A loud explosion occurred near a mountain range, the shockwave was felt all throughout the forest.
"Ha.... Muscular... Muscular is defeated!" Izuku's breathless voice loudly reported. Sukuna only smirked but then he sensed something behind him.
Turning around, he saw a villain dashing towards him. Sukuna grabbed the villain's hand before flipping him off the ground, slamming him into the ground violently.
From Momo's description of each villain attacking them, he recognized the villain as Mr Compress. Sukuna's eyes widened just a little, knowing what the function of the villain's Quirk was.
This was it, this was his chance.
Mr Compress, noticing that Sukuna wasn't doing anything, placed a hand on Sukuna's shoulder. The teen before him suddenly shrunk down into a minuscule marble-like object.
"Hah! I got him!" Mr Compress taunted, the marble now in his hand. Then he came to a sudden realization. It all fell down to disbelief.
"Wait! I got him?!"
...
"Revelry in the dark..." Tokoyami muttered, as he Todoroki and Bakugo were standing near a defeated villain named Moonfish.
"Guys! Where's Sukuna?!" Izuku, who's arms were broken from his fight with Muscular, had shouted, appearing before them with a panicked expression. He had been warned by Aizawa that they, the students, were the villains' targets. He had Izuku request Mandalay relay the message via her telepathy Quirk.
"No idea, he's been very quiet for a few minutes now. Maybe he's fighting a villain." Todoroki surmised.
"Answer, you idiot!" Bakugo growled as he had a finger on his earpiece. "I can't get through to him for some reason. Signal's blocked." He reported.
"But I thought Momo already prevented that?" Shoji questioned, as they noticed Momo, their classmates and some members of Class 1-B run over.
"Can any of you contact Sukuna?" Momo questioned, noticing that the dot that represented Sukuna's location had disappeared on her device. She went silent as they shook their heads in response.
"Oh lookie here. Looks like you're missing somebody..." They all turned around, laying eyes on Dabi, Toga, Twice, Mr Compress, Spinner and Magne. Uraraka and Tsuyu narrowed their eyes, glaring at the vampire-like girl they confronted previously.
" Wow! There's sooo many people here!" Toga grinned, holding up a shiny knife.
"Mind if I stab you?" She then laid eyes on a shirtless and bloody Izuku before widening her eyes. She started giggling weirdly. Izuku gulped, noticing her sensual gaze.
"Heyy, you're pretty cute~ Hehehehe~" Toga commented. Izuku widened her eyes, and blushed at the sudden compliment.
"Oi! You damn nerd! Why the hell are you blushing?! She's a villain damnit!" Bakugo shouted in the background.
"That is very improper of you Midoriya! Your shamelessness knows no bounds!" Iida joined in the scolding, while the rest nodded in agreement.
"Basically..." Izuku glanced at Todoroki who stared at him. "You need to lock in."
"I-i know that! I'm not blushing!"
"I'm impressed at how bad you are at lying, Izuku." Tokoyami commented. Meanwhile, Uraraka was glaring in jealousy, scaring Izuku with her gaze.
"You know, you'd totally look cuter if you were bleeding." Toga grinned, showing off her sharp canines as she held up her knife. Dabi held a hand in front of her.
"Hold, Toga. Our objective is already complete, we have no need for confrontation." He ordered calmly, his gaze lingering longer at Todoroki before he grinned, as a large purple portal appeared behind them.
"Show them true despair, Compress." Dabi muttered as they slowly backed into the portal. As he slowly sunk into the portal, a light blue marble magically appeared before Mr Compress as he then snapped his fingers.
Everyone widened their eyes in horror as Sukuna appeared before them. The teen has a confused expression as he noticed all his classmates standing before him, all wearing panicked expressions.
Dabi's hand shot out of the portal, wrapping it around Sukuna's neck as he pulled the boy back. He stood still, letting it happen as he then looked at Momo with a hard stare.
No one had noticed, but Sukuna had formed a strange shadowgraphic handsign that looked like a dog's head as he was being pulled back. Two blurs shot out of his shadow, diving into the woods.
'I'll leave the rest to you.' Was the message he sent with his gaze. Momo's gaze hardened, as she nodded back a little before Sukuna went in the portal.
"Give him back!!!" Izuku growled out as he dashed towards the portal. He then screamed in pain, falling on the ground. The fight with Muscular forced him to exert himself more than needed.
Toga giggled as she waved at Izuku.
"Bubyeee cutie~" She laughed as she skipped into the portal. It disappeared moments later, leaving class 1-A and 1-B staring at where the League of Villains stood.
"Ugh... I'm finally here." Mina muttered, still carrying the injured Ragdoll. She looked up at her classmates, all staring emptily into the distance.
"Uh guys? Where are the villains? Where's Sukuna?" She asked as Uraraka slowly turned to face her.
"Mina... Something happened..."
Mina didn't like the look on her face.
Momo looked down at the dirt as Uraraka slowly broke the news to Mina, the pink girl's expression slowly turned into a horrified one. She didn't listen in to the conversation instead starting at the hologram on her wrist device. The screen had switched, now showing a red dot on a random location.
'Phase 2 begins....'
.....
(A few hours ago)
"My brothers. I thank you for gathering with us today. " Todo glanced at the elderly man preaching before him. He was currently attending the meeting of the cult, the very same one that worshipped the King of Quirks, the very same one that he shared with Sukuna right after the Hosu Incident.
"I have good news. The prophecy has been fulfilled! Our master, The Sovereign, has returned!" He declared. Todo, silently standing in the back, watched as the cult members cheered, some even hugging each other dearly at the revelation.
"This is amazing, brother Todo! Once again, the power that was scattered and wielded by the unworthy. will return to its true master!" One member of the cult excitedly told him. The muscular man smiled, nodding in return.
"Yes! This is truly wonderful news!" Todo replied enthusiastically.
"And he has assigned us a trial! If we succeed, we shall receive the highest honor! He will bestow unto us his Quirks!" They cheered once more, now eager to please their divine master. The elder, clearly the leader of the cult, stepped aside a little as another member turned on the projector.
"Our master has assigned us two targets. Some of you may remember these two." The projector revealed two people Todo did not expect to see, and was horrified by it.
Jin and Kaori. Sukuna's parents.
"This is Domain Hero: Kenjaku, and her husband Reverso, ex hero turned doctor. Decades in the past, our Master has attempted to capture their Quirks, but All Might interfered, sending our master into temporary hiding." The elder seethed, feeling disgusted just by mentioning All Might's name.
"Reverso used to go under the name Itadori Jin, but after the confrontation with our master, he changed his name, now going under Ryomen Jin, and currently he is living peacefully with the Domain Hero and their child." The elder began to explain.
"Elder, what's so good about their Quirks that our master requires it?" One member asked after raising his hand. The elder hummed, nodding a little.
"Good question." He then pointed at Jin's picture shown by the projector. "Under the Quirk database, Ryomen Jin's Quirk is known as Reversal, a healing Quirk that enabled him to reverse the state of the wound back to full condition. But those are just lies the man made up!"
"During their confrontation decades ago, our master has figured out the true ability of his Quirk. Ryomen Jin has an energy system within him, enabling him to amplify his physical abilities, something he calls 'negative energy', he is able to reverse this energy into 'positive energy', which is why he is able to heal himself and others."
'I wonder how he kept that ability hidden for so long until the King of Quirks confronted him. He might be an even better actor than me, if he somehow managed to get everyone to believe that he had a healing Quirk.' Todo thought to himself.
"Then, there is the Domain Hero: Kenjaku. Some of you may recognize her. She was in the top 10 rankings during her time as a pro hero. Her Quirk, Domain, allows her to create a domain around her as a shield to counter enemy attacks. But that wasn't what made her a formidable opponent."
"Using her Domain Expansion technique, she is able to expand her domain, trapping people inside. Inside the domain, she is able to create customized effects such as invisible slashes, summoning cursed creatures, manipulating gravity and so on."
'What I'm getting from this is that Sukuna is a living domain.' Todo thought as the elder continued.
He needed to warn the two parents as soon as possible, not caring if they knew him or not. Having been decades off the front lines, the two were essentially non combatants. There was no telling if they were able to defend themselves or not.
"I have already chosen some of our fellow brothers for the mission. But before that..." He turned around, backing facing the congregation.
"We need to get rid of some loose ends..." There's was silence for a while. Todo wondered what he meant by that before he felt a sharp pain in his pain.
"Sorry brother..." The man that had talked to him a few minutes ago muttered, having stabbed Todo in the back with a knife. Just then, another member slammed a bat straight to Todo's face, knocking the man out.
"With that. Let us commence the operation, my brothers..."
...
Todo gasped as he opened his eyes, now finding himself bleeding out in an alleyway under the night sky. It was raining heavily, and Todo could still feel the stinging pain on his back.
With no time to waste, Todo took off his shirt and wrapped it around his body, making a makeshift tourniquet for the moment. He took out his phone and began calling for Sukuna. Being in Hokkaido, there was no way he could reach the Shizuoka Prefecture in time.
"Come on brother, pick up!" He growled, finding shelter under the roof of a convenience store. The civilains looked at him weirdly as they entered.
Todo scowled as he placed his phone away. Sukuna wasn't picking up, so Todo had no choice but to go to the Ryomen residence himself. What he didn't know was that Sukuna was already kidnapped at this time.
"Well then, Aoi Todo, what are you waiting for? Someone needs to be saved! But first, some bandages!"
...
The hospital was noisy. It was the next day, and Class 1-A was gathered at the hospital near the training camp, all in Izuku's ward. There was a heavy emotional atmosphere, like gravity suddenly increased.
They all stayed the night at the green haired boy's ward. No one had slept. Everyone was replaying the same moment in their heads, the moment their friend was taken away. Then they heard lots of typing from a keyboard and the occasional beeping. They looked at Momo, eyes focused on the laptop before her.
Some of them gathered around her, looking at the screen that showed layered maps, signal graphs, drone telemetry logs, all data pulled from the devices she had scattered around the camp.
Momo looked focused and calm. Too calm.
And that was what caught Mina's attention. The pink girl had been staring at the floor since forever, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Her eyes were already red from crying. Seeing Momo typing away as if nothing catastrophic had just happened unsettled her depely.
She then glanced at the screen and froze. Why was Momo tracking something at this moment? Then it hit her. The constant serious whispering. The way they looked like they were planning something.
"You... You planned this..." Mina whispered. Momo's hands froze on the keyboard just for a moment. But that was enough for Mina as tears welled instantly in her eyes.
"You knew... You knew they were going to take him!" She screamed. Bakugo looked up, scowling.
"Oi? What the hell are you talking about?" He demanded. Mina pointed at Momo.
"You two were whispering about it back at camp! You knew villains might come!" Momo slowly closed the laptop after hearing Mina's accusations.
"We discussed possibilities."
"That's not the same thing! You let him get kidnapped!" She shouted, her voice cracking. The room erupted.
"Wait what?!" Bakugo shouted, glaring in between Mina and Momo.
" You're telling me that bastard planned this crap?!"
" He chose it." Momo stated. Bakugo laughed harshly.
"Bullshit! You expect me to believe that idiot volunteered to get grabbed by the League of Villains?"
"He did."
"And why the hell did you not stop him?!" He yelled. Momo's composure cracked.
"You think I didn't try to stop him?!" She shouted, her voice echoing off the sterile walls. The room went dead quiet.
"I argued with him for hours! I told him it was too dangerous! That the variables were uncontrollable!" Mina's hands clenched into fists.
"Then why didn't you stop him?!" She lunged forward. Before anyone could react, Mina's arm swung. Fortunately the slap never landed, as Kirishima, Denki and Uraraka held Mina back, holding her back as she struggled.
"LET ME GO! I'll beat you up bitch! That's my boyfriend! You let him disappear!" Mina cried, her tears flowing freely.
Bakugo pointed angrily at Momo. "Yeah! What kind of dumb plan sacrifices one of us?!" Before Momo could answer, a dark voice cut through the chaos.
"Watch your words." All eyes turned to Tokoyami, leaning against the wall while crossing his arms. Bakugo glared at him.
"Sukuna did not sacrifice himself lightly. I understood his reasoning. " He stated, his sharp gaze scaring some. Mina stared at him in disbelief.
"How can you say that?!"
"Sukuna chose the burden of that decision himself." Tokoyami's voice hardened as he stepped forward slightly, looking straight at Mina.
"You insult his resolve by pretending he was forced."
Bakugo snorted at Tokoyami's words. "Resolve?! That idiot just walked into a trap!"
"Mina." Todoroki called out gently. The girl looked at him, still crying.
"Sukuna made that decision because he believed it was the best chance to track them."
"She...She should've fought him harder!" She pointed at Momo as Kirishima and Denki held her arms harder, just enough to stop her from lunging again.
"You should've told the teachers... or something... anything!"
"Do you really think Sukuna is someone who can be easily stopped?" Momo questioned. No one answered, not even Mina. Because everyone in that room knew the answer.
"If someone like him decides to do something, arguing might not change the outcome. Blaming Momo for his choice won't bring him back." Todoroki added. Mina's lips trembled.
"T-that doesn't make it okay..." Momo shook her head.
"No, it doesn't... I'm sorry, Mina.... I tried to stop him..." Momo whispered. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Mina glanced down, her eyes looking at the ring he gifted her. She couldn't handle it anymore.
Mina suddenly buried her face in her hands and started crying harder. The girls approached her, all consoling her while the others watched grimly at their classmate falling apart.
Bakugo stared at the uncomfortable scene, before he gritted his teeth and looked away. "You're an asshole for doing this to her..." He muttered.
"Your grief is not misplaced, Mina." Tokoyami muttered quietly. Mina looked up, shaking a little.
"I know he'd do something stupid like this." She said bitterly, before a small, broken laugh escaped her.
" He always thinks he can handle everything."
Bakugo snorted. " Damn right he does." He agreed, though his voice lacked its usual bite.
Mina looked down. "I just wish... that I could've been there when he decided..."
Momo slowly opened her laptop again. The screen lit up and a digital map filled the display. In the center of it was a tiny blinking signal. She looked up at her classmates.
"He trusted that this would lead us to them. So unless any of you would prefer that his sacrifice meant nothing, I suggest we focus on getting him back."
"Woof!" At the sudden bark, everyone looked down to see a white dog in the middle of the room. It had a crown-like symbo a little above its eyes, one exactly like the one on Sukuna's forehead, to which Mina noticed immediately.
The dog then looked at Mina before it walked towards her, and sat down in front of her. She flinched a little out of disbelief, before slowly kneeling before it.
"Doggie... do you know Sukuna?" She asked, hoping her guess was correct. Her eyes widened when it barked and nodded in response. Mina stared at it for a long moment before fresh tears started spilling down her cheeks.
"He's still alive..." She didn't know how or why, but somehow she knew this dog must be tied to Sukuna. Tokoyami crossed his arms, nodding a little.
"I see, a shadow cannot exist without its master." He muttered. Bakugo crossed his arms, scowling, but there was a faint edge of relief in his eyes.
"You're so cute! Wahh!!!" She screamed while crying, hugging the cute dog tightly as it started licking her face. In its head, it knows this woman is its master's mate as soon as it was summoned, so it knows it has to treat her well.
Mina hugged it tightly after feeling the warmth of its fur. "That stupid jerk..." She choked out a broken laugh through her tears.
"He better come back to me..."
To be continued...
(underwhelming kidnapping scene. and maybe the emotional scenes didn't land? maybe it was a bad way to introduce the Divine Doggos too. I don't know please give your comments)