MHA - HARDCOIL

Dante suddenly dropped to his knees, chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. Sweat clung to his face. His scarf was tattered and his arms trembled. He was still in attack mode.

But the battle was over.

But his mind was spinning with thoughts.

He looked down at his hands, flexed them, then raised one to his chest.

"…Hey, how the hell did you do that?" He asked, looking around for little Dante's figure.

But there was no one there.

It was quiet.

No grin. No smug voice. There was no response.

Dante's brow furrowed. "Not gonna gloat? Not gonna boast about how you figured out how to control sludge seperated from me? Not even a dig at me?"

Still nothing.

It kind felt like he was… sleeping. Most likely because he's never usually this quiet.

Dante scoffed, wiping sweat from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. "Whatever."

With a heavy exhale, his wings shot out of his back and he flew off into the air.

After a while, he ended up at Kendo's house. The lights inside were dim. The entire neighbourhood was asleep.

He found her bedroom window easily, it was half open too.

He landed on the rooftop and his arm turned to sludge before stretching down and tapping twice on the window.

Kendo stirred awake, blinking groggily as she struggled up. Her orange hair was messy, one side of her face was creased from the pillow. She blinked again, and then her eyes widened.

"Wh—huh?!"

Before she could say another word, the hand reached out.

In the hand was a small, smooth black device—barely bigger than a coin, but it was dense. A tracker. Encrypted, masked, untraceable except to him. The one he had made.

Kendo stared at it, then at the dark red arm at her window.

Her lips parted, ready to ask a question.

But he was already done.

His wings flapped once and Dante vanished into the night sky.

Kendo stood there at the window, holding the tracker in her palm, a little stunned.

"Why didn't you let me see you?"

…

…

Aizawa sat hunched on the edge of an air conditioning unit, a bandage already wrapped around his arm, eyes hidden and his capture weapon was in tatters. His goggles were also cracked and he was clearly distressed.

Kamui woods leaned against a wall nearby, his arms crossed, not saying anything.

Edgeshot was standing over a small display tablet, reviewing the brief data of the battle. His expression remained unreadable.

Hawks was the first to break the silence, as per usual. "How was there two of em'?"

Aizawa didn't look up. "I don't think it was two of them."

Kamui muttered, "then what exactly was it?"

Aizawa narrowed his eyes. "It moved like a person. Fought like a person. But it wasn't breathing nor was it even solid. A construct?"

He sighed then continued, his voice low and hoarse. "Not a construct, something it told me has stuck with me. I think it really was just the quirk itself."

They all turned to him.

"Dante's quirk—his sludge—it wasn't just detached. I think it was acting independently, like his quirk had a will of its own. Like…" he hesitated. "…like his quirk is alive."

Hawks clicked his tongue. "So what, we were fighting a sentient quirk?"

Aizawa nodded, grim. "This isn't the only case of a sentient quirk. There is a kid in my class with a quirk that has a mind of its own too. But my erasure didn't work on it. Because it wasn't a person. It was made of a quirk. Like fighting smoke?"

Kamui grimaced. "If he can make an infinite number of those…"

"He can't," Aizawa cut in. "Or at least, not yet. He looked just as shocked as me when that thing came out. That thing… acted on its own. Not to mention, that thing created more of itself, it created two more. One of which had the exact same sword technique as the villain known as 'Fang' that went missing a while back."

Edgeshot folded his arms. "Then the real question becomes—how long before the real Dante learns to do it on purpose?"

Another silence.

Hawks sighed and turned away. "Well, that went to hell. So what's the play now, Eraser?"

Aizawa slowly stood. His bones ached but he looked like he had gained a bit of clarity.

"I don't think we should try to capture him anymore."

Kamui blinked. "We shouldn't?"

Aizawa sighed and shook his head. "No. The kid is a walking storm right now. Every time we push, he will just adapt. If we treat him like a villain, he might very well become one. And if a villain has the kind of power he has…"

He trailed off. But his meaning was clear.

Hawks tilted his head. "So what do we do then?"

Aizawa looked down. His voice dropped to a murmur. "We can watch. We can follow. And when he's finally come to his senses… we can help him."

"Because right now, like it or not, Dante might be the only person in this city that is actively searching for the league of villains."