WARNING: The following blog contains obscene dialogue, alcohol consumption, slight HotWings shipping, sterile medical equipment, briefly shirtless Tomura, references to doom and destruction and a really absurd skincare routine.
Reader Discretion is Advised
Word Count: 2,192
Characters: OC (Cyrus/Wild-Card; Daria), CC
Featuring the song "Rats" & elements of "Dance Macabre" by Ghost
Cover Art by MikatheGhost
Tomura and the Square Hammer - Part 1
A continuation of the Hallowtober 2022 blog: "Let's Do the Time Warp Again!"
House of the DePraved
The No. 2 Pro Hero, Hawks, and his partner, freelance journalist Cyrus Willough, are still processing the bizarre appearance of the enigmatic Daria DePravia. The other villains attending the unorthodox party carry on as usual, but Dabi, the Cremation villain, stands next to the pair with a stalker-like gaze.
His standoffish demeanor makes Hawks a little tense, though Cyrus (really, the anti-hero, Wild-Card) is somewhat annoyed by Dabi's edgy nonsense.
Hawks then decides to break through the tension, "So… what are you and DePravia planning, huh?"
"Wow, straight to the point, huh?" Cyrus remarks.
"Already making assumptions?" Dabi scoffs. "I'm about as lost as you are."
"Guess you were forced to show up here. I never took you as a social type, anyway." Hawks retorts, raising a playful eyebrow.
"I ain't the only one, though. The others don't even know why they're here either. Just a bunch of psychos lollygagging at the worst time." Dabi says with a disappointed frown.
"Personally, I don't think it's wrong to relax every now and then. In fact, a party like this prevents burnout for everyone." Cyrus replies.
"Ha! Dabi and burnout! That's a good one, Cy." Hawks chuckled, seeing the pun within Cyrus's statement.
"Yeah, cute…" Dabi reacts flatly.
"I mean, it's still true." Cyrus says sheepishly.
Dabi stares at Hawks with an auspicious look, "Why don't we just cut the crap for a moment: Number Two, you brought this random civilian into a secret base full of extremists and known murderers. For what exactly, kidnapper bait? Someone could easily take them and do unspeakable things when you look away for a mere second."
"Actually, I wanted to come," Cyrus interrupts before Hawks could even answer. Both the hero and villain look at the journalist as the latter makes a correction to Dabi's speculation, "The only reason Hawks is here is so he could hold me back in case one of you decided to give me a bad time."
"Is that so?" Dabi responds, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"Cyrus here carries a stun rod; they're pretty creative with the amount of volts they're packing." Hawks forewarns Dabi.
"Yup…" Cyrus nods, immediately whipping out their alluded stun baton. "You don't wanna know where this has been."
Suddenly, Oak Lee, Daria's right hand woman, approaches the villain, "Dabi, the 'VIPs' are attending the meeting right now. I suggest you hurry down there."
"Whatever… as long as Bird Brain comes along." Dabi sneers at Hawks.
"Me? You sure DePravia wouldn't mind?" Hawks inquires.
"Actually, my mistress has reserved a spot for you, Hawks." Lee informs the Pro Hero. "You're fortunate to be invited to the lab; I've seen others give their right arm for the privilege."
Cyrus tugs at Hawks' arm as the pair step away for a moment, "This seems strange, Hawks."
"Compared to what we've seen so far, I'd say it can probably get even stranger." Hawks surmises. "But what's already strange is how this woman has been expecting me, even though we just met a while ago."
"Why don't I stay here while you go to Ujiko's lab?" Cyrus suggests.
"You sure you wanna stick with these criminals?" Hawks asks with concern.
"It's not like I'm gonna take a drink from some weirdo. I'll be careful." Cyrus assures the Winged hero.
"Are you coming or what, hero?" Dabi calls out to Hawks, who is impatiently waiting.
"Oh, I'm coming hard!" Hawks smiles, waving at Dabi and Oak Lee before whispering to Cyrus. "Take a look around, let me know what you find."
"Ditto." Cyrus affirms as the hero follows the remaining villains. They then walk up to a random server, "Excuse me, do you know where the bathroom is?"
"Right over there to your left." The server says, pointing in a specific direction.
"Thank you." Wild replies, walking straight to the restroom as they take off their glasses.
🧫🧪⚗
The Laboratory
After entering a hidden ageway, Oak Lee, Dabi and Hawks descend towards the bottom. While they travel to the hidden lab, Hawks begins to prove Lee.
"I'm curious, Oak Lee; why do you call DePravia your mistress?"
"We've worked together for about a decade. She offered me a job that I couldn't refuse." Oak Lee states.
"That being your indentured servant or something?" Hawks retorts, though in a light-hearted manner.
"Well, that certainly says more about you than me." Lee casually remarks.
"Pardon?" The bird-like hero chirps.
"She means that you're a slave for the Hero Commission. That's why you wanted to be a part of the League, right?" Dabi says, leering at Hawks like an owl.
Hawks keeps his expression neutral, though internally, he seems to rather find a bit of truth in that statement. Nonetheless, he can't let the League follow through with whatever Daria's meeting holds for them.
"Whether you do believe it–or don't–my mistress and myself have different standards compared to the Commission." Lee elaborates. "While working with villains is the most unethical, it's the only way to get things done."
"As if you know anything about ethics." Dabi says doubtfully.
"Speak for yourself, you burnt piece of toast." Lee mutters as they enter through a pair of automatic metal doors.
A rotund room with lab equipment and a large object draped with a canvas sheet and exposed tubing sets the ominous tone for what may transpire. Raised seating was recently installed on one side of the room, a feature that Ujiko's original lab never had. Himiko Toga, Twice, Mr. Compress, Spinner, Re-Destro and Giran are sitting in the makeshift bleachers overlooking the operating floor.
Daria DePravia, now dressed in a teal lab coat, is sipping a glass of vodka as she notices Hawks enter. She looks at Lee as the masked woman strolls up to her.
"Oak Lee, go and assist Charles. Dabi, be useful and stand over there." Daria orders as her right hand does as told while Dabi turns on his heel. The woman in the eyepatch snickers as she greets Hawks, "Mr. Hawks, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."
"Pleasure's mine, Miss DePravia." Hawks smirks, reciprocating the greeting.
"I've been told you wanted to the League of Villains. Well, here you are at the epicenter of our operations." Daria says in a welcoming disposition.
"Yeah, glad to be here." The hero replies, maintaining his friendly façade.
"Tell me: Who recommended you to us?" Daria asks.
"Wild-Card. He was… helpful in his own eccentric way." Hawks explains.
"I see. I figured perhaps Dabi wanted you to ." She then leans close to Hawks' ear, whispering as if she is spreading gossip. "I hear he's had his eye on you. He thinks you're an absolute stud!"
Hawks' eyes narrowed, briefly looking at Dabi, who sat at the elevated seating area with the other villains. The Cremation villain stared back at him from afar.
"Of course, that's just what I heard! Still, you and him are far more similar than you realize. It would be quite a match, I assume." Daria says with a giddy overtone.
Hawks clears his throat, "That's… interesting to note. So what about Shigaraki? Is he even here or not?"
"Well, Hawks, you've arrived just before the start of a transitional period." Daria elaborates. "I won't get into details, yet. I can assure you, however, that you'll be astounded by what's in store."
A man, who may be Daria's assistant, Charles, walks up behind her, "Miss Daria, we're ready to begin. We're still waiting for your word, ma'am."
The woman gives her glass of wine to her assistant, claps her hands twice as she makes her way in front of the canvas sheet. Hawks makes his way to the seating area, sitting down next to Dabi and the others.
Daria positions herself in front of a Mic stand, addressing her audience through the microphone, "Tonight, my fellow baddies! You are to bear witness to an evolution in the industry of supervillainy! And the start of gradual change for a brighter, sexier future!"
The VIPs cheer and applaud as they become hyped for what would come next. Hawks claps along with the others, though Dabi remains calm and collected despite the promises Daria shared.
"You see, for so long, the model of the average supervillain has been boiled down to simply someone who is 'bad,' 'evil,' 'irredeemable,'" Daria continues as she stretches her pink latex gloves. "Such a misnomer! The only reason that such unrealistic archetypes that undermine our complexity are perpetuated is because of those that have made us hoodwinked, duped, bamboozled—"
"Smeckledorfed!!" Twice adds, yelling intensely across the theater.
"That's not even a word, yet I agree!" Daria retorts. "We have been made fools time and time again. But fortunately, your leader was wise enough to seek a new alternative; a reimagining of the mere concept of a 'supervillain.' I have discovered a secret ingredient that would make this a possibility."
Oak Lee and Charles, now wearing surgical masks, appear on either side of the white canvas as Daria continues her preamble while putting on her pink gloves, "Tonight is the night that this fuzzy caterpillar becomes… a beautiful moth!"
The villains cheer harder than before as Oak Lee and Charles pick up each end of the canvas. Daria gives her command, "REVEAL HIM TO ME!!!"
The swift pullback of the canvas unveils a pod. The cylindrical containment device displays Tomura Shigaraki, donning briefs while suspended in the liquid-filled chamber. His face is obscured by a headset. The villains look at him in awe as Dabi and Hawks are bewildered by the League's leader being used as a test subject.
Daria climbs up a catwalk, standing directly above the pod. She looks down at the bubbling fluid beneath her as she and her lab assistants make the necessary preparations. She then points at a control close by.
"Pull the lever, Charles!"
Charles does as such, pulling the mechanism down as a device is lowered from the ceiling.
"Release the Neutrogena!"
Oak Lee presses a button, opening the faucet on the device that releases a rich chemical into the pod.
"About time Shiggy got a skin routine." Toga says teasingly.
"With all that lotion, he might turn out smoother like a tumbled rock!" Twice comments.
"Cleansing Complete; Draining of Pod 1 Will Now Commence."
The liquid is then released from the pod as Tomura is lowered to the bottom. The villain contained inside moves slightly. His hand slams into the glass as a heavy metal song begins to play.
Tomura:
In times of turmoil
In times like these
Beliefs contagious
Spreading disease
Tomura slowly takes off the headset, revealing his eyes; his right eye is still crimson, but his left eye is now a secular heterochromia color with a dark violet merged with his original crimson color.
This wretched mischief is now coursing through your souls
Never to let go
Never to let go
The glass in the pod shatters as Shigaraki emerges.
Them Rats!
Daria shoves Charles out of the way as she hurries down the catwalk to marvel at her work. She gives Tomura a pair of black gloves to prevent him from triggering his Quirk as he continues the number.
Into your sanctum
You let them in
Now all your loved ones
And all your kin
Tomura is then placed onto an operating table. Daria and her assistants move the rolling table around as she examines the villain.
Will suffer punishment beneath the wrath of god
Never to forgive
Never to forget
Pyrotechnics go off as rainbow stage lights illuminate the room.
Them Rats!
Ensemble:
Aaah-Whoa!
Tomura:
Rats!
Ensemble:
Aaah-Whoa!
Tomura:
Rats!
Ensemble:
Aaah-Whoa!
Tomura:
Rats!
Ensemble:
Aaah-Whoa!
Tomura jumps off the table, running onto the catwalk as he turns and spins in exaggerated movements.
This devastation left your cities to be burned
Never to return
Never to return
A guitar solo with elements of "Dance Macabre" by Ghost intertwine into the number as the villains run down from the seating area. They gather around the broken pod, singing the chorus to "Dance Macabre." Hawks and Dabi stand by on the sidelines to observe the strange spectacle.
Ensemble:
Just wanna be
Wanna be-witch you in the moonlight!
Just wanna be
Wanna be-witch you all night!
All night~!
Daria, Oak Lee and Charles come onto the catwalk with an outfit in hand. They surround Tomura as artificial smoke conceals them.
Tomura:
Them filthy rodents are still coming for your souls
Never to let go
Never to let go
A fiery pop propels Tomura onto the hanging device, dressed in a black suit as he jumps down on top of the pod.
Them Rats!
Ensemble:
Aaah-whoa!
Tomura:
Rats!
Ensemble:
Aaah-Whoa!
Tomura:
Rats!
Ensemble:
Aaah-Whoa!
Tomura:
Rats!
Ensemble
Aaah-Whoa!
The pod lowers into the floor, allowing Tomura to step off it like an elevator.
Tomura & Ensemble:
They're still coming after you!
(Aaah-Whoa!)
And there's nothing you can do!
(Aaah-Whoa!)
They're still coming after you!
(Aaah-Whoa!)
And there's nothing you can do!
(Aaah-Whoa!)
Rats!
:rat: :rat: :rat:
———
Part 1 of 2
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