Virtual

Some are Better

Anka was grabbing at the side of a building, her heart racing as she stared into the window. She looked animalistic, her face slightly elongated and her ears pointed. Her body looked up and proceeded to scale the building as her mind caught up to the claws protruding from her hands. What exactly was she doing and who had the controller? She let whatever was happening happen, watching as she somehow got into the building she scaled and moved about silently.
Her eyes widened as she managed to force a door open, pulling against the player. "No no no," she whined. "Stop it. What are you doing? I don't want to go to jail!" Her body continued anyways, digging through the drawers of the familiar agency she was at. Shouldn't someone have been on guard here? Her hands pulled out paperwork and she made her hands crumple it up.
"I'm not doing this," she snapped. Something stung against her arm and she shook as her feet followed along with the player's wishes. They knew it'd hurt. She had to find the controller.

Her room was completely destroyed, things being thrown as Anka looked for her controller anywhere she would have hid it. It wasn't anywhere and she started to panic. Her console was on as if she had left it on all night but she knew better, her room would have been warmer than it was. A message dinged her screen to life and she stared at HandyNannyMan's profile. She scowled and walked to it, opening the message. Why did Shigaraki want to talk if he could tell she wasn't playing a game? She slid her headphones on and sighed into the mic, "I can't play right now."
"And why not," he asked curtly.
"Someone stole it," Anka replied. There was a short laugh and she felt herself close to tears at the sound.
"You're so careless with that thing," he snorted, "Where'd you have it last?"
"My room," Anka's eyes widened as she stormed from her room, slamming Mori's door open. He was sitting at his desk, fast asleep. She grit her teeth and grabbed one of his pillows.
"What are you doing now," Shigaraki asked in annoyance. Right, she'd correct that later; no one talked to her like that and got away. The pillow collided with the back of Mori's head as she started yelling.
"The hell is my controller you fucking bum," she screamed. Mori was blocking his head quickly, his yelling blocked by the pillow and headphones. "You're the last person who saw it! Where is it?"
"Will you knock it off," he grabbed the pillow and held it, glaring. "The fuck are you talking about?"
"I didn't know you had a boyfriend," Shigaraki teased.
"Shut it you. I'll talk to you later," Anka snapped. "Where is my controller?"
"I hid it," Mori sniffed. Anka became livid the pillow and headphones being forgotten as she ignored the orange bar over Mori's head. Her fist connected with his jaw and he fell from his chair.
"It's not yours to hide," she roared. She straddled him, slamming her fist into his face repeatedly and watching slowly as the bar turned green. "That's theft you cunt! Where is it? Huh?" Shigaraki was laughing hysterically in her ears as Mori tried to fend off the assault from the smaller woman.
A fist sent her back and she glared at Mori as he panted, "The fuck is wrong with you? It's just a fucking controller!"
"It's my quirk you ass," she shrieked. His face paled as his eyes widened and Anka covered her mouth.
"It's your- what," Mori leaned forward as Anka curled up a bit. Something felt off about his words though, like he rehearsed them. "I thought you were quirkless and it was just a collectible!"
"Give it back," she snapped. "Give me my controller." Mori got up and walked, leaving the room. Shigaraki was still snickering in the headphones. "It's not funny Shigaraki."
"This is hilarious! How many people don't know about your quirk that are close to you," he laughed.
"The people that were close knew," Anka muttered. The laughing died down just as Mori walked through the door. Anka stood up but stopped, staring at herself in the reflection of his mirror. The same elongated face, the same ears, the same outfit as the night before. She faced him slowly as he held the controller out to her.
"Here," he sighed. She took it carefully, her features returning to normal. "I didn't know, okay?"
"What the hell is wrong with you," Anka put the mic up so Shigaraki couldn't hear her. "You made me steal something from your agency, didn't you?" Mori stiffened up, his eyes narrowing. The bar was quickly turning red and Anka bolted quickly. The back of her hair was grabbed and Mori pulled her back, knocking the mic forward.
"See, now I have to get rid of you," Mori sighed quietly. His hand wrapped around Anka's neck and she clawed at him. His free hand grabbed the controller and he stared down at her as she tried to breath. It gave her the reach she needed, a clawed hand scratching his face and making him drop the controller and release her. She stood up and grabbed the controller, scrambling to get to the door as she wheezed out.
"Do I hear a struggle," Shigaraki sighed.
"Why are you still," Anka was put into a choke hold, her feet kicking out in front of her. Shigaraki gave a short sniff before there was movement.
"Tell your little friend to get off," Mori snapped after pulling one of her ears from the headphones. His grip loosened a bit, letting her take in a gulp of air.
"I have to- I got to get off," she coughed out. He wouldn't care anyways, Shigaraki was a villain wasn't he? This sort of thing must have been normal to hear.
"Are you going to be on later tonight?"
"Does it sound like- ow," the yelp cut her short, Mori tightening his grip.
"I mean, I liked the challenge you gave. I can't have someone on equal par with me kicking the bucket. Especially when they've made me lose all week," Shigaraki snickered. Anka wheezed and tried to pull at Mori's arm.
"Take my controller," she pushed out. There was silence, Mori stiffening before reaching for the controller. Shigaraki gave it back when she asked and his misty buddy was at least more dangerous than Mori. It'd be safe away from Mori and Shigaraki was the only person she could think to ask in the moment.
"Hell no," he snapped.
"Oh, I get to play with you again," Shigaraki gasped. Anka held the controller as far from Mori as she could.
"Heroes," she threw the remote, screaming a bit when it hit the wall on the other side of the room, "Suck ass." The grip around her neck loosened and she spluttered, crumbling to her knees and crawling away. She turned, staring at the tall man still with his own headset on and Mori as he shirked away, his shoulder half gone and decaying.
"Oh I agree," he cooed. He walked to the controller and picked it up, scowling as he looked it over.
"Who the hell are you," Mori snapped. He went to swing, Anka there quickly to stop his fist. His bar was green once again, Shigaraki holding the controller carefully.
"How rude. I came to help a friend," Shigaraki laughed as Anka shivered.
"How did you do that," Mori snapped. He eyed Anka as his eyes started to glow. Anka moved against the player, grabbing Mori's wrists and locking her grip.
"I didn't tell you to do that," Shigaraki sniffed.
"Self preservation, wrinkly," Anka muttered. She was made to throw him, her eyes widening as Mori flew through the wall. "Whoa."
"No time to gawk, character," Shigaraki snickered. A black mass tore through the air, Shigaraki motioning for her to follow while holding the controller up. "If you follow you're officially a villain. I don't really have to give you a choice but you did give back my controller." Anka stared and then glanced at where she threw Mori, quickly stepping through after Shigaraki.

Kurogiri got her things to their hideout, staying quiet as things popped up one by one. Shigaraki decided to keep her busy while it happened, using the controller and putting her up against strange creatures he called Nomu. He kept her on her toes, his aggressive game style still analytical as it had been when she played against him. It had been a week without streaming and now that her gear was plugged in, she was plugged in as well. Shigaraki played with her from his own room and the viewers were getting hyped up from the special occasion.
"Quit stealing my kills," she yelled. Shigaraki laughed loudly from the other room and she huffed. It felt comfortable in the hide out. The two villains had proven to be their own characters that made a funny little family. She screamed and threw her controller when Shigaraki stole another kill, "I'm going to get you, crusty!"
"That's friendly fire," he teased. "You'd get docked points!" She was practically fuming as she took aim and got a headshot, a smirk coming to her face as she jumped Shigaraki on the leaderboards. "Turn your stream off! I want to try something," Shigaraki yelled.
"We're in the middle of a match. I'm not turning it off," she barked.
"It's the last shot. Turn the stream off," he ordered. Anka sighed, finishing the match off as a party member berated her for the kill in the chat. She shut the stream down and walked to Shigaraki's room, stopping short at the sudden sound of leather.
"What are you doing," she sighed.
"Did you know you have a customize screen," Shigaraki pointed to the television, her own figure standing as if she was being scanned. In all honesty, she had never seen this part of her quirk before. It was fascinating to see it was just like a video game. She plopped down next to him, leaning at the foot of his bed as he started to go through it.
"It's probably because of your personality," she muttered. "You're good at analyzing so it makes sense that it'd let you customize in preparation for whatever." He glanced down at her, clicking through a few options. Anka jumped, a rifle in her hands and a belt covered in ammunition.
"I like that one," he chuckled. "But it doesn't fit."
"What are you doing," she cried out. He waved his hand, the rifle vanishing as it had come while he went through different selections. He stopped short on one, a malicious smirk crossing his face.
"I'm making sure I can use you right. You're a villain now after all and my character. It's only fair I get to know your platform," he purred and it made Anka shiver. It was a reminder, he had her controller and only he knew what he could do with it. She put her head back and stood up, waiting as she was armed and unarmed repeatedly. "What's this quirk called?"
"Character, it adheres to the player's personality visually while the other components of a video game character adhere to their skill base and talents," it was like a recital for Anka, the man nodding. "And honestly, I'm surprised."
"Why is that," he asked.
"Because this whole getup did not scream some man child like you. And now that I see how diversified the start screen is? I'm just surprised your analytical," she responded. His face was straight, some strange mix of pain, calm, and shock filling his eyes. She frowned a bit and moved closer, kneeling in front of him to see more. She moved his graying hair from his face, his whole body flinching.
"You're not what you appear," she concluded and felt a smile come to her face. How could she be comfortable with this guy? Even as he held her controller in his hands and could do anything, his bar still being red, she felt like he wouldn't do anything to her.
"You just called a villain a man child," he sniffed.
"Technically," she nodded, "but I did also say you were more than what you seemed, didn't I?"
He sniffed and moved her hand away from his face, moving her so he could see the screen, "You're my underling. You get it? Your life is in my hands."
"Quite literally," Anka nodded. "You think that scares me though?" The question and the intonation of it caught him off guard. His head snapping from the screen to her. "You literally taught me how to fight when you held my controller. You did what no one else would do just because you were curious.
"Hell, you saved me from a corrupted hero," she snorted. How could she have known Mori was corrupted though? He had barely spoken of himself after high school and she was left in his shadow. "I wouldn't have offered my controller if you didn't get some trust from me. You gave it back when I asked and I'm sure you'd do it again."
"It wasn't mine," he sniffed. "Your body was in a dump, I thought you were dead so I took it because, 'hey, free controller.'"
"But you gave it back," she sighed. "Tell me I'm wrong."
"This could all be a ploy to get you to join, you know that right," he sniffed. She stared and raised an eyebrow, the man getting a bit antsy as he began to scratch his neck again. He did that often she noticed, especially when he was thinking or nervous.
"Would it make you feel better if I told you that you saved my life," she asked quietly. "And that you're the first to actually do that for me? You're not a hero but in some ways you are to me. That make it more reasonable?" He stared for a long time, the scratching stopping as he nodded.
"Yeah, that does make some sense. It's only right you'd want to give me your life," he snickered. Anka rolled her eyes at his ego standing up and waving her hand. He didn't understand people but he'd learn at some point wouldn't he?