(A/N: This, in my opinion, is the chapter that'll really make things go off the rails.)
[73: One Shot, One Kill]
Shigaraki had been through a lot. Ever since that day at the USJ, he could never get someone out of his mind. His arm was a constant reminder. It may have healed, though calling it a replacement was more accurate, but every time he moved his arm, there was always a lingering pain and discomfort. He was very lucky to not have lost his entire arm that day.
With all the failures he'd gone through, he'd gotten more unstable. The only other thing he wanted was to kill that girl. But her quirk was also too good to go to waste. He forcefully let go of those thoughts. He was meeting with the MLA.
Shigaraki stepped out of the car, accompanied by Kurogiri and some other members. Yes, it was that bad.
Ahead of them were some of the leaders of the MLA, most notably Re-Destro and Curious. The rest were other members to match the numbers. They stood waiting at the steps of a building. A flag standing nearby blew in the breeze, occasionally changing direction and waving faster.
Re-Destro and Curious watched as they approached. "What do you think so far?" Re-Destro asked.
"That you should've declined this. We don't need them," Curious said.
"But they need us. We have a lot of leverage, and we can just stop when we want," Re-Destro said.
"I don't see Shigaraki as someone who would take no for an answer. I get the feeling that if we end the meeting early, he'll throw a tantrum of sorts," Curios said before she continued. "And we have better things to focus on. The whole thing with the Hero Public Safety Commission should have higher priority than this."
"About that. Were you able to track down anything about where it came from?"
"No, I haven't. Whoever is leaking the files knows what they're doing. Wherever they are, they can't be close. But I'll keep trying. My publishing company has a lot of connections," Curious said.
"Good. Keep trying. Someone who is exposing the Hero Public Safety Commission like this could join our side. We might even share similar ideas," Re-Destro said.
⁂
Through the scope, Lady Nagant saw Shigaraki.
"Take the shot whenever you want, Kaina."
Lady Nagant adjusted the aim, using the milliradians in the scope to make small adjustments. The flag she kept an eye on swayed, changing direction every so often.
Knowing that time was short, she used the best opening presented to her. When the flag lined up well enough, and she adjusted her aim slightly off the target, she didn't hesitate.
She pulled the trigger.
The rifle made an earth-shattering, booming crack. Through the scope, she could see the bullet as it carved a trail behind it. The bullet, while originally going straight, started to swerve, but it swerved toward its target.
⁂
"Re-Destro. Finally." Shigraki finally met face-to-face with Re-Destro.
1.3 seconds.
Kurogiri, Re-Destro, Curious, and their entourage heard the sound of a loud crack-like noise, but what they saw was different.
One moment, Shigaraki was standing, both arms on his body.
The next, he was on the ground, writhing in pain.
The .50 caliber bullet fired from Lady Nagant swerved a bit too much. What should've hit his torso instead hit his shoulder. The bullet struck his shoulder, causing catastrophic tissue damage. The bullet tore apart muscle, tendons, and cartilage. The entire arm was completely blown off at the shoulder; a case of traumatic amputation. The arm flew in the air before landing with a fleshy thud.
Shigaraki fell to the ground immediately. Blood started pooling beneath him from his stump. It was a mangled mess of flesh and bone. The blood poured continuously onto the ground.
Immediately, a large purple mist appeared around him before disappearing.
⁂
"Goddamn it! It went a bit too wide!" Eleanor was frustrated at how it went down, but she quickly calmed down and realized that wasn't bad at all. She sighed. "Whatever. He'll die in minutes from the shock and blood loss. Not even a quirk would save him from something like that. And it's a good thing they left the arm behind. We can mark down Shigaraki as dead."
"What do we do now?"
"Now we get the hell out of here. This place is infested with MLA members and troops."
Lady Nagant got up and quickly took apart the anti-material rifle. Eleanor placed all the parts into the case. Both of them quickly went back to the roof.
"How are we going to get out of here? This entire city will be looking for us." Lady Nagant looked across the city. From up here, it looked endless. Down below on the streets, Lady Nagant noticed it immediately. The citizens were all of a sudden very organized and moving; some of them even openly armed. None of them were moving like regular citizens were supposed to. One moment, they were "normal," and the next, they moved like a trained…army.
"Eleanor."
"What is it, Kaina?"
"I've spent my life looking at people from a distance. When I see what's happening in the city right now…why do I feel like what we just did might have consequences we haven't foreseen?" Lady Nagant tried to control her hands, but they were shaking slightly. In the distance, there were explosions.
Kurogiri only left with Shigaraki, leaving the other League of Villains members stranded and fighting a losing battle with the MLA members.
Eleanor was quiet. "Kaina…let's leave this place first. Then, we'll talk."
"Alright. Alright. How do we get out of here?"
"We'll wait." Eleanor went across the roof and started picking up trash and attaching pieces to herself.
"You can't be serious. Are we doing what I think we're doing?" Lady Nagant was not looking forward to doing this. Not on the roof where the sun would be blasting them completely.
"I never said it'll be fun."
Lady Nagant shook her head and started doing the same. When they were done, Eleanor summoned her bow and pulled it. A yellow energy arrow shot into the sky before transforming into a cloaked drone.
"What did you put out?"
"A drone. That will get us out of here, but at night. It'll do some other stuff as well, but we just need to wait."
Lady Nagant looked up. The sun was only barely past noon. Lady Nagant accepted what had to be done.
Eleanor and Lady Nagant lay down, blending in as garbage on the roof. They would have to be here for hours.
⁂
As the minor battle was happening, the drone Eleanor summoned was already being put to work. Electronic warfare and surveillance were being conducted. Communications were intercepted, and malware was being uploaded to computers. The malware was collecting treasure troves of information from any computer it infected.
Eventually, the standard League of Villains members were either killed or captured. It was a minor skirmish that barely registered on the MLA's radar. The drone continued its mission nonetheless.
Once everything was calm, the MLA went back to a semi-normal, but vigilant state.
"This is good news for us. I wasn't looking forward to meeting with the League of Villains, but it seems someone out there took care of things for us. If only we could thank them for getting rid of an obstacle for us, because they might just be the unsung hero for us." Re-Destro stood in front of a window overlooking the entire city.
"Should you be standing there?" Curious asked.
"Maybe not, but I think Shigaraki was the only target that person had. I think we have people watching out for us. Did any of ours do it?"
"No. What we can gather so far is that this is someone acting independently. Whoever Shigaraki made an enemy out of has already infiltrated the city, and we haven't found anything yet. We'll need to find where the bullet was shot from and then see if anything was left."
"But by then, whoever it was that shot Shigaraki will be gone. If they can enter this city undetected, then they can leave undetected."
⁂
"Shigaraki! Shigaraki!"
Kurogiri immediately took Shigaraki for immediate medical attention. Every second counted. Shigaraki was no longer conscious. Only a few seconds had passed since he was shot, and he lost consciousness. He entered a state of hypovolemic shock. The severe blood loss was impossible for his heart to replace, let alone pump enough to the rest of his body.
One minute passed.
Shigaraki was on a gurney. Kyudai Garakai, the mastermind behind the Nomu's and All For One's personal physician, immediately took action. He didn't ask any questions and did what he could immediately.
Another minute passed.
Kyudai got all the machines he could, but he was alone. Of course, if he knew this would happen, he would've gotten together a team, but he didn't. He did the best he could alone.
Another minute passed.
Kyudai tried. He really did. As soon as the heart monitor turned on, it was a flatline. That sound suddenly became the loudest thing Kyudai or Kurogiri ever heard in their lives.
Shigaraki was dead.
⁂
End of Chapter
(A/N: I think…things are going down a very bad path.)