A/N-Shoutout John_A_Mandrake and Seydeen for the powerstones!!
-----------------
A small layer of snow lies on the ground the next morning. Carter is up and eating breakfast after watching Shoto and Katsumi leave for the last lesson they need to pass to get their provisional hero license. As he eats, he can feel the stares, though no one says anything to him. The rest of the class, though still friendly, is keeping their distance after yesterday's mess with Monoma.
His phone buzzes, and he checks it to see that an unknown number has sent him a text.
{Hello, would you be so kind as to meet me in the park? You know the one.}
He stares at it for a few moments before leaving, his thoughts unknown.
The rest of the class watches him turn into his Icewing form and take off from the lawn. Only after ten minutes do some of them breathe a sigh of relief. "Man, that was so scaryyy!" Denki cries as Jiro smacks him, but she doesn't refute his statement. "I wonder why he was so aggressive yesterday. I mean, yeah, he's always intense, but not like that." Kirishima says as he gets up to make more hot chocolate.
"The darkness within grows stronger," Fumikage says, but they ignore him. "I have noticed that he seems more distracted as of late, perhaps something's on his mind?" Momo wondered as Mina smirked, "Yeah, Katsumi." That gets a snort out of Ochako as Izuku shivers at the thought of them together.
"She's the last thing on his mind, believe me." Ochako says as she remembers the last time his wings were white. Mina isn't convinced, though. "You've seen how they've been together! She can't get enough of him, always following him around and pestering him. She might as well confess to him at this point."
Ochako pursed her lips, "She did." . . . . "WHAT!?" Everyone yells except Emery, who still doesn't get what's going on. "What do you mean she confessed to him?!" Mina demanded as Ochako wished she hadn't opened her mouth, though she thought Izuku looked cute with how stunned he was, that KATSUMI was capable of having a crush.
"When did this happen? What did he say?" Momo asked a bit too quickly, but no one noticed as Ochako had their full attention. "It was after he got the blue dragon, they were on the roof of the dorms, she told him, and he didn't say anything. Just sit on the roof for hours staring at the stars." She said as she kept the part where Katsumi had come to her a few days later, tears in her eyes, wondering if she was lovable.
"That would explain her test scores dropping, but why him of all people?" Ida said, adjusting his glasses as they turned to him. "What? His actions aren't very heroic and reflect badly upon the school." He said, defending himself as Tsuyu spoke up. "We tried to ask him about it during our work study together with Ryukyu, but he just snapped at us to leave him alone."
Now that surprised them. Sure, he was rough around the edges and threatened them over his food, but he'd never snapped at any of them. "It's true," Ochako nodded, "His exact words were. 'I can't afford to care about her, or anyone for that matter. Do not speak to me of this again, human." She felt a chill up her spine as she remembered how angry he looked when she had pressed him. 'Again, always calling people humans, like he doesn't view himself as one of us, I wonder why?' Momo thought as Fumikage picked up on the same thing. "His disdain for humanity is clear; let us hope it does not turn into animosity."
-------------------------
"He's a danger to the students, even I can tell." Aizawa said as the teachers and staff sat around Nezu's office. After yesterday's incident, they were holding a meeting to decide what to do moving forward. Some wanted Carter to be removed from U.A., feeling that the students would be safer.
Nezu had said nothing so far as the teachers deliberated. "This all started because of Monoma; he shouldn't have provoked him like that." Midnight said as Sejiro nodded. "I admit, he knows better than to antagonize others. I have spoken to him about this several times. Regardless, Carter still went too far." He had sent Monoma to have sessions with Midnight and Hounddog, the two therapists among the faculty, but it seems that he never took those sessions seriously and was now paying the price.
Nezu sipped his tea as he glanced at Monoma's injury report. Several broken bones as well as severe lacerations along his sides and back, and a bit of skull damage as well. "We can't let him stay, Nezu. What do you think?" Someone finally said as every pair of eyes turned to him. Setting his tea aside, Nezu looked at all of them before pressing a button under his desk. As all the windows closed with metal shutters, barricades closed in the room, and several anti-intrusion devices were activated. "It's not what I think, it's what I know."
"What I am about to tell you can never leave this room; you can't even think about it once you leave." A few looked confused, but Aizawa and Toshinori understood. "During his time here, I have paid close attention to all our students, but in particular, Carter, Izuku, and Shoto. I won't go over the other two as they aren't important at the moment." He said as he double-checked his countermeasures, just in case.
"Carter's full name is Carter Bate, the adopted son of Star and Stripe. The strongest Hero in the world after All Might." That threw a few of them off, as they didn't know that particular piece of information. "How they got together is a national secret, but that doesn't matter in this scenario; what matters is the person who came to visit him on his birthday." A few remembered the suffocating aura that day and shivered a little as Nezu went on.
"Officially, Carter was taken back to the United States for family issues." He said as Toshinori remembered the strange things that Dave and Carter talked about. "What happened is much different. I have reason to believe that the portal he went to took him to a world different from ours."
Aizawa, the sceptic, didn't look convinced, "How could he have done that? We have no proof other than him being gone for several weeks, only to come back aggressive and unstable." A few nodded at that, but Toshinori still wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Nezu dashed his hopes, though, as he shook his head. "He's always been unstable; he's just hidden it well from us. The signs have been there, though." He says as he passes around a photo that makes them double-take.
"Who is this?" Aizawa asks as Mindnight wonders the same. "This was a photo I was able to take of Carter the night he returned." "The time dilation. . ." Toshinori as Nezu nodded. "According to Carter, he was in this other world for 21 years, making him 37. How he changed his appearance in the week he was back, I don't know, but the subtle signs of mental instability he showed before have worsened."
-------------
PARK NEAR RYUKYU'S AGENCY
The ground shook as Carter landed in the snow. Not sensing any life nearby, he coiled his tail over his talons as he waited. He didn't sit for long before a swirling black gate appeared, and Kurogiri walked out.
"Many thanks for meeting me here, the master sends his regards and a gift that could be of use to you." He says with a bow as a large nomu appeared carrying a gurney with a woman strapped to it. Kurogiri sweats nervously as the large dragon glances at the woman before turning its attention back to him.
"Which master?" It asks in a regal voice as he straightens up. "Tomura is not aware of this meeting; he is off doing other things. The Doctor and Master send their regards." Carter snorts ice as he peers down at the woman.
She has a decent build and purple hair, with two swirling energies within her. "Who is this? I do not need pleasure toys, I am not one to be bought." He said, narrowing his eyes as the Nomu stiffened, feeling the tension in the air. "You misunderstand. She is an assassin, an asset to be used. The Master hopes to mend any grievances you may have had." Kurogiri said as Carter stared at him a moment longer before nodding.
Walking over, he gently grabbed the woman in his talons and turned to leave, "Perhaps we can work together in the future." Then he takes off, as snow flies everywhere, and Kurogiri returns to report what has happened.
------------
Reaching a hidden mountain safe house, Carter looked around the empty room before clawing out a chunk of concrete and turning it into a table, as well as a pair of restraints. "Are you done playing pretend? We have work to do." He said as he started making more things.
Seeing she could pretend any longer, Kaine sat up on the gurney and looked at the dragon. "What is your name, little human, and where do you come from?" She said nothing as she just stared up at the massive dragon before her. Annoyed, Carter stopped what he was doing and turned around, "Don't waste my time, tell me or I'll rip it out of your skull!"
She frowned at that but didn't push her luck, "Lady Nagant." He stopped and glanced at her. "The HPSC scapegoat, right? I remember that mess, a real shame." He said as she glared at him. He paid her no mind, though as he finished making the device he wanted as he went and mounted it on a far wall away from them. "I don't blame you for killing him; I would have done the same. How you ended up with AFO is the question, though now you have other things to worry about." He said as he returned and peered down his snout at her.
"My name is Avalanche, and you're going to be my little test subject." He said as she took a step back and started to get ready for a fight, but he just shook his head. "Don't even bother, I would flatten you with my mind if I so wished. Besides, you still want to save the children, right?" She froze as she looked up into his clear blue eyes.
He grinned, "There are still dozens of children being raised as weapons by the HPSC, not to mention what all the other countries are doing. Why stop with Japan? If you live, you'll be strong enough to exact bloody justice on every corrupt official in the world." She seemed interested but still unconvinced. "How do I know you won't do the same as they do, once you have the children?" He snorted, almost amused.
"I don't need an army of child soldiers to do my dirty work. I'll just give them to you and let you do whatever: give them a home, or return them to their parents. As long as they stay out of my way, they'll be just fine." 'Give them a home,' She latched onto that. The chance to give the children something she had wished for her entire life, the chance to keep them safe and away from the government.
"I'll do it, for the children." She said as he grinned with all his teeth. "Perfect, come lie on the table and we'll begin." As she lay down, she was surprised to see him turn into a human. He had white hair that seemed to glitter like snow, with eyes like an open sky. Taking out a claw, he lowered the spell that made him nigh-impenetrable and filled a small cup with his blood.
"Drink this." She did and lay back as he tied her to the table, enchanted to restrain and hold her no matter what as she felt a chill spread through her body, followed by an extreme heat. "Hold onto your dreams, and your anger, that's the only way you'll survive." He said before she felt the world explode in searing fire.