The instant Aizawa rushed forward, scarf flying around and his movements precise, the air in the U.S.J. grew electric. One by one, villains started to charge at him, but Aizawa was way faster. He would use his scarf to coil around them like a snake, disabling their quirks one after the other.
"Jeez…" Dante muttered from above, watching Aizawa handle a whole crowd on threats with brutal ease. "Knew the guy was strong, but not like this!"
Thirteen turned to the class, voice sharp. "Everyone, listen! Get to the exit and alert the school! I'll handle evacuation!"
But it was already too late.
That same dark purple portal appeared once more, and it shifted and grew into a creature with a mist like humanoid body and a haunting voice.
"I'm afraid we can't let you do that," the warped voice said. "We are here to kill All Might, and if we must, his students too."
Before anyone could react, the purple mist enveloped everyone.
"Move!" Dante yelled, grabbing onto the nearest railing, but the void swallowed them all up.
The cold enveloped Dante, one second he was bracing himself for a fight, now he felt like he was alone in deep, frigid water.
His eyes opened, and he was definitely under water. But he also noticed many blurred shapes circling him.
'Villains?'
There were loads of them.
A jagged toothed man lunged at him through the water like a shark. He was fast, but not fast enough. Dante's eyes narrowed and his left arm quickly shifted into something resembling a massive hammer, and in one smooth motion, he slammed the hammer straight into the villains face, sending him spinning to the deepest depth in a cloud of misty red, not dead, but severely injured.
Another one tried to grab him from behind, but Dante quickly turned and activated his full body sludge mode for just a second, he could only hold it for about 3 seconds a day, and he had just used it for one. Using this, he slipped through the villains grip like water. Then, reformed behind him, he caught the villain in a headlock and drove his hardened elbow into the back of his skull.
A third one came flying at him with claws, gurgling some threat behind a breather mask.
Dante quickly lashed out with a tendril and wrapped it around the villains neck, then dragged him towards him like an anchor. A single bladed jab to the throat would end him for good.
That's when he heard her voice.
"Dante!"
It was the frog girl from his class…
Dante spared the villains life and ended it with a simple jab to the throat instead of a bladed one.
He saw the girl swimming toward him with Izuku under one of her arms, clearly struggling to hold both him and herself up.
Dante flicked his hair back underwater, his eyes were burning but he kept pushing. With a quick push, he swam to meet her, grabbed the both of them and swam up to breach the surface.
Dante then swam to the large boat nearby, just dodging another villain trying to claw his way out of the water.
"I'll cover us," Dante grunted, still holding them both. "Just get up to the boat first."
Together, they pulled themselves up onto the wrecked ferry. Izuku was gasping, coughing up water, his eyes were wide and panicked.
Tsuyu knelt beside him, checking his breathing. "Are you okay, Midoriya-chan?"
"Yeah… I think so," Izuku wheezed. "T-Thank you Asui."
"Just call me Tsu."
Dante stood at the edge of the boat, dripping wet, his shorts were clinging to him and nearly shredded thanks to the underwater scuffle. Thankfully, his choice of costume was actually ideal for underwater situations. His eyes scanned the water below as he noticed even more villains began to emerge near the ship.
"Hey! Stay behind me." He ordered, his voice was calm and low. But there was an undeniable rage beneath.
From his back, multiple thick cords of sludge extended around him, twisting and then hardening at the tips like spears. His eyes were stinging but he didn't even blink, this and his long, disheveled hair all gave him a terrifying air, even scarier than the villains in front of him.
Even more villains were coming.
But Dante was ready, and boy was he angry.
His eyes were literally glowing red, he looked nothing like a hero in training.
"You idiots thought it would be a good idea to drag me to the ocean?" He muttered, his voice was nothing less than a growl at this point. "You think water gives you an advantage? Nothing will give you an advantage over me."
The villains didn't listen, of course they didn't.
Three of them leapt from the water, aiming to dogpile him on the boat.
"Terrible move."
Dante met them in a clash. One of his tendrils shifted form, it transformed into a solid, glistening spiked mace, then slammed sideways with earth shattering force. The poor villain that was hit by this was sent spiraling into the water like a skipping stone, his ribs snapping audibly. The second villain actually managed to land on the boat…
For about two seconds, before one of Dante's spear tendrils impaled him through the shoulder and then laughed him off the edge.
The third barely even made it close to Dante before Dante's arm turned a dark red and twisted midair into a hooked whip, then wrapped around his neck, and slamming him into the ship before jumping back into the water and dragging the villain down with him.
For minutes, screams bubbled up from beneath the surface.
Izuku was frozen, watching if all unfold with wide eyes. "He's… he's not holding back…"
Izuku was more than willing to sacrifice a finger or two to save them, but it really didn't seem like he needed to.
Tsuyu blinked, equally as stunned. "We didn't see this side of him in the combat training…"
One villain launched a projectile, some kind of acidic goo, straight at Dante.
Dante didn't even bother blocking.
His body liquefied once more, 2 seconds used out of the 3. The acid passed right through him. And when he reformed, his face looked horrifying.
His face was dark red, with hundreds of large teeth and horrifying glowing red eyes. "Try again."
His face reformed properly and he propelled himself out of the water, up into the air with what seemed to be two sets of large wings, something Dante had really wanted to try out. But their forms barely held. He shifted his arms into two jagged blades and then came crashing down on the largest group still beneath the water.
*SPLASH!*
Under the surface, from what Izuku could see, it was just straight up carnage.
Dante was moving like a literal sea monster, his body was twisting and morphing so much you couldn't even tell he was human. His punches broke jaws, his tendrils crushed limbs. One villain tried to run, but he didn't even make it five feet away before Dante grabbed his leg, yanked him down and head butted him repeatedly until he lost consciousness.
He surfaced only to catch his breath, blood gushing from a small gash on his nose.
"That's about it."
With that, he climbed back onto the boat, cracking his neck. "What now? Should we go find the others?"
They didn't ask any questions, they just nodded and followed Dante's lead.
Behind them, the water was terrifyingly still.
And red.
…
…
Their feet hit the pavement, wet soles slapping down as Dante, Izuku and Tsuyu all rushed from the shipwreck zone back tot eh main plaza, where Aizawa was fighting.
Smoke filled the air. Rubble everywhere. And the sound of flesh cracking echoed ours
Dante's head snapped toward the source of the noise. His eyes narrowed.
"Ai-zawa..?"
The man was on his knees, bleeding, barely holding himself up. His goggles were hanging from his face, one lense shattered, his scarf was tattered and his arms? Oh god, his arms, one was limp and the elbow was mangled.
Then, Aizawa broke free and started fighting another swarm of villains, he wasn't doing well. He was going to die!
"NO—"
Dante took one step toward, his fists clenched and his whole body was twitching, while little Dante, was floating next to him with his eyes wide.
Then it happened.
*CRACK!*
The towering and monstrous creature with a bird head slammed its fist down. Right onto Aizawa's head.
The ground trembled.
Aizawa didn't move.
He didn't breathe.
Dante's whole world froze. The air left his lungs.
A hero. His teacher. His hero. The man who gave him a chance…
Dead?
He felt something in his chest, like a lock coming undone.
Little Dante's figure slowly faded into Dante and they became one.
All of their emotions combined started to pile up.
His eyes glowed, even the sclera was a glowing red, and the white X grew and lit up his whole face.
They glowed with hate, not rage. But pure, sharpened, terminal HATE.
The sludge slowly flowed around his body, coating him in some makeshift armour. The sludge grew darker, only the faintest hue of red remained, the armour sharpened. It looked as if he was a medieval knight wearing obsidian armour. His teeth grit so hard his gums bled. His voice came out as a monstrous growl. Low, feral. Like someone that belonged in a cage.
"You're going to scream," Dante whispered. "I'm going to make you scream so hard you forget how to cry. I'm going to crack open your fucking skulls and scoop out your sins with my bare hands."
He stepped forward.
The villains around Shigaraki flinched.
"I'll tear the meat off your bones and make you eat it before you die. I'll make you beg for a death I won't give you the pleasure of having."
Another step. His body was now eminating a vicious red aura. His aura radiated death. Even Tsuyu and Izuku stepped back in fear.
Dante was shaking. He wasn't just angry. He was done.
Everything that had ever happened to him, all of it was hitting him now. All the built up emotion over the years, all of the pain, the agony, the fury. Now it was showing.
Dante's voice was a razor blade dipped in venom.
"Every breath you take from this moment on is stolen. It's stolen from him."
Then he flew forward.