Shadow Monarch Hero: Viridian (SMH: Deku rewrite)

Mosaics

"Cause of death is uncertain. Between the stab wounds, flaying, and eye removal, he could've died from the blood loss, the pain, or the shock alone."

Brandon and Bakugo were standing in the single medical facility on the island, where Brandon's friend, Maigo, had started work on the autopsy. Maigo was a rather plain looking Japanese woman with black hair... if you ignored the spikes jutting out all over her body and the blackened, almost armor-like, skin that covered some of her body. It made her look like a human-dragon hybrid.

Her glowing orange eyes were the only thing illuminating the lab after the power went out. Thankfully they worked well in the dark.

"Any ideas on what did it?" Brandon asked.

Maigo was sorting through the guts of the body. "Long metal blade... very wide oddly enough. It's like a buster sword stabbed this man."

"Any traces of Mana?"

"Hmm..." Maigo's eyes burned brighter.

"What's she doing?" Bakugo asked, trying to watch the autopsy in the dark. He was... strangely invested in it.

"Dragon eyes, she can see Mana." While most Awakened Humans could sense Mana, there were very few in the world who could physically see it.

"Wait a minute..." She set aside her autopsy tools and just began using her claws, cutting into the corpse.

"Uhh... Maigo...? Please try not to mutilate the corpse we have yet to identify and gain permission to autopsy," Brandon looked nervous by her haphazard cutting, but was soon quieted by a small purple gem pulled out of the chest cavity. The gem was actually split down the middle, two halves of a once beautiful ornament.

"This was encased inside the heart..." She whispered.

"It's a Villain Core!" Bakugo exclaimed, rushing over to examine it, ignoring the disgusting fluids dripping off of it.

"Not quite," Maigo responded. "It's a core of magical energy, but it's not the same as standard cores."

"In a human heart? Some sort of Frankenstein experiment?"

"Gross!" Setsuna shouted as she and Yui walked into the morgue.

Aizawa and Esil weren't far behind. Esil no longer had her wings tucked up against her back or her tail curled around her waist. She had taken off the baggy clothing to move better during the search effort and hadn't put it back on yet.

"Lights are out all over town," Aizawa reported. "I guess that means something magical is behind this all..."

"Just our luck," Yui sighed.

"Forget the search effort," Brandon said. "Focus our efforts on surrounding Avalon. We need to be ready to protect the people if there really is a Gate somewhere on the island."

"I dunno," Maigo said. "I'm starting to think this isn't a Gate... it's something weirder."

"Who's she?" Setsuna asked.

"Maigo Hudson, the biologist friend I mentioned earlier."

"Ah..."

"Just flew in to get stuck in the middle of this mess!" She said, smiling at the green-haired Setsuna. "I'd shake your hand but..." She held up her arms to reveal the guts and blood.

"What's this?" Aizawa said, pointing to the gem.

"It's a Villain Core that was inside the heart."

Aizawa narrowed his eyes. "Was there a direct incision point for the insertion of the Villain Core?"