The morning of the raid, the dormitory was buzzing with nerves and tension. People were getting ready for the biggest fight they'd had in a long time, preparing the necessary items for the strategies they'd be using while going over some of the plans one last time. Izuku had gotten used to mission prep over the course of the years. Of seeing a whole agency turn upside down, people rushing around, debriefing each other on last minute changes or interferences. It had been a while since he'd been in the middle of it all, though. It was kinda exciting!

"Ready to kick some ass, Deku?" Katsuki grinned.

"As ready as I'll ever be!" Izuku nodded. "Just be careful with Jikan, okay? If they notice you before you're able to get in then they might-"

"I know what the hell I'm doing," Katsuki interrupted. "Besides, those are my lines! Be careful and don't get killed out there, got it?"

"Got it," Izuku said, smiling as Kacchan pecked him on the lips.

"Good," the blonde stated. "I'll see you later, then."

"Yeah, later," Izuku hummed, pulling him into one last kiss before most of the class left for the Jikan hideout. Some of them would be assisting with the raid on the mountain villa, like they'd done before, and Izuku himself would be going to the Jaku hospital with Aizawa sensei in a few minutes. Everything was slowly coming together... And once it did, everything will change, and fast. People will fight, get captured, injured, die, all in the name of justice, freedom, or whatever they believed in. It's gonna be an absolute mess, Izuku thought- knew, and he wasn't looking forward to having to see all that suffering again.

"We're leaving," Aizawa said, pulling him out of thought. Izuku nodded. This was it. Soon, it'll all be over.

//\\
\\//

God, Tenko wished this would all be over already! Sitting around doing nothing was boring as hell! Hawks ran off somewhere with Twice, since it was his task to keep the clone maniac in check, so he had no one to complain to. There was no use in going downstairs right now either cause the attack was still an hour away. Ugh, he was bored out of his damn mind!

"You look annoyed."

"You wouldn't say," Tenko grumbled, glaring at Magne as they walked into the room. "I'm sick and tired of boring ass meetings and useless talks! I wanna do something!"

"I get how you feel, but we need time to prepare, you know?" Magne shrugged. "It takes time to organize the masses."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Tenno groaned. That wasn't what he was talking about, anyway. "What about a nice distraction? Anything fun around here?"

"Well, your idea of fun is killing people, so no," Magne chuckled. "Although, I did hear Spinner got some new shooting game, if you're interested."

"What console?" Tenko asked, instantly interested. He couldn't play on every device, since some consoles used all your fingers. Fucking annoying, but he didn't actually want to destroy his own toys. Luckily this was one of the systems he could use with his pinkies sticking out. It didn't take long to find Spinner after that and challenge him to a match. He'd missed gaming while stuck at UA, when he'd been locked away in some basement room. His accommodations weren't too bad, though, so he shouldn't complain, but come on! He had nothing to do! Just him, alone with his thoughts, for fucking ever!

It's no wonder Izuku's visits became the highlight of his day...

Before he realized it, an hour had passed, and the ground started to shake. He cursed, accidentally clenching the controller, turning it to ash. Damnit! He was supposed to be underground already! At first people didn't realize what was happening, thinking it might be an earthquake, but it quickly became apparent that they were being attacked. Tenko told everyone to hold them off while he went downstairs to get the rest of the Meta Liberation Army.

The only person who knew he wasn't actually the one in control was Dabi, but he wasn't anywhere near him, so people listened to him without question. And at the time it seemed like a good excuse to get underground and not fight alongside his so-called comrades. What he hadn't taken into account was the fact people expected him to lead them, to stand by their side as the heroes surrounded them. It wasn't easy to get everyone outside without him, but he made up another excuse- to go find Dabi- and eventually it worked. They didn't have the time to stand around and argue, after all.

Things calmed down considerably when Tenko was finally left alone with the giant of a man. The ground shook every once in a while, making pieces of the ceiling crumble and fall. Gigantomachia didn't seem to mind at all, simply staring at the small radio in his hands as he stayed absolutely still.

"You really are a dog, aren't you?" Tenko huffed, climbing up on Gigantomachia's back to get to his head. It would be easier to kill the guy if he was already close to some of his vital points, not that it seemed likely he'd have to take any action soon. "Bet you come running when your owner calls for you, like a good warmachine. Bet you're real destructive too, huh? Too bad you won't listen to me, I think we would've gotten along great."

No sound, not a single reaction. The ground rumbled again, pieces of the ceiling came crashing down. Gigantomachia stayed unmoving, uncaring.

"You know, if you really are that big of a threat like everyone claims," Tenko sighed, looking at his hand, "nobody would be mad if I killed you anyway, right? Getting rid of monsters is what heroes do, after all."

Surely the Hero Commission would forgive him, right? It was better to take preventive measures, wasn't it? Why wait for him to wake up and rage havoc across the battlefield? It would be so much easier if Tenko could just put his hands down and disintegrate this bastard. It would be so satisfying to watch him crack and crumble as his body turned to dust. Then he thought about Izuku, how he would react knowing he'd killed this man even if it wasn't necessary.

Tenko wasn't dumb, he knew the green head didn't want him killing people, not even Toga. He let that one slide to keep the peace, but Tenko could tell how uncomfortable it made him. It was adorable, really, to have such an innocent little brother. So yeah, maybe not. Maybe he shouldn't kill without cause. It was annoying, sure, but it would be better for him in the long run. Yes, that's why he was doing this. To keep Izuku happy and to ensure his own future. He was sure father would want the same, which made him wonder whether that man would be proud of the person he'd become.

He didn't have time to ponder on it, though. Not when the room kept collapsing on top of him. If the battle wasn't over soon, he'd get buried alive in here! But if he left, he'd abandon his mission... He'd have to justify his decisions, not only towards the commission but to the League as well. He didn't want to have to face them right now, not when all he wanted to do was leave that life behind him. He also didn't want to piss off the commission right away, not if he wanted to have a decent shot at being a hero.

More rumbles.

A giant crack ripped through the ceiling.

Fuck it.

Tenko didn't waste any time. He placed his hands down at the base of Gigantomachia's neck, making sure to sever his nerve system from his brain as soon as possible. That way, even if he wanted to react, he couldn't. He'd be dead before Tenko would be able to fully behead him, let alone disintegrate him, which was fine by him. The quicker he got this over with, the sooner he'd be out of this place, consequences be damned.

A large part of the ceiling collapsed on the other side of the room. It wouldn't take long for the whole underground structure to become unstable at this point. What the fuck were those guys even doing up there?! Why did they had to make such a fucking fuzz when they were fighting?! Tenko squinted at the gap, seeing ice and blue flames, people clashing into each other, shouting and grunting. A goddamn mess is what it was. Ugh, and now he had to get up there, too. His day just kept getting better and better, didn't it?

He should go and find Hawks if he had the chance. Get the fuck out of here and-

"There you are, crusty!"

Tenko's eyes widened as a sea of blue fire rushed towards him, quickly hiding behind the remains of Gigantomachia. Dabi, that crazy bastard! Did he want to kill him or something?! You know what, that would actually make a lot of sense. Tenko wasn't even all that surprised.

"You'll pay for what you did! Just like that flying chicken nugget!" Dabi called out, setting off another long ranged attack. Couldn't that dumbass see this chamber was about to collapse? They needed to get out of here, not start a fight inside of the unstable building!

"What the hell are you even talking about?!" Tenko yelled back, his eyes darting around, looking for an exit. The stairs were blocked by debris and the other stairs were on the other side of this fire, past Dabi, who'd jumped down from the hole in the ceiling. Didn't he have invading heroes to deal with? And what was that talk about a flying chicken nugget?

"Don't act dumb with me, Shigaraki," Dabi said, or more like demanded. "You're with them, aren't you? You knew Hawks was a traitor! So you're just as responsible!"

Responsible, huh? He was blaming this raid on Tenko? Ah well, not like he hadn't been blamed for things that weren't his fault before, so this accusation didn't really bother him. Besides, he didn't care about what Dabi had to say. That guy was only out for revenge and nothing else. He was loyal or well-behaved, just a distorted teen on a killing spree in order to get what he always so desperately wanted; his daddy's attention. Yeah, Tenko had figured it out after Izuku told him about his family connections. It was all so obvious now that he knew about that.

"The heroes would've acted with or without me," Tenko said, stepping out from behind Gigantomachia when Dabi finally paused his large-scale attack. He couldn't fire those in rapid succession, so this was the only opening Tenko was going to get. "If anyone is responsible for this mess, it's your poor management and failed leadership. Where is she, huh? Where the hell is that bitch now that you need her here the most?!"

"Shut up! I don't care where the hell Toga is or what she's doing," Dabi snarled. "But someone needs to be punished for what happened, and since that damn bird got away, you're gonna have to do."

"There are literally more heroes than I care to count outside, why not bother one of them huh?" Tenko suggested, carefully circling around Dabi, trying to get to the other side of the room without the flamebrain noticing he was trying to escape this place.

"They're not responsible for killing Twice, now are they?!" Dabi hissed, fire igniting in his hands. Killing Twice? What, the clone guy? Tenko hadn't known him for that long before he was pushed out of power and he knew for a fact he was closely working together with Himiko. He was dead now? Hawks had killed him? Huh, good for him! Tenko couldn't care less about traitors and back-stabbers!

"Ha! You actually care about that freak huh?" Tenko called out with a laugh. "Thought you didn't care about anyone but yourself! Guess I was wrong, huh?"

That seemed to strike a nerve in Dabi. Luckily, Tenko had just reached his escape route, using the trembling earth to get away. The shaking messed up Dabi's aim, signing a few of Tenko's hairs, but otherwise he was able to get away scratch free! And it was a good thing he got away when he did, because that crack in the ceiling? Well, it just ruptured, making the whole room collapse in on itself as Tenko rushed up the stairs. The moment he reached the top, he had to dodge an ice attack from one of those Liberation guys, effectively ceiling off the only remaining exit of the underground base.