Chapter 8: Chapter 8: The Anti-Symbol of Peace, The Crimson King
"Twenty-three seconds."
A man and a woman were fighting in the middle of the U.S.J field; Aizawa-sensei and a strange woman with gigantic breasts who seemed to be the leader of the "League of Villains," as they called themselves.
Shigaraki looked nothing like what anyone would expect from a villain leader. She was 6'1", and her greasy, silver hair hung in messy clumps that stuck to her pale skin. She also had a gigantic pair of breasts so firm they defied gravity.
"So you're the boss, huh?" Aizawa said as he reversed, barely avoiding kicking the strange woman's chest.
Shigaraki grunted but continued, "Twenty-two seconds," she said as she composed herself and managed to hold on to one of Aizawa's scarfs as it launched in her direction.
Holding on to it tightly, Shigaraki planned on tugging it in her direction, but Aizawa noticed her intentions and rushed in her direction before she could do so.
"Seventeen seconds," Shigaraki said as she saw Aizawa duck an elbow strike, just to duck and deliver one of his own to Shigaraki's solar plexus.
Slam! It was a direct hit; Shigaraki coughed a mouthful of blood into her hand-shaped mask.
"It's hard to tell when you're scampering around, but.. there are moments when your hair falls in front of your eyes."
Aizawa flinched as he felt something on his elbow like acid was pouring down.
"Every time you finish a given move. And your max duration getting shorter and shorter..."
Aizawa felt as if his elbow was about to fall from his arm. Quickly composing himself, he launched a hook with his other arm, which was intercepted with a headbutt blow.
Aizawa was stunned momentarily, so Shigaraki took the opportunity to give a question mark kick to his face; disoriented, Aizawa prepared to block a low kick but instead got hit directly in the shin by Shigraraki's kick.
As Aizawa lay on the ground, Shigaraki began frantically scratching her neck, "You jumped to the fight, hoping for the kids to feel safe, right?"
"So cool, so cool, by the way... hero."
"I am not the boss here."
Just then, from the ground unburied a strange gigantic creature, its skin was dark-purple, with veins running through his body, bloodshot gigantic eyes, and a peak like that of a chicken but with strange predatory fangs.
A Nomu.
Shigaraki began laughing maniacally, "HAHAHAHA" she laughed as the Nomu held Aizawa by the neck and began slamming him into the ground; then, Shigaraki noticed three students in a lake beside them.
"You... Meet the anti-symbol of peace... the bioengineered..."
The glass dome above them broke, and falling from the sky could only be seen in a red blur.
"King Crimson!"
VWWWWWW.
The Nomu was thrown away like a ragdoll, and standing centimeters away from Shigaraki was a strange, peculiar man.
The man was overly muscular, with exceptionally well-defined muscles. He wore black pants of working loose pants with many pockets on every side, and the only clothing covering his upper body was a blood-red coat that hung to his muscular chest with seemingly nothing.
Lastly, his face was covered with a red mask, leaving only his red right eye exposed. Even if his face was covered, Shigaraki instantly knew this man was as handsome as a man could be.
"Who... Who are you?" Shigaraki screamed as the Nomu began standing up. He knew the man was too strong to be a student but too young to be a pro-hero. Was he a villain like herself?
"In practice, I don't exist," the man said. A robotic filter mangled his voice, and just as Shigaraki heard his last words come out of his mouth, she was thrown away, like the Nomu, an invisible force.
The Nomu had begun rushing towards them but was thrown back by Shigaraki's body; both slammed against the dome wall, breaking it and revealing a frozen landslide zone.
Shigaraki and the Nomu stood up, but Shigaraki ordered the Nomu to stand on guard beside her. "Who are you!? We are here under..."
"I know, I want a chat with All for One."
"!!!"
Shigaraki's eyes shot open as the man began walking toward her. The villains she had brought were losing against the hero students, and this man had appeared from seemingly nowhere, defeated her, and used the Nomu designed to kill All-Might as a ragdoll.
'How could this be!? The Nomu was made to absorb any and all physical attacks!? What kind of quirk does he have!?'
Even though Shigaraki had ordered the Nomu to stand beside her, the Nomu became so enraged that he rushed towards the strange man just as his fist was about to collide.
"King Crimson"
Zaiko saw with epitaph that Nomu's fist would blow his head off, so he waited until the last moment to erase time. He saw as the world fell apart, leaving him in his now familiar domain.
It was completely dark, with nothing in the distance but shiny little spots that seemed to be stars. He saw Nomu's fist pass through his head, leaving red mirages as it passed.
Zaiko began walking forward toward Shigaraki; behind him, King Crimson's left arm—his only arm and the only part of the stand he could use—moved behind the Nomu, aiming for its spine.
Once he was before Sigaraki, he resumed the erased time.
"—es! The Nomu is the—wHAT!?" Shigaraki screamed; she was stunned; why was she screaming, and when did the strange man move before her!?
Just then, King Crimson's arm phased through the Nomu's impenetrable skin and held onto its spine; using all its strength, King Crimson crushed it.
The Nomu fell to the ground, unable to move or even scream in pain.
Shigaraki was trembling. What the hell was going on? "Don't," Zaiko said as he raised his right arm and groped one of Shigaraki's tits.
"Ehhh!?" Despite being a murderous LoL player, Murder Psychopath Villain, Shigaraki was still a woman, a Japanese woman, so she quickly flustered as Zaiko groped her breast.
With his other arm, Zaiko took out a hotel card and put it between Shigaraki's cleavage, "I want a meeting with All for One; if he doesn't show up, tell him I'll expose Dr. Garaki," Zaiko said, dodging any kicks and hits Shigaraki launched, while he memorized her attack pattern and combinations.
As he dodged and played around Shigaraki, Zaiko heard a shot; quickly using King Crimson, Zaiko moved Shigaraki towards him as a shot was fired to her head.
"If he asks who I am, tell him I'm the Crimson King," Zaiko said as he winked at Shigaraki with his only exposed eye; then, he disappeared in a second, just as Shigaraki was involved in a mantle of darkness, being teleported away.
.
.
.
On the rooftop of a swanky Tokyo hotel, Zaiko leaned back against the railing, eyes locked on a tablet he bought with Mitsuki's money.
After he returned from the U.S.J., Zaiko heard her crying as she told her husband about the situation and the deal she had made in exchange for Zaiko not releasing the bad press against Bakugo.
Her husband suggested calling the police, but she told him about Zaiko's "other friends," and how if he put a foot in jail, Bakugo's life would be in shambles.
'How amusing,' Zaiko thought as he watched MMA moves play in a steady loop; each kick, punch, and submission burned itself into his brain. His fingers tapped idly on the screen, ready to file away another move for later.
A few feet away, Violet leaned against the ledge, cigarette dangling from her lips. The city lights reflected off her sharp blue eyes as she took a slow drag, the ember glowing faintly in the night air. She blew out a lazy plume of smoke, watching it drift away.
"You know," she said, voice tinged with sarcasm, "you didn't need to be so damn flashy back there. I saw the news. No one's talking about you. All that dramatics, and for what? Nothing." She flicked the cigarette away and lit another without missing a beat.
Zaiko snorted, pausing the video with a smirk. "You really should stop smoking," He said as he put the tablet on a briefcase lying on the ground, "They're not mentioning me because the whole thing's a media shitshow," he said, stretching his arms.
"I beat the villains that raided the U.S.J. dome and took down the Nomu that bodied Eraserhead, but I'm not a hero. So yeah, the networks are keeping me off the radar. They don't want to deal with the headache of a competent vigilante, even worse since they haven't caught Stain yet."
Before Violet could respond, a ripple of darkness shimmered in the corner of Zaiko's vision. The air grew heavy and cold as a swirling void expanded like someone had ripped a hole in reality.
Out of that inky blackness stepped Shigaraki, her scarred fingers twitching at her sides. She was followed by the hulking figure of All for One.
Shigaraki wore a loose dark blue jacket with the zipper all the way down, her massive tits were almost spilled in the open since she wore no bra, and her face was covered by her usual hand-shaped mask.
Beside her stood All For One. His imposing body was wrapped in a black suit, and his face was obscured by that creepy-ass metallic mask.
"We've come," Shigaraki announced, her voice dry and irritated.
Zaiko grinned, snapping his fingers with a sharp crack. Violet turned, her eyes narrowing as they landed on All for One.
She sized him up with a slow, unimpressed sweep like she was evaluating a knock-off statue at a shady flea market.
She took a long drag from her cigarette, exhaled through her nose, and smirked. "That's it? I was expecting something scarier."
All for One's masked face tilted toward her, but his attention didn't waver from Zaiko. His deep, distorted voice rumbled like distant thunder. "Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you right now."
Zaiko didn't even flinch. He leaned back against the railing, crossing his arms. "Same reason you make Nomus," he said casually.
"You don't want another superhuman showing up like The Crawler. Someone unpredictable. Someone out of your control."
A brief silence stretched between them. Shigaraki's eyes narrowed, her fingers twitching, but she held back. All for One's mask remained still, but the air crackled with restrained tension.
"Interesting," All for One finally said, his tone neutral. "What exactly are you offering?"
Zaiko's grin widened. "I'll be your informant," he said, confidence dripping from every word.
"I dig up intel, slide through the cracks, and keep you two steps ahead of everyone else. In return, I want a few things: connections to the few persons of interest you've got, a steady paycheck, and a clean civilian identity. Call me Akagi Diavolo."
Shigaraki snorted. "And why the hell should we trust you?"
Zaiko shrugged. "You don't have to trust me. Just trust that I'm good at what I do. I've embarrassed heroes and crippled your Nomu, and nobody even knows my name. Imagine what I could do with your resources backing me up."
All for One was quiet for a moment, considering. Then he let out a low chuckle, a distorted, almost mechanical sound. "You're amusing," he said, a hint of dark humor in his voice. "Fine. You've got a deal, Akagi Diavolo."
He reached into the inner pocket of his suit and pulled out a sleek black phone, tossing it to Zaiko, who caught it effortlessly.
"Shigaraki will meet you tomorrow at the mall beside this hotel to give you your documents and... other necessities," All for One said.
Without another word, All for One turned, the darkness swirling around him. Shigaraki shot Zaiko a glare that was half suspicion, half annoyance, but she followed her mentor into the portal.
The void collapsed behind them with a whispering shhht, leaving the rooftop silent once again.
Zaiko slipped the phone into his pocket, his red eyes glinting with excitement. He turned to Violet, who was leaning against the railing with a smirk plastered across her face.
"Well, look at you," she drawled. "Mr. Big Shot Informant now. Guess I gotta call you 'Diavolo' from now on?"
He chuckled, sliding his hands into his pockets. "Only if you want to make it sound sexy."
Violet rolled her eyes, but her grin widened. "So, what's the plan now, 'Diavolo'?"
Zaiko looked out over the Tokyo skyline, the city lights stretching out like a sea of possibilities. His smile turned wicked.
"I need a few pheromones for my next target; if I'm right, her breeding season should start soon."