compress about that later, he’s usually the most coherent of the bunch.
-
Himiko can’t stop the grin splitting her face. Kurogiri is free! All they have to do now is meet up with everyone and he can warp them home!
Everything is going great!
They track down Spinner, Twice and Dabi easily enough. The bright blue fire is pretty obvious for one thing.
Next is Mr. Compress, in an adjacent hallway causing a distraction and setting up a nice surprise for the heroes.
“Where’s Shiggy?”
“We don’t know!” Spinner gives her a slightly panicked look. “He went off to try another route and split their forces but now he isn’t answering us!”
“We gotta find him! What if his Sensei guy got out?”
“You did not come for All for One?”
“No dummy we came for you, now come on, we gotta find him!”
-
Tomura needs to pull himself together.
He can’t be having a breakdown in the middle of Tartarus. There are people who wouldn’t hesitate to kill him everywhere in these walls. The league has a mission to complete.
Tomura is the leader, he can break down later.
Once he’s safe, once they’re back at the bar.
He leans heavily on the wall and jerks back as it starts to crumble.
Get a grip.
-
Endeavor is disgusted by the incompetence of these fools.
How could they have let this happen?
Tartarus is under attack and they don’t even know how long it’s been or what the situation looks like at all. At least they could give him some kind of situation report. Not ‘the bridge collapsed and the prison went dark and we don’t know what’s happening.’
They can’t even seem to get a hold of Hawks! Idiots!
He cracks the pavement as he makes his entrance, evaluating the situation with keen eyes.
They’ve called in every hero they could think of but Endeavor is the first to arrive. He’ll have to take point not only as the number 1 hero, but also as the first on the scene.
The gate is gone, completely disintegrated.
Endeavor can make a guess who’s responsible. The League, no doubt here to break out their leader.
All for One.
A villain so monstrous even Endeavor shivers at facing him.
If he’s being honest he might not be able to hold him back alone. He can only hope it’s not too late.
-
Dabi is furious.
There’s only so much time before the heroes show up and even with Kurogiri opening little portals throughout the prison, they still haven’t found Tomura.
He refuses to leave without him but he knows he might have to. For Eri’s sake at least some of them need to make it back.
There’s a sound from behind him and he turns, his eyes widen in horror.
It’s Endeavor.
The man who haunts his nightmares.
Who made his life hell and made him who he is. Who is no doubt still tormenting his little siblings. The little siblings he abandoned because he wasn't strong enough.
Dabi isn’t ready for this.
It doesn’t matter.
He calls on his quirk and buries his fear.
-
Endeavor doesn’t see All for One in the little group of villains, he’ll have to wrap this up before All for One has a chance to escape and become a problem.
The fire villain, Dabi, steps forward and activates his quirk.
At least one of them has some guts.
He idly notes the probable clones running in and out of portals created by Kurogiri. Warp Gate is a very useful quirk for all it isn’t strictly offensive. He’ll have to deal with him next to ensure they can’t escape.
He refocuses on Dabi.
There’s a surprising amount of fury in his eyes, perhaps it will trip him up.
-
Dabi is shaking, in fear or in fury he doesn’t know. He doesn’t have the time to parse out which. It’s probably some horrible combination of both.
He’s definitely going to have a breakdown once this is over.
God, he hopes he gets out of this.
He’s hardly paying attention to anyone else, flinging fire and destruction at his father. His father who doesn’t even recognize the child he left for dead.
He should laugh, he should rage, he should scream. He does none of those things, only fights harder.
They’re both caught up in the confrontation, even Endeavor, for all his situational awareness, only has eyes on him.
It’s a mistake.
-
Himiko is good at going unnoticed.
It’s a skill born of pain and abuse but a skill nonetheless.
It’s almost unbearably hot the closer she gets to the fighting.
All she needs is a moment.
She pulls out one of her favorite knives.
She waits and watches.
There!
Her aim is true.
Endeavor falters as he registers the new wound in his side.
Dabi doesn’t give him a moment to take revenge.
-
Tomura can hear it. The League has run into something or someone out for blood. He stumbles in the direction of the noise.
If the others found Kurogiri they’ll be able to escape. If they haven’t, they’ll have to fight, and they’ll need Tomura to do it.
He turns a corner and comes face to face with a frantic Spinner, “Tomura! Thank god! We’ve been looking everywhere for you! Come on!”
He pulls him through a portal and Tomura is in the middle of a warzone.
There’s rubble thrown around everywhere. A few prisoners who managed to get out of their cells are hiding behind larger pieces, unable to move further without getting caught up in the chaos. Melted and twisted metal lie as a damning indication of the instability of their current situation.
Seeing Kurogiri is a great comfort. He seems fine, even lighter than before and when he catches his eye looks more openly fond than Tomura has ever seen him.
Maybe Tomura wasn’t the only one All for One was using for his own purposes all this time.
“Kurogiri! Can you get us out of here?”
“I’m afraid not Tomura, Dabi is too close to Endeavor, I would not be able to aim accurately and he may follow us.”
Great. He glances around, trying to find an answer.
“Can you get the rest of the league out?”
Kurogiri visibly hesitates before nodding.
“Alright, do that.”
“But Shiggy!”
“Shut up Toga, I have a plan. I just don’t need any more variables to worry about.”
She nods, glaring to make sure he knows how upset she’ll be if it doesn’t work.
“HOW’S IT GOING DABI?”
“FUCK OFF!”
He probably has a couple minutes left before Endeavor has him completely beat then. Tomura watches the rest of the league go before turning and explaining his plans to Kurogiri, who nods.
Stepping out of the portal, Tomura takes a second to take in the view.
-
The front gate is gone.
Tartarus, the highest security prison, designed to be impossible to escape, has fallen.
Regardless of how or why, their most effective tool of containment is gone. They’ll never be able to rebuild with confidence. There will always be that niggling fear.
Nothing is safe.
Smoke billows out from holes in the roof and a portal opens.
The news helicopter, the first on the scene, zooms in on the dreaded figure.
He isn’t wearing his signature hands but somehow that isn’t reassuring.
His long coat billows in the wind. He glances up and the occupants of the helicopter freeze in fear.
He smiles, it’s a little manic, like something deep inside finally broke. He waves to the camera and looks back at the roof.
The reporters in the studio start wildly speculating about what might come next. What is he doing!?
Several more heroes finally make it to the scene. There is no sigh of relief. No one has the sense that everything is going to be alright.
Is the monster of Kamino free? Will Endeavor be enough? No, the viewers whisper. He will not. He is no All Might, there is no All Might anymore.
They watch as Shigaraki Tomura walks around and decays various points of the roof.
What is he doing?
The answer comes as he steps through another portal and decays the last piece before withdrawing his hand. The roof collapsing in behind him.
-
Kurogiri only has moments to make this work. He sends Tomura to the rest of the league and focuses on catching Dabi.
Both Endeavor and Dabi freeze at the sound of the crumbling roof and pause their fighting to look up.
Kurogiri has Dabi through a portal before he’s had a chance to fully process what’s happened and is gone himself before Endeavor can shout after him.
-
There’s a moment where they all freeze in the abandoned warehouse Kurogiri sent them to. Not quite finished processing everything.
Then Himiko is tackling Kurogiri and Dabi in a hug that has Dabi nearly toppling over with a wince.
“I’m so glad you’re ok!”
They all let out a long breath and start giggling slightly hysterically. None of them can quite believe it.
They have Kurogiri back! They’re alive! And free!
Himiko pulls everyone into a massive group hug, grinning all the time. They’ve done it! They’ve really done it!
She watches Tomura pull back slightly, seemingly unbelieving and breathless. "I fucking killed All for One."
"Your Sensei guy?"
"Yeah, I-I, he can't tell me what to do, or, or manipulate me any more, or hurt Eri. I-I'm free!"
"Good, he didn't deserve you, or the League." Himiko nods decisively. "After all, we're all together now! And we make a great team! We just took on the toughest prison in Japan and won!" That sets off another round of disbelieving giggles. "Fuck that guy!"
"Yeah, fuck 'em"
"The League of Villains makes it's own way! Now and always!"