MHA: Dark Matter

I prepared myself for the dandy's next move. Or the heroes'. However, the first to protest being ignored was some flying monster that lunged at Tokiomi. He had no choice but to pierce its head with a beam of light, killing it instantly. I made a mental note that these creatures were likely also called Nomu.

Parallel to my thoughts, this "mage" turned his head toward me and almost got knocked off his feet by a backhanded slap from some old man in a yellow and white hero costume.

But I quickly lost interest in them. A jump upward, using "Choice" to negate gravity, and a stream of orange fire passed just beneath me. I noticed Endeavor's dark blue figure, already pushing off a building wall toward me, his fist raised.

Fast.

I pushed myself aside, but his fist headed toward me, glowing brighter and brighter. I extended my arms toward the nascent stream of fire and used "Rejection." The shockwave only slowed the powerful orange flame, but the preserved recoil from the ability pushed me out of the attack's radius, straight toward the dandy, who was trying to hit the nimble old man bouncing around like a jumping bean.

With a spinning kick, I struck the damn "light mage." My leg, hardened and accelerated by "Rejection," met his hexagonal light shield. The shield held, but he couldn't dodge the swift stream of air that the old man had somehow exhaled into his back. My enemy's body flew past me and crashed into the asphalt.

Endeavor, who had been about to knock out the man in the torn burgundy suit as he tried to get up, was forced to turn his attention back to the remaining Nomu.

The man raised his hand. With an inaudible snap of his fingers, a blinding flash of light flooded the entire street, blinding everyone for a few seconds.

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[Pov Tokiomi Tosaka]

One of the founding families of Haijima was furious. Proud of his position and strength, Tokiomi was forced to flee like a beaten dog. From humiliation and wounded pride, the man wanted to destroy everything around him. He could already imagine the mockery from his colleagues and representatives of other houses over the loss of valuable equipment and his failure to capture the escaped test subject. "Always successful, illustrious Tokiomi made such a blunder. How could this be?"

The pain in his body forced the man to focus on his steps. Thanks to the flash of light, he had managed to slip away unnoticed and fly away from the battlefield. But further flight would cost him energy, and his radiance would be visible from afar. One of the downsides of his Quirk, "Heavenly Light." Too flashy. But that was nothing compared to the power of his Quirk.

The energy he creates is easily controlled. It can be destabilized for attacks or stabilized for shields. The more energy used for an action, the easier it is to control. Tokiomi quickened his pace down the alley toward where his car was parked.

Of course, it was a shame he couldn't catch number twenty three, but getting caught in the sight of the number two hero would have been foolish. Rage and wounded pride are poor advisors for the mind. His fingertips were already beginning to ache from the intense use of his Quirk, as were the spots where he had been hit by that fast old man.

"What the hell were they doing there? If it weren't for them, this mutt would already be in my hands. That old man Takahashi found something interesting in his blood. That's why he ordered him captured alive. Oh well, this mutt won't be so lucky next time…"

Tokiomi's eyes widened. He quickly spun around, raising his left hand. But his wrist was grabbed by a hand that crushed it. The masked silhouette's free hand struck his elbow. Tokiomi let out an involuntary cry of pain from the broken arm. A blow to his stomach sent him flying into a wall.

With a blurry gaze, he watched the figure in black approach. The fingers of his right hand, where particles of light had begun to gather for a beam, were crushed by a descending foot. Through the pain, he barely registered number twenty three's words.

"So you can sense when someone else activates their Quirk nearby. As long as I wasn't actively using my Quirk, you didn't notice me. Is this ability your own, or are you like number forty one?"

"How dare you compare me to trash like you, number twenty three, or number forty one? You're only good for experiments and serving us."

From fear and pain, Tokiomi's nerves began to fail him. He was beginning to realize that he wouldn't get out of here alive.

"And that's interesting. Can you tell me more about that? I'm a good listener."

The villain in the mask crouched before the man. Red eyes gleamed with pleasure at the sight of Tokiomi's wounded body.

"Do you really think Haijima won't find you? After I die, you'll have big problems…"

As he spoke, the man's hands and collarbones began to glow faintly from within.

"…by letting me capture you, you can only hope for better treatment. Otherwise, your past stay with us might seem like paradise."

Tosaka tried to distract number twenty three. He needed time for a powerful, undetectable attack. But his words were cut off by a hand gripping his shoulder.

"Let's change the subject. You know, I'm very glad to have found such a conversation partner. It's a shame we don't have much time…"

The clenched hand began to be covered in a dark purple haze. The man watched in horror as he began to lose strength and control over his Quirk.

"…stretching out the absorption over a long period is very difficult. But I think we'll have enough time. And I'd like to tell you one thing…"

The mask with the glowing red eyes approached.

"…my name is not number twenty three. It's Ticci Micc."

[End Pov Tokiomi Tosaka]

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I looked thoughtfully at the pale corpse of Tokiomi Tosaka. In the middle of the interrogation, when he had just begun to speak, his body started shaking, and then his heart stopped. That didn't stop me from absorbing his life force, but I didn't get much information.

Too many events had happened today. Judging by the Nomu fighting the heroes, the League of Villains had decided to launch an attack. Why? I had no idea. But Endeavor was probably there to capture the Hero Killer.

I needed to figure out my next move. Because I had been spotted and had killed one of the higher ups in Haijima, all the more or less valuable members of the organization that I knew about might soon go into hiding. I needed to at least skim the information I had managed to retrieve from the server room. There might be lists of employees and their positions.

I also needed to rest for at least an hour and change into my spare gear. Infiltrating the complex, gathering information, the brief skirmish with a Haijima operative that had dragged us into the heroes' and Nomus' fight, and the subsequent capture and torture of said operative had considerably drained my energy. Mostly mentally.

But I had already achieved my main goal. The hard drive was secured in a case made of a durable, heat resistant alloy attached to my thigh. It had survived the attacks relatively unscathed.

Despite my fatigue, I felt a growing excitement. The object of my revenge was getting closer.

********A/N*******

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