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CHAPTER START---
---Minato Tokyo, Matani Plaza…
On the roof of a highrise building, a Japanese man of average build looks through his binoculars, focused on Horizon Tower.
Focused on the gathering crowd of people a few blocks away at the front of Horizon Tower.
The man enjoys the warm morning sun as he analyzes the situation, seeing hateful words on their posters. People line both sides of the barricaded street as they wait for the armored convoy to arrive.
"I can see it from here, but where is my backup?" the man asks through his phone.
"This isn't that kind of job, Crater," Shigaraki responds through the line. "This isn't a breakout. You're just tying up a well-informed loose end."Crater smiles, thinking about all the dead people he's about to add to his record. "Then I'm definitely the right person for the job."
"I know. I already have an extraction point setup for you. Get back to the safe house when you're done and contact me."
"I won't have to. You'll see how it goes on the news," the man says as the news helicopters and drones arrive.
Late last night, a mysterious source leaked intel that someone captured Himiko Toga yesterday, and that they would transfer her from Horizon Tower to Tartarus via an armored convoy this morning.
And now, mere hours later, people have gathered to get a glimpse of this heinous criminal.
Many of their posters and signs denounce and wish disaster upon the League Of Villains, while others praise Team Horizon for capturing this monster without their boss being in the country.
Soon the convoy arrives, a reinforced armored truck preceded and followed by police and swat vehicles.
Above, Endeavor and Ryukyu fly, the dragon hero carrying Crust and Edgeshot on her back.
In the front seat of the armored truck is Mt. Lady, and standing on top of it is Kamui Woods.
Every hero is ready for action, expecting a rescue attempt from Shigaraki.
"These fools," Endeavor mutters through the comms. "All our warnings and they still gathered outside Horizon Tower."
"This is the first sight of Shigaraki's top commanders in months," Edgeshot says. "People have a lot of hate for them, and want a chance to say their piece."
Endeavor looks out at the civilians, still annoyed but unsurprised that all these people want to rip the villains apart.
"We're getting into position now," Mt. Lady says. "Monitor the crowd. If one civilian takes revenge here, we won't be able to interrogate her in Tartarus."
"Got it," Kamui Woods says as the vehicles turn around and get into position.
Mt. Lady gets out of the truck and stands guard while some of the swat officers enter the building, carrying rifles and riot shields.
The other Heroes take positions above or around, with Ryukyu guarding the skies with Endeavor while the others monitor the crowd.
"I thought she hated him," Crust mutters to Edgeshot as they wait for Toga.
"Who?"
"Mt. Lady, didn't she and Kamui Woods have some big breakup?"
Edgeshot glances at her, seeing she's not listening to them. "The Lurkers broke up after The Gigantomachy. After the whole mess, Kamui Woods thought they should keep Horizon."
"And she thought they should lock him up, right?"
"That's one way of putting it. She had friends in that city, so…she won't be letting it go any time soon."
"Damn."
"Yeah."
"They seem to get along now though."
"It's a slow process," Edgeshot says.
A moment later, the officers exit the building, with a restrained Himiko Toga walking between them.
She had scars and bruises all over her face, along with patches of hair missing, having burnt off. Her frail and malnourished body showed sunken, sleep-deprived eyes.
She'd obviously been through more than a mere few hours in Horizon Tower, but the government had already decided what story they would tell.
At the back of the group, Cellophane and Tsukuyomi strut out of the building, receiving cheers from the crowd.
The sound of which makes Mt. Lady's stomach turn.
Knowing the truth about when they captured Toga, she couldn't imagine what they put her through, what the child suffered through.
Even now, while looking at the broken and battered girls, part of her still saw a lost 16-year-old girl.
"When did you get so tall?" Kamui Woods asks Cellophane as his former intern walks over to him.
"It's good to see you too," Cellophane says as he stands beside the man, now much taller.
Standing at 6ft -180cm- to Kamui Woods 5 ft6 -168cm-, and having a much more muscular build.
"No, seriously, you look intense," Kamui Woods says.
"It comes with the job. Team Horizon can have no weak links. And since I've got the weakest Quirk, I have to make up for it somehow," Cellophane shrugs.
"Oh, that makes se—"
"Breach!" Endeavor yells through the comms as the officers are loading Toga into the truck.
They shove her and the guards into the back as Crater breaches the perimeter, glowing purple as he sprints at the truck.
He moves with absurd speed, his footfalls causing minor quakes and shattering the street as he rushes toward the middle of the formation.
Kamui Woods recognizes what kind of Quirk he has, as does everyone else.
But Kamui Woods reacts first, rushing toward the attacker and growing his wooden limbs to contain him.
Mt. Lady moves one step behind him, and as he grows his limbs in multiple layers to wrap the villain in a dozen-meter-wide ball of reinforced wood, she jumps onto Kamui Woods.
Gigantified, she shielded him from the explosion with her body, curling around him as best she could.
All the while Tsukuyomi and Cellophane don't bother moving, not at all concerned about this feeble attack.
Seconds passed as the crowd, which crouched to take cover, began opening their eyes.
Mt. Lady looks up, seeing the wooden limbs stretching out from below her and the wooden ball beside her, all perfectly fine.
"Is everyone alright? Did anyone get hurt?" She asks while looking around, moving to reveal a perfectly fine Kamui Woods below her.
"Nothing happened," he says while retracting his limbs, unraveling the sphere to reveal that it's empty.
For a moment, the crowd is confused, then the sound of a body hitting the asphalt redirects their attention from Kamui Woods.
"What the hell…did you…my chest," Crater groans as he lies on his back, with Horizon standing beside him, one foot on his face.
It takes a second for the crowd to process what's happening and who they're seeing.
And the moment they do, a roar of cheers shakes the entire block.
Everyone watching at home in Japan feels a wave of relief flowing through them, as to their knowledge, for the first time in months.
Horizon is back in Japan.
Back home.
"Was he the only one?" Mt. Lady asks after the crowd becomes quiet, on account of everyone trying to listen in and record whatever they can.
"His Quirk doesn't exactly scream 'teamwork'. He gathers and detonates his kinetic energy," Horizon says while stepping off the man, leaving him in pain on the ground. "They didn't send him to save her, but to silence her."
"So they're even killing their friends. Well, I shouldn't be surprised. They are villains, after all."
"Now that just leaves one thing," Horizon says as he raises his hand, revealing Crater's heart in his hand, still beating.
Mt. Lady takes a horrified step back, and above Ryukyu has to look away.
Memories of what he forced her to do to Gentle Criminal, and the people that died, all for him to prove a point.
Those memories resurfaced and threatened to bring up her breakfast with them.
"Bring the restraints," Mt. Lady orders some officers, and they rush to do the attacker.
"Don't both, he won't know anything useful," Horizon says as he looks down at the man, raising his heart for everyone to see. "And my world doesn't have any place for creatures like this."
The man looks up from the ground in horror, desperation in his voice as he begs Horizon to stop, feeling pain in his chest as Horizon's fingers dig into his heart.
To her horror, Horizon crushes it in his grasp and drops it onto the man's dying body.
All for the world to see, and all in the time it took Mt. Lady to realize what was happening and lunge forward to grab the heart.
SHAMBLES!
Horizon swaps his position with hers, only for her to turn on her heel and glare at him.
The hate in her eyes was obvious, and Kamui Woods was dreading what would happen next.
She lowered her stance, and everyone held their breaths as she clenched her fist, ready to attack Horizon.
Horizon looks down at her, an amused smile beneath his visor as he takes one step forward.
He looms over her, snuffing out any will to fight she had, as the unimaginable threat stares down at her, daring her to oppose him.
So intense she felt as if her throat was swelling shut.
Slowly, gently, Horizon reached up with his blood-covered right hand and touched her chin.
She flinches, but he continues, cupping her chin, forcing her to look up at him while feeling the warm blood on her face.
The defiance in her eyes was constant, even as her body begged her to run away.
"I know, this isn't what you want Heroes to be, I know," he says, so sincerely that she can't help but believe him.
"I know that while I was away, you worked diligently. Day and night, saving as many people as you can while the crime rate kept rising.
But things are different now.
I am committed to being a Hero, more than ever before. But, things will be a bit more…practical. Some villains can be reformed, but others. People like this. People who are willing to bomb civilians.
Those people have no place in my world."
"You're a murderer," she grits out.
"Yes, I am. But Japan will be safer than ever, because I will deal with problems in the most permanent way.
The people will go about their lives, knowing that the worst of the worst monsters are where they're meant to be, in the dirt.
And even you won't have to work as hard as you did during the summer. So rejoice, a new era of peace is beginning. Because…
I am here."
Horizon walks away, stepping over the corpse in the road as the crowd cheers for him, leaving Mt. Lady petrified.
When the convoy is ready to transport Toga to Tartarus, she snaps out of her daze and looks around, seeing the people she risked her life to protect day after day.
Worshipping the greatest mass murderer in the history of Japan.
Kamui Woods then walks over to check on her and gets her to focus on the task at hand.
And while the convoy moves out to Tartarus, the entire world sees and hears everything that transpired.
And a new era of peace begins within Japan.
The era of Horizon has now begun…
END CHAPTER---