Bar in Kamino,
Tomura Shigaraki glared at the TV as the Press Conference began.
"I am famous!" Himiko Toga was jumping on her feet behind him. "I am famous!"
"Calm down, Ms Toga," Mr. Compress said, sprawling on a chair. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We were defeated."
"That's where you are wrong," Dabi said, standing against a wall opposite Mr. Compress. "In one move, we have made it to international news. People are out on the roads, burning UA's teachers' effigies. Everyone is blaming the Heroes, questioning their methods. We failed to bring the girl, and we lost the Nomu, but… we have succeeded in our true goal."
"Yeah?" Magne asked. "And what would that be?"
"To plant a spark of doubt…"
Shigaraki looked over his shoulder as a mean journalist began asking questions to UA's teachers on the TV screen.
Shigaraki's face was barely visible, but the grin that reached his ears stood out under the hand even then. His shoulders shook in joy. There was a thrill in his bloody eyes that just refused to vanish.
For the first time, people had no choice but to acknowledge The Claws of Conformity's existence; his existence. They had no choice but to remember the Villains' name and purpose who had attacked UA; his name; his purpose. And they had no choice but to admit the existence of duplicity and hypocrisy in the Heroes.
"Look at them…" Shigaraki said as the mean journalist finished asking questions, bringing a frown to the teachers' faces. "They have lost faith…"
"SMASH!"
All Might came tearing through the wall, rocks flying in all directions.
"Kurogiri!" Shigaraki shouted. "Gate!"
Preemptive Binding —
Kamui Woods came rushing in behind All Might and bound all Villains within the bar, thick branches of wood coiling around them.
— Lacquered Chain Prison!
Dabi instantly tried to set the wood on fire.
However, even faster than him, Gran Torino entered through the broken wall like a mini fighter jet, his feet landing on a Villain's head. In the very next moment, within a fraction of a second, the old Pro appeared next to Twice, who was already creating a Clone, and knocked him out as well.
"Don't be so impatient…" Gran Torino grumbled. "… kids. Just stay put and let us do our job."
"You can't run anymore, Claws of Conformity! Why?" All Might said, standing, his blue eyes glowing bluer. "Because… We are here!"
Mr. Compress's head snapped toward the TV monitor. "This… can't be a coincidence…"
"Yeah…" All Might grinned. "You are surrounded, Villains. There is no escape."
Shigaraki grunted, half in shock and half in pain, his hands tied behind his back. Not only had the wood restrained his wrists, but tiny, thin branches were running right between his fingers, keeping his palms open. Forget about twisting his wrist, he couldn't even move his fingers to touch anything.
"Surrounded?!" he hissed humorously. "Haha. That can be said for you as well, Heroes. Kurogiri! Bring them all!"
"Nomus, huh?" All Might roared back. "Don't worry. They have already been taken care of."
Shigaraki: "…"
Kurogiri struggled within the wooden binds. "… I… can't access them, Shigaraki," he said. "They — They are not where they are supposed to be… anymore. I…"
A red string suddenly shot across the space and passed right through Kurogiri's armored neck with a bloody squelch.
"This guy…" a little head took shape at the end of the red string. "… What a nuisance."
It was Pro Hero: Edgeshot, whose Foldabody Quirk allowed him to make his body and limbs extremely thin and long.
"You…" Mr. Compress gasped. "… killed him."
"I just played with his insides," Edgeshot said, mentioning his Thousand Sheet Pierce technique. "He is not dead."
"This is the end!" All Might said, his face lacking any smile as he walked toward Shigaraki. "Time and time again… You have put the lives of innocents in danger. Lives of my students… Enough!"
A chill ran down all Villains' spines, the likes of Spinner and Magne cowering under All Might's gaze.
"Now, tell me…" All Might asked, glaring at Shigaraki. "… Where's your boss?"
Tomura blanked, his red pupils shaking.
It wasn't because of All Might's words, though. It was because of the heaviness of his eyelids, as if he were falling asleep. The constant laughter of his family members rang louder in his dreaming mind. And along with them, he too began laughing… slowly and quietly.
"I…" Shigaraki's voice carried a hoarseness. "… I hate you! All Might!"
And, with a SPURT, enormous blobs of black liquid took form in the surroundings, vomiting Nomu.
…
A few moments before,
Just as All Might smashed his way into the bar, at the abandoned factory in the Kamino Ward, a titanic figure suddenly appeared, towering above the large buildings.
Mt. Lady put her feet into a truck, raised her leg high, and brought it down.
With a BOOM, the entire factory came crashing down, and the Heroes of the second squad barged in.
In only a few moments, Best Jeanist, Tiger, and Gang Orca neutralized all Nomus stored in various cylinders, restricting their movements.
"Skycrawler," Best Jeanist communicated through the device in his ear. "Any strays?"
Koichi, who was standing with the police to keep an eye on the surroundings, replied negative.
"Dammit!" Gang Orca cursed, throwing away a small Nomu. "You are supposed to warn me about something like this. Don't ask me to join a mission at a moment's notice on a call, Jeanist."
Best Jeanist tightened the strings, binding all Nomus using his Fiber Master Quirk. It allowed him to manipulate the threads in any nearby piece of fabric.
"Hawks went after a high-value US Hero, who was stationed at Tenebrous," Best Jeanist explained. "That left Stain unguarded at such a delicate time. So, Captain Celebrity had to go to Tenebrous as a replacement. We had no choice but to call you, Orca."
Gang Orca grunted in reply.
"Hey!" Mt. Lady's voice boomed as she scooched over them, bending her knees. "That was boring! Is it already over?!"
She casually grabbed a Nomu and squeezed it, making it whine.
"It might be boring, Newcomer," Best Jeanist reprimanded, "but, for All Might's Squad's safety and success, it was — indispensable."
"Indispensable…"
Best Jeanist, Tiger, Mt. Lady, and Gang Orca's faces paled, their heads snapping toward the darkness ahead, from where the voice had echoed.
"… What a good choice of words… Hero."
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