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Daily Hero News
January 5
'Corruption in the Ranks
Last month Daily Hero News reported on a string of hero deaths. Police neglected to comment or provide details on the murders, leading to speculation of a new Stain-style vigilante. Those rumors have been confirmed by none other than the vigilante themself.
Daily Hero News and other media sources have received a mysterious email containing evidence and allegations that the police and Hero Public Safety Commission have yet to address when we reached out for comment. In the email the vigilante introduced themself as Machigai and stated that their goal is to unmask the hypocrisy and corruption rampant in modern hero society. Along with the introduction were five files containing disturbing official records about the dead heroes, the police force, and the HPSC.
Due to the nature of ongoing investigations we are unable to show the files. However when we reached out, co-workers and family of three of the heroes came forward to confirm that some of the information is true. The others declined to comment.
Some information has been excluded to protect identities. Some details may be hard to read.
Aetherium: Domestic Abuse and Child Molestation.
Itomi, wife of the hero Aetherium, claimed years of abuse at the hands of her husband. She stated that he physically and sexually assaulted both her and their children. When reports were filled with the police and HPSC they were often "lost", Itomi stated. "It was a nightmare. They didn't believe me, or if they did they ignored it because he was a hero. I just wanted my kids safe. But I couldn't leave or I'd be arrested for violating his parental rights. I couldn't divorce him because he wouldn't sign the papers. And I couldn't force it in court because the police refused to provide case information. I sent the kids away as often as I could when he was off duty, it was all I could do."
Death Arms: Human Trafficking, Rape, and Murder.
A former sidekick, who wishes to remain anonymous, spoke to us about some of the horrors they discovered while working with the prominent hero. They stated that they were collecting evidence to have the hero arrested when their license was revoked by the HPSC without warning. "I had photographic evidence of him meeting with quirk traffickers, victim testimonies of sexual assault, and emails connecting him to the murders of fifteen witnesses. I say 'had' because just before my license was suspended my office was broken into and everything I had was just… gone. I've no doubt the two incidents were related because the HPSC made me sign a Nondisclosure Agreement or face time in Tartarus. With him dead, I feel it's well past due for people to know."
Jigsaw: Animal Abuse, Torture, and Murder.
Cho, brother of the retired hero Jigsaw, recounted incidents from their childhood as well as events that led up to the hero's retirement. "Seiya, that's Jigsaw, was a [expletive] creep. When we were five the pet cat went missing, a week later I found its head in his closet. He begged and cried at our parents until we got another cat, same thing happened. Our parents were [expletive] junkies who didn't care when I told them. They just kept getting him pets to shut him up. When we were thirteen my best friend went missing, cops found him in the woods behind our house. Sickest [expletive] I've ever seen when they brought out the body. I knew it was Seiya because I caught him burning bloody clothes in the backyard. Cops ignored me because we were just kids and they didn't think a kid could be that cruel, even though Seiya's quirk let him… take things apart and put them back together like a puzzle. Then the sick [expletive] got into a hero school. I was glad to be rid of him.
Fast forward a few years and I get a phone call. He wanted to meet up, wouldn't say why. I went because… [expletive], I don't know. I thought he changed, thought hero school beat the wrongness out of him. When I got to his house we talked a bit. He seemed normal. But then he wanted to show me something in the garage. I walk out there and see a guy tied to a chair. All bloody and mangled from Jigsaw's quirk. He wasn't dead, poor [expletive]. I got the [expletive] out of there and called the cops. They arrested Seiya and saved the guy. They had all the evidence in the world, yet ten days later that sick [expletive] was walking free. No publicity, no prison, no consequences. All they did was force him to retire. I had to go into hiding. When I heard he died I threw a [expletive] party."
The police and HPSC have declined to respond to inquiries and information requests in relation to the testimonies. Daily Hero News is committed to reporting facts, no matter how grim. We will update this story as new information surfaces.'
~°~
The article was never updated. In fact, it now only existed because readers copied it to other sites. Dabi only found it again on a conspiracy theory blog that was probably giving his phone viruses. All the other news outlets that ran similar stories were slapped with gag orders. The only ones left to run were those denouncing the vigilante and praising the heroes.
The urge to spit on the ground was real, but he suspected his fellow villains wouldn't appreciate it. Shigaraki was already giving him serious side-eye because he was on his phone instead of listening to the leader talk. It wasn't Dabi's fault the guy's voice was like nails on a chalkboard. They were only rehashing plans they'd already gone over, anyway.
Curiosity made him pull up a search for the vigilante's name, Machigai. The problem with that was the name was a real word in Japanese, meaning 'mistake'. All the hits he got were unrelated or just more of the same as the article. Dabi liked their style and wanted to learn more. Maybe point them at Endeavor.
"Hey," Dabi interrupted Shigaraki mid sentence. Ignoring a growl, the fire user turned his phone around to show off the article. "Why don't we find and recruit them? They've taken out five heroes already. Could be useful."
The pasty man grabbed the phone with a confused frown. After a minute of reading he grinned. "Fine. Since you can't be assed to pay attention to this mission, your new one is to find this guy. Have fun."
Dabi scowled when the device was thrown back at him. Stuffing it into his pocket, he took that as permission to stand and leave. If Shigaraki was going to be a little bitch about it, Dabi wasn't going to stick around to listen to him bark.
It was just after midnight on a Saturday so there were still people out and about. Opting to take back streets to avoid recognition, or getting puked on by barcrawlers, he wandered aimlessly. Finding an unknown vigilante would be a chore but not impossible. After all, Stain eventually slipped up because he got too predictable. The trick was to find them before the heroes did.
He could hack into police records and see what they had. Dabi wasn't the best with computers but he'd picked up some skills from Shigaraki over the years. Nowhere near enough to, say, access HPSC records, but getting some reports from the cops would be easy. Once he went back to the League base he could use Shigaraki's computer. And maybe delete a couple game save files if he complained too much.
Eventually he found himself gravitating towards a familiar neighborhood. It had been a week or two since he'd seen the greenette at the bar. Not that he was counting. Izuku was just supposed to get the next round. That was all.
A thread of disappointment was violently hammered down when he pushed the door to the pub open and didn't see the other man. Dropping onto a stool with a huff, he waved the bartender over. "Hey, the green guy been in here lately?"
The server shook his head while sitting Dabi's usual drink in front of him. "Nah, not since last time. Sorry, man."
Letting out a quiet growl, he downed the liquor in one go. Another replaced it a minute later. He forced himself to sip that one, not wanting to get too drunk despite the irrational irritation. The kid better not have gotten himself into trouble or thrown in jail again.
After about an hour he called it quits. The bar closed down at 2am so it was unlikely that anyone else would show up this late. Throwing down some money, he weaved his way out.
Halfway back to the base he became aware of a pressing need in his bladder. Glancing around, he spotted a dark alley across the deserted street. Add public urination to his rap sheet. The thought made him chuckle as he made his way over to a shadowed dumpster and unzipped.
He was almost done when a loud clatter at the opposite end of the alleyway made him jump. Cursing, he finished quickly and scrambled to tuck his junk away. If it was just a cat he was going to burn it to a crisp - he almost peed on himself.
It was not just a cat, as it happened. It was something more annoying. A body was sprawled out on the asphalt next to a pile of garbage bags. Igniting a flame in one hand, he paced closer for a better look. The blue light washed out the color, but a dark puddle of blood was slowly seeping out near the person's neck and shoulder.
A quick look around showed no one else present. Not his monkey, not his circus. Snuffing out the light and turning to leave, he was brought up short by a hoarse whisper. "He-elp."
The voice seemed familiar despite the strain. Too familiar. Whipping around, he strode over to the prone form and rolled them over with his boot. Relighting the fire, he huffed. Of course it was him.
Izuku's hoodie was shredded from neck to arm pit, and his skin along with it. It looked like the wound just barely missed his jugular but he would still bleed out if it wasn't patched up. But there was no way he could take an ex-hero back to the base. Especially not one still on Shigaraki's kill list.
Kneeling down, he rolled Izuku onto his side and felt around the back pockets of his jeans. No wallet. Switching to the front pockets yielded just a house key, which he took. It was only when the greenette grunted in protest that Dabi realized he was molesting a dying man.
"Where do you live?" When no answer was forthcoming he slapped the shorter man's cheek to catch his attention. That did the trick. Amidst slurred mumbling he caught an address.
Dabi hoisted Izuku into his arms with a grunt. The guy was heavier than he looked. It felt like pure muscle too, not that the pyromaniac paid attention to that. He was just thankful that it was so late and the apartment was close by.
The door was locked but the key he found worked. The tiny studio was more depressing than the warehouse the League called 'home', but it made everything easy to find. Dropping the greenette onto the futon, Dabi looked around for a first aid kit, eventually finding one under the bathroom sink. It had some suture supplies but he didn't think that would help at this point.
He grabbed a clean washcloth before heading back out to sit next to the other man. Pondering the mechanics of what he was about to do, he used a pocket knife to cut away the rest of the ruined hoodie and shirt. Next, he pried open Izuku's mouth and shoved the rag in. He seemed unconscious now but he wouldn't be for long.
"Sorry about this. I think." Blue flame sprang to life over his fingertips as he reached out to run them over the wound. "Burns are better than dead. I should know."