Chapter Text
As he ducked underneath the slashing claws of one of the puppets, Hitoshi was eminently grateful for all the many hours Aizawa had spent pushing them to their limits during training because it was pretty much the only thing keeping him alive. Lemillion was at a standstill with the three puppets who had rushed to him. Their claws and teeth passed right through him but he was also struggling to land meaningful blows against them. The puppets didn’t feel pain and so were able to keep getting up over and over again every time he knocked one of them down. Hitoshi was in his own precarious situation. His quirk was useless against the mindless puppets and though he was keeping away from their claws, one mistake would prove disastrous.
He rolled underneath the legs of the puppet that had just swung at him. As he came up on the other side he swung out with part of his remaining capture scarf, looping it around the puppet’s ankle. He popped up into a kneel and was immediately beset by the other puppet. Hitoshi fell back to avoid its claws. A lock of hair that had fallen in front of his face flew through the air as it was sliced off. Hitoshi’s hands came up as he fell, looping his capture weapon around the thing’s wrist. He rolled backwards again and used the momentum to pull with all his might on the end of the capture scarf that still sat on his shoulders. The ankle of the first puppet and the wrist of the second were yanked towards each other, sending both crashing to the ground in a pile of limbs.
“Lemillion!” Hitoshi called through desperately heaving breaths. “Please tell me you have a plan! I’m not sure how much longer I can keep up over here.”
Lemillion sunk into the floor a couple of inches and shot himself upwards, slamming a knee into the jaw of a puppet. He came down with a two-handed blow to the back of its head. It staggered forward as he landed but soon lumbered forward again, claws slashing at his back. He let them phase through his torso and lunged forward. Lemillion wrapped his arms around the waist of the puppet and heaved backwards, tossing it across the hall.
“I’m working on it!”
The two puppets Hitoshi had been fighting climbed back to their feet. A low growl escaped him. This was just like the entrance exam all over again. With his quirk out of the equation, he was just the same too-weak kid in over his head. Familiar despair threatened to overwhelm him. Would he ever be more than that? Could he ever be anything more?
Rage burbled up in his stomach. Hitoshi snarled at the puppets across from him. Of course he could. His Geas was unbreakable. He was going to be a hero, no matter how many brainless puppets stood in his way.
With an inarticulate roar, Hitoshi charged forward. One of the puppets tried to take a swipe at him but was too slow as Hitoshi dashed inside of its range. He planted his left foot onto its knee and used it to push off, sending him up into the air. As he came up, Hitoshi wrapped his thighs around the puppet’s neck.
He thought of Momo, with her soft concern and her ardent belief in him. He thought of Aizawa and his steady presence and unrelenting drive. He thought of Izuku, the symbol he had spent the last year and a half chasing after. In that brief moment suspended in time, Hitoshi said goodbye to the boy that he had been.
“PLUS ULTRA!!” Geas roared as he careened backwards. Between his weight and the imbalanced nature of the slenderman-like puppet, Hitoshi and the creature spun through the air. The puppet’s head slammed into the ground, the impact sending Hitoshi rolling across the hall.
Hitoshi staggered to his feet. The puppet he had taken down jerked and twitched before lying still, its head dented and crushed by the impact. Hitoshi stared at its downed form, a small flicker of pride burning in his chest. That was undeniable proof of his growth. He didn’t need to be able to use his quirk to be a hero.
His eyes darted toward the other puppet as it took a step towards him. He tensed, getting ready to dodge an incoming slash, but the puppet suddenly locked up in place. A thin red line wrapped around its body, tying its limbs together. It teetered for a moment before falling to the ground. Edgeshot stood behind the puppet, his upper half emerging from the strand he had used as a restraint. Even as Hitoshi gawked at the appearance of the Number Five Hero, a flash of movement in his periphery caught his attention. Jiro had jumped up onto the back of one of the puppets attacking Lemillion and dug her jacks into its neck, sending sonic vibrations into its body. Next to her, Momo was fending off another puppet with a black-bladed katana.
“What’s the situation?” The Ninja Hero demanded.
“We think these things are just Skeptic’s puppets, they’re not really alive!” Lemillion called as he let a clawed hand phase through him. “But we haven’t found Skeptic himself yet.”
“Then let’s hurry and take these things down.” Edgeshot’s string tightened. The puppet he had restrained popped and deformed under the pressure, its neck cracking and straining until it stopped struggling. “Geas, we will handle these. Go find Skeptic before he can get away.”
“Right!”
Hitoshi dashed towards the open vault door, rolling under the flying body of one of the puppets as Lemillion threw it across the hall. He passed through the threshold and came to a skidding stop. The room within was massive. The ceiling stretched upwards through the next several floors, catwalks lining the perimeter. Torch-sconces were built into the walls giving intermittent lighting around the edges. Beneath the sconces were ten foot tall tanks. They glowed green from within with thick opaque glass hiding their interiors and thick tubes running back into the walls. In the center of the room, a blood-stained operating table sat beneath a spotlight. Rushing between the tanks and a laptop resting on the table was Skeptic, the right hand of Re-Destro. His stringy black hair hung limply over his crazed eyes. He looked up sharply as Hitoshi entered the chamber.
“You government dog,” Skeptic snarled. “You got past my puppets.”
“Sure did.” Hitsoshi said. “Were those things really supposed to kill me?”
“Oh they did enough,” Skeptic smirked. “They bought me ti-”
Hitoshi felt his quirk take hold. Skeptic’s eyes glazed over, his hands falling to his sides. Hitoshi sighed in relief behind his persona chords. Finally, his quirk was useful. Now he could show off just how much he had grown with it in the last year.
“Command your puppets to stand down.” He instructed him.
“Stand down.” Skeptic repeated dazedly. After a moment, the sounds of combat from the hallway died.
“Step away from the computer and sit down on the floor, slowly.” Hitoshi commanded. Skeptic stepped backwards and lowered himself to the ground. Hitoshi approached cautiously. He doubted that there was anything Skeptic could do to break out of Brainwashing’s hold but he had been wrong before. He knelt down next to him. “What were you doing down here?”
“Destroying…:” Skeptic swallowed back something in his throat. Pressure built up in the back of Hitoshi’s head. He could feel Skeptic’s anger and indignation fueling his desperate fight against his hold. Hitoshi stared directly into Skeptic’s glazed-over eyes and forced his own will to overcome his resistance. The pressure lightened as Skeptic’s will was beaten back. “Destroying the records.”
Hitoshi idly noticed Edgeshot and Lemillion entering the chamber while Momo and Jiro guarded the door. Edgeshot made his way to the laptop Skeptic had abandoned while Lemillion stood behind Hitoshi observing the situation. While he would never admit it, it did bring Hitoshi a little comfort knowing that even if Skeptic were to find a way to break out of Brainwashing, Lemillion was there to help take him down.
“Records of what?” Hitoshi asked. “What is the MLA doing down here?”
“Experiments.” Skeptic’s voice was flat because of the influence of Brainwashing, but Hitoshi could still feel the undercurrent of anger thrumming through him. Hitoshi snarled and forced more of his will across their bond.
“What kind of experiments?”
“We…” Skeptic’s body twitched. “We were trying to recreate…”
Hitoshi’s head was pounding at this point as Skeptic tried desperately to resist. He could tell he was getting closer to something important. Hitoshi grit his teeth and forcefully asserted his will over Skeptic’s own.
“What were you recreating?”
“N-... Nomus.” Skeptic’s will finally broke as his secret was revealed. “We were trying to recreate the Nomu experiments.”
“How?” Hitoshi demanded. “How were you recreating Nomus?”
“Our spies in the police brought us copies of all of Ujioko’s notes after Toga killed him.” Skeptic revealed. “We thought Toga may have learned more about them during her time in the League or when she was tracking down Ujiko, so we sought her out. It was only then that we learned that she had also been spying on us.”
“Holy shit.” Hitoshi rocked back onto his heels. Edgeshot strode forward and put a hand on his shoulder.
“Can you ask him how much of the evidence he destroyed and where anything else might be left?” Hitoshi nodded.
“Yeah.” He turned to Skeptic. “Did you finish destroying the evidence?”
“Not yet.”
“Where is the rest of it?”
“The…” For a moment Hitoshi thought Skeptic might break out of his hold but his mental struggling soon stopped. “The samples are in their containment devices. The rest of the files are on my laptop.”
“Are there any traps on any of the containers or on your laptop?” Hitoshi asked. Edgeshot nodded at him in approval.
“Yes.” Skeptic replied. “Any unauthorized access to any of the containers will automatically trigger the incineration of the subject within. The laptop is protected by biometric encryption and is programmed to delete all of the data on it in the event of another trying to access it.”
“Yikes,” Lemillion said. “What should we do? I’m not sure we have the time to scope this stuff out carefully.”
“We’ll take the laptop with us.” Edgeshot decided. “The samples can stay. We should probably take him too.” He said, nodding his head towards Skeptic. “As much as I’d rather not slow us down by dragging him along, I don’t want to risk either him breaking out or something happening to him and all the intel he has.”
“Stand up.” Hitoshi instructed Skeptic. “Walk behind us, carefully. If there are any traps we pass as we walk by, alert us to them beforehand.” He turned to the others and nodded. “Let’s go then.”
Jiro took the lead as the team began to walk back through the labyrinth of corridors beneath the Central Tower. Edgeshot and Momo walked shortly behind her while Hitoshi and Togata, in addition to the brainwashed Skeptic, trailed behind. They rounded one corner and then another before Lemillion spoke up.
“So I can ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“How exactly does your quirk work?” Hitoshi’s shoulders instinctively hunched up to his shoulders at the question.
“Sorry,” Lemillion raised his hands and smiled sheepishly. “I was just curious. I didn’t remember you being able to make other people talk and use their quirks and stuff. If it’s a sensitive topic don’t even worry about it.”
Hitoshi consciously forced himself to relax. This was Lemillion, the human incarnation of a ray of sunshine. He wasn’t like the ignorant pricks he had to deal with when he was in middle school. He didn’t have to be afraid of bringing up his quirk.
“Yeah, that’s actually sort of a new development.” Hitoshi rubbed awkwardly at the back of his head. “It mostly ended up being a mental block on my end. I had to really want to enforce my will over the target.” He stared unseeing at his hands as his mind wandered back to the long days and sleepless nights he had spent trying to grapple with becoming exactly what everyone in his life had feared. “It was hard getting into that headspace. To be honest it still feels a little gross whenever I do use my quirk like that. It’s one thing to just command their body. But taking control of someone’s mind and thoughts…” he trailed off before shuddering slightly. “It’s just different.”
Hitoshi startled slightly as Togata placed a hand on his shoulder. He realized then that as he had been talking, he had been subconsciously shrinking in on himself. He straightened his back and looked up at his senior. Togata looked unusually serious. His eyes were searching, his smile gone.
“I can’t say that I understand.” Hitoshi almost wanted to wilt at that but stayed upright under the heavy gaze of the older hero. “You and I are really different people, and I don’t know what you’ve gone through. I’ve never had to question things like that. But what I do know?” His voice softened. “I know what it’s like to have to work harder than everyone just to get to the same playing field. And I know that you just single-handedly took out an extremely dangerous villain. You’re an incredible hero, Geas. And you’re only going to get better from here.”
“Thanks, Lemillion.” Hitoshi swallowed past a lump in his throat. “You’re a good guy.”
“Hey man.” Togata’s easy smile returned. He winked at Hitoshi. “It’s a senpai’s solemn duty to share their hard-earned wisdom. You’ll understand when you’re older.”
“You’re like two years older than I am.”
“Those are two important years, young padawan!”
“Whatever.”
Further conversation was cut off as Jiro raised her hand for silence. Edgeshot crept up next to her, the rest of the team inching up behind.
“What is it?”
“Behind the next door. Three people. One of them is barely breathing and their heartbeat is way too slow. If that’s Toga, she’s in rough shape. The other two are talking. They haven’t heard anything from Curious or Skeptic. They’re debating about whether to send someone to check in or not.”
“Wait a second.” Hitoshi broke in. “That gives me an idea.”
In the midst of the chaotic battle below, Izuku took a moment just to breathe. The electric-quirk user dangled beneath him, held aloft by a tendril of Blackwhip and still unconscious from the blow Izuku had dished out. He could see the massive form of Mt. Lady slowly shrinking back to normal size below. She had taken the brunt of the electric storm the villain had unleashed and Izuku doubted she would rejoin the fight anytime soon. It shouldn’t be an issue, he thought to himself as he surveyed the rest of the battlefield. We’ve taken out most of the big threats already. The lieutenants are all accounted for save for Skeptic and Curious. Now it’s just a matter of crowd control and finding the big-guy-
The sound of shattering glass interrupted Izuku’s internal monologue. From the observation floor on the Central Tower, the windows exploded outward. Shards of glass rained down onto the battlefield from above. Danger Sense pinged as a shape flew from the top of the tower to slam into the middle of the city. A cloud of dust ballooned out from the point of impact.
“Midoriya Izuku!” A dark figure rose from the center of the dust cloud. “Face me!”
Well, there’s the big guy. Izuku cracked his neck and stretched his fingers. Time to go to work. He drifted downwards, tossing the limp body of the electric-villain towards the nearest group of police.
“Re-Destro, I presume!” Izuku called back. He floated closer to the epicenter where the leader of the Meta Liberation Army was waiting. The man was a behemoth. His suit was ripped and tattered, the fabric bulging underneath his form. Black shadows danced across what skin was visible between the tears. The same shadows covered his eyes like a domino mask. “You should do yourself and your Army a favor and surrender! I Am Here, and you won’t be getting away this time!”
“Ah, the confidence of youth.” As Izuku watched, the shadows on his skin receded, his form shrinking in size. “Have you not realized yet, Midoriya? There is no choice but to fight. This is a battle for the soul of this country.” He raised his hands high at his sides, his head tilted back, like he was awaiting a gift from the heavens. “This is a battle for Freedom! Freedom must come through Liberation! And Liberation can only be earned through Blood!”
“But it doesn’t have to be yours.” Re-Destro lowered his head to look at Izuku. Madness, the insane fury of the truly devoted, burned in his eyes. He extended a hand towards Izuku. “You could join us, Midoriya. With you at my side, we could show this country and these people true Freedom. We can destroy the shackles that bind this corrupted society. You can be the ultimate liberator.”
“...so that’s a no to surrendering?”
“How disappointing.” Re-Destro raised a hand over his eyes and shook his head softly. “I had hoped… but alas. I suppose sacrifices must be made.”
In a flash all the darkness that had receded from his skin surged forward again, his body swelling as Stress empowered him. Izuku flared One for All in response. The electricity around him danced faster as he raised Full Cowling to 55%. The chaotic emerald lightning cast shadows across Re-Destro’s face. His manic eyes flashing dangerously even as his dark mask all but swallowed the light.
For a moment, the battlefield stood still as the two titans took stock of each other.
Danger Sense blared a warning. Izuku turned and let a fist the size of his torso pass by his head. The wind kicked up in its wake blew the hood of his cape off his head. Re-Destro, still growing as the stress accumulated from his quirk, was spun to the side by the momentum of his punch. He planted his right foot before he could be pulled off his feet and wrenched his back in the other direction. His bulging muscular arm thundered through the air in a vicious backhanded strike that would have smacked Izuku like a fly if it had connected.
“You’re pretty fast for a guy your size,” Izuku commented as he dropped underneath the obvious swing. “Strong too.”
Re-Destro roared. He spun and came down with a left-handed punch that shattered the concrete beneath their feet. Dust and rubble sprayed upward from the impact. He tottered to the side, off-balanced after his attack, before righting himself.
“But it’s pretty obvious that you’ve spent too much time behind a desk, Mr. CEO.” Re-Destro snarled as Izuku floated down from where he had flown above the strike. “Your quirk is pretty powerful, but you’re not much of a fighter, are you?”
Re-Destro leapt at him, his hands cocked back together behind his head. Izuku dashed to the side as he slammed them down. He ducked underneath another wild backhand from the villain at Danger Sense’s prompting. Re-Destro continued to chase after him. Punch after punch was thrown, all of them wild and unrestrained in his rampage. Meanwhile, Izuku continued to weave between the punches, ducking and dodging while letting the villain wear himself out. As he came in with another heavy haymaker, Izuku stepped inside the range of his strike. He grabbed the massive forearm as it came close and used the momentum of the swing to toss Re-Destro over his shoulder and into the rubble created by his initial entrance to the battlefield.
The goliath of a man climbed to his feet, snarling in rage. The shadows darkened further as more of Re-Destro’s skin succumbed to the darkness of his quirk. His arms grew, his shirt rending itself into rags beneath the pressure. His entire torso was exposed as he grew twice as tall, the black veins of stress covering every inch of skin. Izuku watched curiously as the older man ground his teeth and clenched his fists as if he was struggling to stay in control of himself. Huh. Does his quirk also affect his mental capabilities? Maybe he’s like Sato. The more stress he builds up the stronger he gets but the less control he has. Izuku sighed. I should probably take him somewhere away from the main fight then.
“Alright. Not that this hasn’t been fun and all, but I think I have a good idea of what you’re working with now.”
Izuku shot forward, using a small burst of Fa Jin to propel himself faster. Re-Destro’s eyes widened as Izuku rocketed towards him, but he had no time to do anything else before Izuku planted a fist into his stomach and punched him into the side of Central Tower. The entire structure shook under the impact. Izuku shot two strands of Blackwhip at either side of the crater where Re-Destro was now embedded into the building. He pulled back to increase the tension before launching himself forward.
“San Francisco Smash!”
Izuku’s foot connected with Re-Destro’s sternum, sending the leader of the Meta Liberation Army flying through the walls of his own home base. Before he could tear too far through the building’s interior, Blackwhip lassoed around him and brought him hurtling back towards Izuku. Fa Jin directed all the stored kinetic energy he had built up dodging around Re-Destro’s punches to his forearm. Izuku’s clubbing arm caught him just beneath the collarbone in a vicious clothesline that sent him spinning through the air until he crashed into the streets below.
Re-Destro stirred slowly on the ground. Izuku floated down to him. Blackwhip lashed and snapped through the air behind him as Izuku prepared to bind him and finish the fight.
“For Liberation!” One of the MLA fighters screamed as he leapt towards Izuku, hands burning like molten lava. Blackwhip snatched him from the air, wrapping him from neck to foot in writhing ink-dark tendrils.
Izuku ducked beneath a thrown rock as now a dozen members of the Meta Liberation Army charged at him. He sighed internally, but shot them the biggest All Might worthy smile he could muster. He spun through the air and tossed the lava-handed man back towards the group. He cocked back and an arm and punched the air in their direction.
“Texas Smash!”
A gale of wind erupted from his punch. Most of the members were sent ragdolling through the air as the wind force collided with the group. Two, however, were able to hunker down and withstand the onslaught. They stood to resume their advance but suddenly seized up. Sparks shot off their forms as they fell forward into the dirt. Kaminari stood behind them, his hand still extended in a finger gun. He blew imaginary smoke from his finger tip and saluted Izuku.
“Don’t worry, Deku! We got your back!”
“Thanks, Chargebolt.” Izuku nodded at his classmate. “Glad to hear it.”
He turned back to Re-Destro, trusting Denki and the others to deal with the rest of the MLA. Their leader struggled to his feet, the brief distraction his followers provided enough time for him to recover somewhat from the blows Izuku had dealt out.
“I see,” Re-Destro rumbled. “Your strength is remarkable, but I cannot afford to be defeated here. This world deserves Liberation!”
At his bellowing roar, Re-Destro grew in size once more. Now towering over the battlefield at a staggering ten meters tall, the black marks of stress fully covered his body. The shadows from his quirk covered his face like a helm, his glittering teeth and malice filled eyes the only things not covered in their darkness. Dark sparks flickered in the palm of Re-Destro’s hands. In a matter of seconds they grew exponentially into a swirling orb of dark energy. Space seemed to distort along the edges of the mass. Danger Sense blared a warning in the back of Izuku’s head. I definitely do not want to get hit by that thing, he thought to himself.
“Now, my Army of Liberation Warriors, break free of those who would bind you!” Re-Destro roared as he brought back his arm and hurled the swirling ball of black energy at Izuku. “Stress Output: Burden!”
Izuku had time to think, Hah, he’s throwing a stress ball at me, before he was forced to dive to the side. As the vortex of Stress passed him, it tugged at his cape as anything in its path was sucked in and consumed by the growing black orb. Izuku followed its trajectory and cursed as he saw it was headed straight towards Denki and the various MLA members and heroes that were fighting nearby.
“No!”
A few of the combatants looked up at his shout and dove to the side as the Burden made its way towards them. Before Izuku could move to help however, a dark shape rose above the rest of the crowd. Dark Shadow, looming larger and more menacing than Izuku could ever remember, emerged from the fray with a bellow that shook the earth. Two clawed arms dug into the swirling vortex, stopping its terrible advance. The ball of energy pulsed and began to expand, but before it could the beaked maw of Dark Shadow lunged down and swallowed it whole.
There was a moment of stunned silence before a flash of light shredded Dark Shadow into wisps of smoke as Re-Destro’s Burden exploded. Wind pressure ripped through the battlefield, a few of the fighters closest to the detonation were knocked to the ground, but the damage had been more or less contained by Tsukoyomi and Dark Shadow’s efforts. Izuku turned to glare at Re-Destro.
“You’re a madman!” The lightning surrounding Izuku danced chaotically as he struggled to control his anger. Blackwhip, ever attentive to the moods of its user, screamed for release beneath his skin. “That attack would have killed your own troops too, Re-Destro!”
“They would happily die for the cause!” Re-Destro all but laughed as he revelled in his own power. “Every one of my soldiers would give their lives in exchange for their Liberation, for their Freedom! They know that only blood can pay for a life free from the bondage of this sick society!”
Dark sparks began to gather in Re-Destro’s hand once more. Izuku narrowed his eyes at the massive villain. Enough playing around, he thought. He dug deep inside of himself for a quirk he had only used a handful of times before. Please, Roy. Lend me your strength so that I can put an end to this fight! The world around Izuku slowed to a crawl. Relief spread through his chest as he heard a clunk that signaled the activation of his quirk.
“Gearshift: Second Gear!”
Izuku blitzed towards Re-Destro. A sonic boom shattered the air around him as he broke the speed of sound. Izuku watched the villain’s eyes widen in slow motion as the physical enhancements of Stress struggled to keep up with the pure speed of One for All. His fist slammed into the exposed abdomen of Re-Destro. Not so fast, Izuku snarled mentally. Before the massive man could be blown backwards from the strike, Izuku used Gearshift to downshift.
Re-Destro’s body slowed as if he was caught in molasses. Izuku could see the ripples in his stomach as the force of his blow slowly reverberated across the other man’s torso. Izuku smiled viciously. He pushed Gearshift higher in himself, upshifting from second to third gear. He cocked back his fist and let loose a volley of hyper-speed punches against the defenselessly floating form of Re-Destro.
“Detroit Smash: Overdrive!”
Punch after punch, blow after blow, Izuku relentlessly pounded into the villain. Each strike, enhanced by 55% of One for All and boosted by Gearshift, packed more force than any smash All Might had ever thrown. For Izuku, time seemed to blur. His anger, his frustration, his guilt, his grief. All of the emotions that had been stewing inside of him roared to the surface.
He was angry that this madman was so obsessed with his vision for society, that he would toss away the lives of hundreds of his own followers just at the chance to take some of the heroes with them. Smash!
He should have been fast enough to stop that Burden before it exploded. Smash! He was the next Symbol. Smash! He had to be better, All Might would have been better. Smash!
Too many people had been hurt. Smash! Mt. Lady, the other heroes, even the Meta Liberation Army members, all of them suffered needlessly just so this man could plot a revolution. Smash!
Toga had been taken. Smash! She was just trying to do good, trying to prove herself more than the monster that others had always thought she was. Smash! He knew that he could save Toga, he could help her! Smash! And the MLA had kidnapped and done who knows what with her, all because she was just trying to redeem herself. Smash!
And deep beneath it all, the same aching question had been hammering away at Izuku’s heart. Did my father die for this man’s dream?
Fa Jin burned in Izuku’s arms. The collected energy of all his punches howled with the desire to be unleashed. Izuku floated up, above and behind the still hovering body of Re-Destro. As the kinetic energy condensed into his right hand, Izuku let his emotions follow. He poured his rage and sorrow into his quirk. His doubts, his self-recrimination, his fear and despair. They all collected into his fist until it felt like a star being born in his bones.
“SMASH!”
Izuku’s fist impacted Re-Destro’s back just below the shoulder blades. The first shockwave sent hurricane force winds exploding out through the battlefield. The second, stronger shockwave occurred when Re-Destro plowed into the concrete of the city street. The entire block crumbled and shattered in a cascading ring. Rubble and debris erupted through the air, like water droplets from a pond hit by a meteor.
Izuku gasped as he let Gearshift fade. His lungs burned. He heaved in desperate breaths. Roy’s quirk was extremely powerful. The ability to speed up and slow down objects while completely ignoring the rules of momentum and inertia was an incredible ability, especially when combined with One for All’s base speed and strength. But it did have a vicious drawback. His body moved too fast in that state to absorb oxygen from the air. More than a few minutes at the higher gears would make him blackout, or worse.
The destruction below had more or less settled by the time Izuku could breathe normally again. Most of the city block had been decimated. The four buildings that had made up the corners of the intersection had fallen in the wake of their fight adding to the mountains of rubble that littered the broken street. Water sprayed upward from where the impact had shredded a water main. A gaping sinkhole had torn through the street, revealing the sewer nexus beneath.
Izuku floated gently through the hole and into the yawning pit he had made. Re-Destro’s body had torn through the concrete and the sewer tunnels and other infrastructure beneath the road. Izuku flew down almost twenty meters before he caught sight of the villain. As he did, he noticed the lavender gas of his mentor’s quirk beginning to creep back in, the impact having dispersed the cloud that only now was filling the space again. He affixed his mask over his mouth and nose. A crater had formed in the earth, and in the epicenter laid the slowly shrinking form of Re-Destro. Izuku gently landed nearby, watching the shadows recede into his skin.
“It’s over, Re-Destro,” Izuku told him. “You can enjoy your life of ‘liberation’ behind bars in Tartarus.”
“Perhaps it is over for me” Re-Destro coughed through the dust that hung in the air. “But do you really think that you will ever be free?”
“What are you talking about?”
“When Curious brought you to our attention, I didn’t recognize you.” Izuku blinked at the non-sequitur. “But in this light, it seems so obvious.” Re-Destro raised a quavering hand towards him that quickly fell limp against the shattered concrete. “You look just like him, you know? Just like Hisashi.”
Izuku snarled. Blackwhip lashed out from his back, wrapping around Re-Destro and hauling his depleted form into the air.
“What?”
“We watched you,” Re-Destro revealed, heedless of Izuku’s growing rage. His head lolled slightly but his eyes still unerringly found Izuku’s. “When Hisashi died, I promised him I would take care of his family. It took me some time to find you. Hisashi was always good at keeping things hidden. But find you I did. I tasked some of our assets to making sure your school would be a good proving ground for his son. But then, we found out you were quirkless.”
Izuku felt his stomach drop. The Meta Liberation Army had been watching him? They knew about his quirk? Horror over the violations of his privacy and terror at the thought that they might know about One for All mingled in his gut. It took him a moment to process everything before his brain caught on the other piece of information that had been revealed. My dad… He’s really dead?
“If we had known then what we knew now, we would have recruited you in an instant,” Re-Destro said. “But to my utter despair you were defective. At least we thought so at the time. So I buried any record we had relating to Hisashi and gave up on the idea of bringing you in. Oh what a waste,” he lamented. “You would have been our strongest warrior. Instead, you’re just a puppet.”
Re-Destro reeled back and spat at Izuku’s face. Thick saliva mixed with blood and dust splattered across his forehead and dripped down onto his mask. Blackwhip slammed Re-Destro back into the walls of the sewer, more dust and rubble falling as the entire underground network rattled from the impact. That last insult knocked the shock and horror from him and made the rage boil up inside Izuku once more. Izuku brought a hand up to his face to wipe away at the disgusting mixture. His hand then lashed out and cracked Re-Destro across the face. His beak-like nose snapped and popped under Izuku’s knuckles.
“My father,” Izuku growled out. “What happened to him?”
A terrible grin spread across Re-Destro’s face. His teeth were stained red from the blood that poured steadily from his obviously broken nose.
“The same thing that will happen to you,” he taunted. His words were slurred slightly through the blood. “A puppet’s only useful while it’s dancing to their tune. When a puppet stops dancing, all that’s left is to cut the strings.”
“Who?!” Izuku demanded. “Who are they? Who killed him?!”
“You should ask your superiors at the Heroes’ Association,” Re-Destro slurred. His eyes began to drift close. “After all… it was their pet assassin… that snipped his string…”
“No. No!” Izuku roared. He shook Re-Destro with Blackwhip. “Wake up! Wake up!”
“Deku!”
Midnight rounded the corner of the nearby sewer line, Kamui Woods and Gale Force trailing behind her. It was Somnambulist, Izuku realized numbly. The small part of him that hadn’t utterly shut down at the confirmation of his father’s death was still processing the situation around him. He must have spent enough time questioning him for the gas to fully come back and put him to sleep. And that meant Re-Destro wouldn’t be awake for questioning for hours. His mentor took a few tentative steps forward.
“Hey, kiddo.” She called gently. “Are you okay?”
“I-” Izuku swallowed thickly. He blinked and brought a hand up to his eyes. He pulled his glove away and felt numb at the sight of dry fingers. For the first time in perhaps his entire life, Izuku had no tears left to give. “I don’t know.”