Disclaimer: I do not own the rights for any of the preexisting characters. This novel is made merely for entertainment purposes.
A/N: Hi there, I wanna be brief with my words so let me go straight to the point. I got a call this afternoon from work and I won't have time to proofread the bonus chapter before releasing it so I'll upload it tomorrow at the same time. I barely had the time to proofread this one so I hope it doesn't have many mistakes. Enjoy.
…
Before any tension could arise, Present Mic announced the start, his voice as loud as it was fast. "Now… START!!!"
The roar of the crowd shook the stadium. Almost instantly, a glacier surged outward from Todoroki's side–jagged spires of ice racing across the arena, moving as though alive. The temperature dropped sharply, vapor rose into the air as the stage glittered under the sun.
But Damian could only smile at seeing this attack, this time in person instead of through a screen.
He exhaled once as a silent ripple occurred around him following the flow of his hands, the mudra of prana on each hand as the wind coiled into invisible but tense springs before he gestured forward, currents of wind turned into wind cannons subtly enhanced by the aspect of Energy that hit the ice avalanche all at once, halting its advance within a meter of Damian and sending the shattered ice scattering everywhere at a deadly speed.
Thankfully for everybody, Damian was prepared for this as the same invisible dome that protected everyone in a previous round came into being once again.
From the cabin, Present Mic hollered his commentary like usual. "WOAH! Did you see that, EVERYBODY?! He's saving the audience while fighting one of the strongest students in U.A.! What a gentleman of destruction!"
As the residual gale of his wind cannons was directed towards him, Todoroki glided backwards before creating an ice support beneath his boots to stop himself. His brows furrowed for a split second at seeing Damian shrug his opener off like it was nothing.
"Pretty good opener," Todoroki heard all of a sudden. "But your attack would be about three times more effective if you could project your ice with precision instead of hitting the whole area in hopes of hitting me in the process."
Todoroki clenched his jaw, glaring across the ice covered arena. "I didn't ask for your advice!"
He slammed his right foot forward, sending another wave of ice snaking across the floor, but narrower this time, aiming for speed over mass. Damian smiled at this again before he glided sideways elegantly, his feet half an inch above the ground as he thrusted his palm at the turning ice. A small vortex impacted the weakest point of the structure, tearing the ice apart like paper and creating an icy mist in the arena.
"Do you just lack originality or is it that you've never had to try to be original with your attacks, Shoto?" Damian asked with an annoying smirk on his face.
Todoroki's teeth gritted. He raised his right hand again, but the left side of his body remained still, his overwhelming fire remained dormant, and Damian's eyes caught that detail.
"You're still holding back," he said, his voice cutting through the storm of mist. "Is your resolve smaller than his shadow, Shoto?"
Todoroki scowled. "I told you already! I don't need his power!"
Damian sighed softly, brushing a loose strand of hair aside. "And I've told you already, it's not about needing or not, it's about growing beyond him."
Todoroki froze for half a second, a flicker of emotion betraying him.
Walking through the mist, Damian walked as casually as he spoke. "If your words to Midoriya were true, then fight me seriously. Prove to the world that you are not your parent's halves, but rather your own unique whole."
"Shut up!" Todoroki snapped, slamming his foot again. A burst of jagged ice erupted beneath Damian, but the wind exploded downward from his form, scattering the frost before it could even touch him. He seemed to walk through the debris, but his feet were barely brushing the ground.
"You're not fighting me right now," Damian said calmly. "You're just trying to deny yourself."
Half yelling his words, Present Mic commented on the odd turn of events. "Whaaaat is even happening?! Rossi's just walking through Todoroki's ice! Is he… talking him down mid-fight? But why can't we hear anything?!" And Aizawa responded in kind. "No… he's most likely provoking him. He's pushing Todoroki to use everything he has. As for the sound, it should be Rossi's doing too."
Damian raised his right hand–wind swirling like a coiled serpent–and with one precise gesture, he fired a wind cannon that hit Todoroki's glacier from the side. The ice shattered into mist before reaching the halfway mark of the arena.
Damian spoke again, louder this time. "You'll never surpass him by using the part of yourself you hate the least. Use all of you, Shoto."
"Stop acting like you understand!" Todoroki shouted. Flames sparked weakly along his left arm, flickered… and then dimmed again. "I'm not-"
"Afraid?" Damian's tone softened, but his gaze remained firm. "You're terrified. Of becoming him. Of being proved that that part of you is as rotten as his. But power is not tied to a moral compass, Shoto. Only we are."
Todoroki's breath hitched. Steam rose around him as his right side started to frost over from overuse. "You don't understand-"
"You're right, I don't." He spoke, interrupting Todoroki. "You haven't told me why you hate to use your left side, but I can more or less guess."
And saying so, Damian's eyes turned sideways. Following his gaze, Todoroki saw Endeavour, his mouth moving as he screamed something, but no sound reached the arena.
"But I do understand what's like to be born to a piece of shit," he said, and for a fraction of a second his unfettered mask cracked as his face showed a mix of emotions, but he quickly composed himself. "I understand how much it makes you hate yourself when you see his reflection while looking at the mirror, how every compliment becomes more mocking than sincere when it's about a shared trait."
The wind around him surged again. Not violently, but purposefully, coiling around the arena as if guiding the temperature upward.
Todoroki's eyes flickered, conflicted. Rage warring with exhaustion, confusion with something else. Damian stopped several meters from him, lowering his arms.
"But let me tell you something I've learned. A kind man's biggest revenge is to forgive and forget," he said, his face adorned by a smile that shone more since and brilliant than anyone prior since they had met. "So use it, Shoto. Use your fire. Not his. Yours."
For a long moment, only the howling of the wind filled the air.
Then a spark. Then another.
Todoroki's left arm ignited, full force this time, bright orange-yellow flames surging across his shoulder and chest. The ice at his feet hissed and cracked, melting in seconds. The audience erupted into shouts as his full Quirk finally awakened, both halves burning in perfect opposition.
Damian smiled broadened for a second as the wind swirled playfully around him in response to his emotions. "That's more like it. Now fight me like a man, because I'm not hearing any excuses after I beat you up."
Todoroki's flames roared. "Then stop talking," he said. "Because now… I'm coming at you with everything."
Damian's grin sharpened into something confident, almost challenging. "Ohh, how scary."
"HE'S DOING IT! Todoroki Shoto's finally using both sides of his Quirk!!" Yelled Present Mic.
On the stand, the class A-1 members cheered on as well.
"That's it, Todoroki-kun!" Muttered Midoriya, clenching his fist in excitement.
"YOU BETTER KILL HIM, YOU HALF-HALF BASTARD!" Screamed Bakugo, still full of resentment at being eliminated by Damian so easily.
Back in the ground, the entire left half of the stage ignited. Ice melted at a speed visible to the eye, water hissed into steam, and the temperature swung from freezing to scorching in seconds.
However, his flames were rough, uneven and spontaneous, which for Damian's keen eye might as well have been like having a sign above his head that said 'I'm a complete noob at this'.
Thinking that it was time to take things up a notch, Damian decided to go on the offensive, motioning with his hands, the misty wind swirled around him before it was flung like a laser towards Todoroki, with enough force to uproot an average sized tree.
Todoroki responded in kind by thrusting his left palm forward, a sea of flames bursting forth to meet the gale. The result of this collision created a fiery tornado, dancing wildly as it ascended just to be safely dispersed above the stadium.
Covering his hands instinctively at seeing the blazing spectacle, Present Mic screamed. "OI, ERASERHEAD, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOUR STUDENTS?!"
Without waiting for the complete dispersal of the tornado, Todoroki fired again, a fire blast pierced the dissipating gale, reaching Damian close enough for him to feel the heat.
"Ugh, I'm more of a winter person, you can have this back buddy." He joked as he parted Todoroki's fire in two halves before guiding the fire back to Todoroki, using wind in the process to fuel the two fire snakes.
Swiping sideways with his right hand, Todoroki created a thick ice wall to protect himself from Damian's counter; the clash created a dense cloak of mist around the whole arena.
Half to annoy him and half to help him, Damian kept lecturing the brooding teen. "Good reaction timing, but now you've blinded yourself, Shoto. Also, your fire attacks are even worse than your ice ones when it comes to effec-"
"You talk too much." Interrupting his lecture, ice shards blasted from the mist towards Damian while spear-like ice constructs sprouted from the ground, threatening to impale him.
Not one to disappoint, Damian took to the air, but still remained within the limits of the arena.
'He instantly made use of my voice to attack me even while blind. I really wish I could take him back to my Earth.' He lamented to himself.
[I see what you're saying about the similarities now.] Commented Eva approvingly of Todoroki's innate battle acumen.
"Smart choice, but next time don't speak before attacking your enemy like a third rate villain." Said Damian while ignoring the irony of his words, thrusting his right palm to forcefully disperse a fire ball coming his way with a wind cannon.
"Is this even allowed?! Rossi is dodging everything like it's nothing!" Spoke Present Mic, a bit bewildered by the fight between the two 'first year students'.
"As long as they remain within the confines of the arena, which he has done, there's no rule against students flying." Clarified Aizawa.
Getting increasingly more frustrated at seeing that nothing worked against Damian, Todoroki spent a full minute intercalating between ice constructs and fire blasts against the flying chatterbox that gracefully, unconsciously correcting the flow, efficiency and pattern of his attacks, the mix of genius battle IQ and an annoying but helpful teacher doing wonders for him.
[Damian, the last noteworthy vehicle has arrived.] Said Eva suddenly.
'Oh well, it was a fun exercise, but it was about time to end it anyways.' Responded Damian.
Falling back to the half destroyed arena, Damian looked at the winded Todoroki, breathing heavily due to exhaustion. "It's about time to end it, so give me your best finisher."
Looking at Damian's pristine appearance, Todoroki gritted his teeth and without saying anything took a low stance as his left hand heated up.
Responding in kind, Damian planted his feet at shoulder width before taking a step back with his right, one hand up front protecting his body while the other was coiled back, standing in reverse grip at waist height.
Sensing the shift in the air, Present Mic spoke as the public observed with rapt attention. "OH?! It seems both students are preparing their last move, who will prevail?! The natural disaster of fire and ice, Todoroki Shoto! Or the commander of the storm, Rossi Damian?!"
The winds howled behind Damian and the temperature rose around Todoroki. Then the both of them thrusted their hands forward simultaneously, Todoroki throwing a straightforward palm that generated a hellish inferno to burst towards Damian while Damian threw a fist from his hip that turned into a palm at the end, the wind almost roaring as an invisible wind dragon flew to meet the fire.
Cementos sensed that things were getting too out of control again, but this time he was prepared after seeing the displays from both students. Deciding to intervene, he created multiple thick cement walls in between the boys before they could complete their attacks while Midnight made a gash in her suit, trying to put them to sleep before they could attack.
However, the wind repelled her sleeping mist while the walls might as well have been made of paper in front of these attacks.
*BOOM*
A deafening explosion occurred in the arena, the shine of the fire making everybody close their eyes. Debris scattered everywhere, hitting Damian's barrier at the edges while the heat of Todoroki's attack contained unnaturally while being guided upwards, dispersing above the stadium. All around the arena an invisible ring of swirling wind protected Cementos and Midnight from being burned, the flames stopping abruptly as soon as they came in contact with this ring.
'Damn, that was close. Endeavour might be a piece of shit, but his belief in Todoroki's ability to become the number one hero wasn't baseless.' Thought Damian while discretely using a cylindrical layer of space to separate the aftermath of the attack from the public and staff before guiding it harmlessly towards the sky.
While everything settled and people became able to see again, black clouds formed in the sky as a result of all the dispersed heat, breaking into rain soon after.
"I feel like I've asked this one too many times, but seriously, what is wrong with your students?" Asked Present Mic after having recovered.
"That last clash was dangerous, thankfully it seems like Rossi was able to contain it before it could reach the audience." Spoke Aizawa dryly.
Understanding what he meant, Present Mic looked at Aizawa spectantly as he asked: "Does that mean-?!"
Midnight got up on her feet again, looking around bewildered as the stage gradually cleared itself with the help of the gentle gales. Once everything was clear again, she could see Damian floating in place on one side. Looking to the other side, she saw Todoroki unconscious against a wall.
"Is this really a fight among students?" She muttered slowly.
A beat later, Damian cleared his throat, making her snap back to reality. Clearing her throat herself, Midnight announced loudly. "Todoroki-kun is out of bounds. The winner is Rossi-kun!"
And the crowd erupted, cheers drowned all other noise as the medical team rushed in to transport the unconscious Todoroki.
"That was insane…" Said Kirishima.
"It's hard to believe we are the same age." Commented Asui, getting a grunt of affirmation from Uraraka and Mina.
"So that's how far I am… Damian-kun." Muttered Midoriya in a low but determined tone.
Walking back to the changing rooms, Damian was intercepted by All Might in his skinny form, who congratulated him in his usual upbeat and raspy tone. "Splendid performance, Damian-shonen!"
Smiling back at the skinny hero, Damian mimicked his tone as he answered back. "Oh, thank you very much, All Might-sensei!"
This made All Might almost falter before he broke into a boisterous laugh. And before mister number one could say more, Damian spoke again. "Having said that, I'll talk to you later, I think I ate something spoiled, gotta use the toilet."
Having a coughing fit after the unexpected confession, All Might could only stare awkwardly as Damian turned right on a corner and disappeared from his sight. "He doesn't seem to care at all about being the winner of the tournament. What a… unique young man."
Before the medal ceremony preparations even began, he slipped out through the arena's hallways, walking quickly but calmly. Once out of anyone's sight, he turned and entered the nearest restroom.
The door clicked shut. He stood in place as a faint blue shimmer rippled through his body as his sport uniform disappeared into his storage space, being smoothly replaced by the unstable molecule suit multi-layered suit. The first layer materialized across his body, fabric threading together from nanoscale fibers, sealing around him like liquid glass, transforming into his own edited Sasuke from The Last: Naruto fit. Then came the second layer as a type of hooded black poncho. For finishing, he casted a spell that obscured his face while the hood remained on him.
Eva's voice buzzed faintly through his mind, calm and analytical. [I've confirmed it. All Shie Hassaikai executives are inside the compound. Every major vehicle entered through the east garage between 13:20 and 13:33. Internal feeds show full attendance.]
As he did a quick safety test on how firmly the hood was attached to him as per routine, he spoke with a much colder, almost detached voice. "Any civilians?"
[Minimal presence, the workers have been dismissed. The building is sealed. Highly likely to be a 'family' meeting.]
"Good." He raised two fingers as space warped around him like water bending around a stone for a fraction of a second. And then he was gone.
…
「Shie Hassaikai compound」
Reappearing on a rooftop overlooking the Shie Hassaikai compound from a blindspot, the warm sun of spring over the quiet compound and Damian's back created a jarring contrast with its rotten interior.
Using his spatial perception, Damian scanned the compound, noting the presence of multiple individuals. Though their energy signatures didn't give anything away, he confirmed that no reunion was taking place on the surface levels.
Picking an empty room, he teleported inside while using his technokinesis to cut camera feeds and jam communications for anyone above ground.
Then the hunt started.
With the speed and stealth of a ghost he teleported one room at a time, knocking out the 'chimpira' and similar low level thugs. The rooms with few members required only quick surprise attacks but the rooms with multiple members were a bit more tricky, but nothing that a localized black out couldn't solve.
For these low level members there wasn't a need to take things to the extreme, so he merely extracted their Quirks after knocking them out before piling their unconscious bodies in a large inner area inside the compound as he would still need to manipulate them to keep things under wrap for now.
On a side note, his quantum computer android brain permitted him to take mental screenshots of each member and investigate their criminal records, just in case a nasty piece of shit slipped through the cracks just because he was too weak to be given an important role within the organization.
After a neither slow nor hurried ten or so minutes of this process, he had cleared out the inconsequential goons and piled them up neatly on a big saloon, burying them all up to the neck in the ground in case anyone woke up ahead of schedule.
「Underground room」
Below the compound, the meeting room was thick with tension.
The long metal table gleamed under cold fluorescent light. Overhaul leaned forward slightly, his gloved fingers resting against the surface.
At the head of the table, Overhaul spoke, his voice cold and authoritative. "The demand will exceed supply soon and right now the heroes are distracted by the sports festival, it's the perfect time to transport a new batch to the outer wards."
Chronostasis adjusted his tie. "Production will take longer without fresh stock. The girl-"
Overhaul's gaze snapped to him, sharp and warning. "She's under control. Keep your focus on logistics."
Deidoro smirked faintly, tapping his finger on a crate beside him. "These bullets… are they really as good as you say?"
Overhaul didn't bother to answer. Instead, he unlatched a small case on the table; Inside, a set of gleaming silver cartridges, faintly shimmering with a pale hue. "One shot. One erased Quirk. No resistance."
The room went silent. Even the more confident men exchanged uneasy looks.
Mimic grinning thinly as he opened his mouth. "So this is what we've been working for…"
The mood in the room began to thicken. Greed, fear, and ambition coiling together like smoke as each one imagined the possibilities this would bring to the organization and them.
But then space rippled imperceptibly to the common eye behind Overhaul before Damian appeared behind him. A simple use of the aspect of Light refracted the light on the room, bouncing off him while only his eyes remained visible since unlike what fiction might have you believe, you would not be able to see if you used light refraction to hide your eyes too.
No one noticed him until some saw two flickers of golden light above Overhaul's back, but by then it was too late. Damian extended his hand, grabbing Chisaki by his nape and that contact was all he needed.
Before the man could even recoil by the sudden touch, he felt a sharp pain at the point of contact between them, making him finally react, but Damian's grip was too strong for a normal human to break free.
"Oh, hello there," he said, his tone even, almost conversational as the entire room turned in shock. "Hope you can make room for one more… I wanna talk too."
Acting on impulse Overhaul reached for one of his gloves but by the time he took it off Damian was gone, appearing behind Deidoro instead and taking him out cold with a hit to the head that came accompanied by a sickening-
*CRUNCH*
"Ah, hope I didn't hit too hard, y'all will be more useful with an operating brain–for now at least." Spoke Damian while taking away Deidoro's Quirk.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Asked Shin Nemoto while using his Quirk at Damian, but it proved useless since all it took was a simple barrier to isolate sound around his ears.
Sidestepping the blades of the masked man called Chronostasis, Damian willed multiple earth spears, impaling him at waist level and making the man scream in agony at the sudden jolt of pain.
Moving without looking Damian dodged a frontal assault from Kendo Rappa before turning around and throwing a lightning fast jab, sending him crashing against a wall and breaking it in the process while not even giving time for Hekiji Tengai to make a barrier to try and protect Rappa, not that it would've made a difference.
All the while Overhaul had been trying to use his Quirk, unwilling to accept reality.
"WHAT THE HELL IS HE?!" yelled Mimic from within his host body, the floor trembling as he merged into the surrounding walls.
The tiles around Damian distorted, trying to engulf him but he raised his hands, touching the tips of his fingers with one another and the floor stopped. A soft hum filled the air as he locked space itself, freezing the material mid-shift like suspended water.
Then he pulled and the section of wall where Mimic hid imploded inward, collapsing into a neatly compact cube of concrete. Mimic's muffled groan came from inside before his consciousness faded.
Two more tried to flank him; Setsuno closed in from his left with a knife in hand while Hojo took his right, hardening both fists together with his Quirk before bringing it down on Damian like a hammer. Damian didn't bother dodging, grabbing the knife with his left hand like it was made from plastic before crushing it and stopping the crystal hammer with his right.
Both villains tried to make distance as a yellow barrier appeared upon them both as an insurance, but Damian simply extended both hands, compressed wind cannons shooting from each hand and breaking the barrier effortlessly before striking their targets, sending both crashing towards different sides of the room.
Finally he teleported two times, taking down Rikiya Katsukame who couldn't use his Quirk in a room full of allies as well as Hekiji whose barriers were useless against teleportation.
Shin Nemoto barely had the time to pull out his gun and shoot at Damian in the time the 'fight' took place, but it was useless since he could dodge the bullets before they were even shot.
Overhaul staggered back, foreign feelings of confusion, fear and impotence gnawing at him as he looked at Damian take down the last of his men effortlessly while he couldn't even activate his Quirk to try and stop him. "What… what did you do to me?" he hissed.
Hearing his question, Damian turned to look at Overhaul before his face broke into a smile as ominous and eerie as Chisaki was rotten and disgusting. "Oh, it's too soon to be asking that, I haven't even started with you."
Teleporting in front of the yakuza boss, Damian spoke coldly. "I'm asking just to be sure–personal curiosity if you will–but just… Why? Why do all of this? Why try to drag society backward? Why build weapons that erase Quirks? Is it worth all the suffering you've caused and plan to cause?"
Overhaul's eyes flickered upward, sharp, venomous. He didn't answer at first. His breathing steadied, his posture straightened, and the arrogance–that delusional confidence–returned to his tone. "You really don't see it, do you?" he rasped, his voice low and measured. "This world is filthy. You people; heroes, villains, civilians, it doesn't matter. Every one of you is infected. Quirks have poisoned humanity down to the gene. You wear your mutations like badges of honor, when they're symptoms of a disease."
Damian's eyes narrowed slightly. "You call this a disease?"
Overhaul's gloved hands trembled in disgust as a response. "It's a plague," he said flatly. "An infestation that began the moment those wretched powers appeared. Rats, that's where it started. Filth breeding more filth. Humanity's been degenerating ever since, heroes pretending to be saviors, villains chasing chaos. Different sides of the same rot."
Using Nemoto's Quirk again, Damian asked. "And what is your role in all this then?"
Overhaul's face twitched, but he couldn't resist the compulsion. His words poured out like venomous bile. "I'm cleansing the world. Every cure begins with pain. The bullets–my work–will undo this plague. When Quirks are gone, people will remember what it means to be human. Order will return. And the Yakuza... we'll take back what's ours. Real control. Not the farce of 'hero society.'"
Damian tilted his head slightly, his tone even, but the shimmering wrath behind his eyes looked eerily dangerous to Chisaki's eyes. "And how do you justify torturing a child for that?"
For a moment silence reigned, but then Overhaul sneered. "Eri is a resource. Nothing more. The disease must be studied before it's eradicated. She's the origin point of the cure. If she suffers for the world's salvation, that's mercy compared to what this society does to itself every day."
Damian's expression darkened, barely perceptibly, but enough to chill the air. "Ha. Is that so?" He asked in mocking, trying to curve his sheer disbelief.
"You think I'm wrong? Heroes flaunt their power, villains revel in it. You all worship your sickness. I'm the only one who understands what it really is. I'm the only one willing to put humanity back on the right path. That makes me clean-"
*PTUI*
As soon as Overhaul said those words, Damian spitted on his face and as soon as Overhaul tried to clean his rapidly irritating skin, Damian touched his chest.
"AHHH!" The result was a gory show as Chisaki's arms exploded, making him kneel in agony, screaming the pain away.
"Ah, my bad. I just wanted to explode your hands but it's my first time using this Quirk," he said as he grabbed the kneeling man by his hair forcefully before using his new Quirk to put Overhaul's arms back together. "There you go. Now stop crying like a bitch, you're annoying me."
Breathing heavily and sweating, Overhaul looked at Damian with a gaze that carried more emotion than the man had ever felt before. "You-"
But before he could say anything more, Damian slapped him with enough force to make him spit out his teeth on the floor, his mask being slapped away in the process.
"You don't speak unless I want you to. I don't care to hear from you anymore. From this moment onwards you are nothing but a lab rat until you run out of usefulness. Rat number one." Said Damian with a voice devoid of emotion before grabbing Overhaul's head, lifting him to eye level.
"Wanna know something funny?" He asked while performing a mudra with his unoccupied hand. "I created quite a simple yet interesting trick to augment the bodie's sensitivity up to a factor of ten on a given target. I was planning to make it a spell for 'recreational purposes', but I think I found a new use for it."
Overhaul's eyes widened as he suddenly felt ten times the pain of Damian's grab on his head, of the allergic reaction in his face. With a feeling of impending doom, he tried to plead for the first time in his adult life. "Wai-"
Those were his last words before he exploded in a gory mist just to be assembled back together the next instant, but the pain of the process multiplied by then was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He didn't even make a sound, he simply started to convulse as his eyes rolled back before losing consciousness.
'Tsk. What a drama queen, he has no problems doing this to a child but it's too much to bear it yourself.'
Kicking the unconscious but otherwise okay man, Damian teleported the executives to an underground facility he had made recently in a secluded location while testing out his powers.
Once that was done, he came back to the saloon where he had trapped the small fry, seeing as no one was awake yet since he hadn't taken too much time on his underground clean up, Damian patiently rewired their memories to replace Overhaul as the head of the family.
[This time the spell is bound to break, there are too many gaps in their new memories.]
Noticing her cautious tone, he spoke reassuringly to her. 'Yeah, but I only need the spell to work for a short time, so this should be enough.'
Taking some of the goons who had committed serious crimes during Chisaki's reign and teleporting them to the same facility as the others, Damian finally took a long breath. 'The worst is yet to come, but right now is time to be a hero instead of a vicious vigilante for once.'
Saying so, he teleported back underground, appearing in front of a nondescript door, at least from the outside as he found himself taking yet another breath. Feeling way more nervous than when he was torturing Overhaul.
'You got this, me.' He cheered himself on.
[You got this, you!] And Eva seconded the motion.
Taking his hood off, Damian finally pushed the door open slowly. The hinges groaned faintly, and light from the corridor spilled into the small room beyond.
A single bed. A small desk. Sterile walls. Not a single light turned on, and in the bed–half-hidden behind sheets–sat a tiny girl. Her white hair was tangled, her eyes wide and colorless under the dim light coming from the door, like glass that had forgotten how to reflect. She clutched her knees to her chest as she looked at him cautiously, trembling ever so slightly.
When she saw the door open, she didn't scream, she didn't cry, she just froze.
Damian stayed at the threshold for a few seconds, lowering his head slightly to hide the fury behind his eyes. Everything about her behaviour confirmed what he knew already, yet it didn't make it any easier to stomach.
He made sure to keep his tone gentle when he spoke. "Hey…"
His voice was calm, steady and warm. His brief experience dealing with children in his previous life seeping in his mannerisms. "It's okay. You don't have to hide. I'm not one of them."
The girl's lips parted slightly, but no words came out. Her wide red eyes followed him warily as he took a slow step forward. "My name is Damian," he continued softly. "I came to get you out of here."
Still no reaction. Just a faint tightening of her small hands around her knees. He stopped halfway into the room, lowering himself to one knee so his height wasn't towering over her. The air in the room seemed to settle, still yet no longer as tense. "You don't have to be afraid anymore," he said quietly. "You're safe now."
Her eyes flickered; confusion and disbelief. The word 'safe' totally foreign to her mind.
"I know they hurt you. I know they told you things that made you think you're dangerous, or that you don't deserve to be free."
Her breath hitched faintly. He saw it, saw the tremor she tried to hide. "But that's not true," Damian said. "None of that's true. What they did was wrong. You didn't do anything wrong."
Her gaze fell to the floor, voice barely above a whisper. "...I make people disappear."
Damian's heart clenched at the defeated tone, but he didn't let anything show on his face, he simply kept that warm and disarming smile. "You didn't mean to. You didn't hurt anyone on purpose. That's not your fault."
"...He said it was. He said I… ruin people. That I'm a monster."
Damian's tone softened even more. "He was lying. Monsters are those who choose to hurt people. But you didn't choose to hurt anybody, right?"
Her tone hitched as she responded immediately, her little head shaking frantically. "N-No, I didn't!"
"You've just been scared… and alone." He continued.
The little girl's lip trembled. She blinked quickly, like she didn't quite understand why her eyes were starting to sting.
"I came here because you don't deserve to be alone anymore," Damian said. "You deserve to be free. To be safe."
A silence followed–fragile, heavy. Then Eri whispered, her voice hesitant and small. "...You're not going to hurt me?"
"Never." He said with certainty and kindness in his tone.
His answer came instantly; calm, steady, patient. He extended his hand slowly, his palm facing up. "You can come with me. We'll go somewhere far away from here. No labs, no needles, no pain. Just… people who'll take care of you."
Her gaze darted between his face and his hand, searching for the lie that she had always found in the eyes of adults. But there wasn't one, she could only see kindness and patience in his gaze.
Finally, with trembling fingers, she reached forward. Getting off the bed and walking so slowly it almost hurt to watch, but she finally touched his palm.
Her skin was cold, fragile, but the moment their hands met, Damian felt a faint shimmer of warmth run through the air. It wasn't mystical or supernatural, just human.
Eri's small voice wavered. "You… really came for me?"
Damian smiled more softly this time. "Of course I did."
And for the first time in her short, painful life, Eri let herself believe that someone truly meant those words. Reaching for him, she clung to his chest tightly as she started to cry, her small shoulders had a weight no child should bear lifted off.
Embracing her back and soothingly patting her head, Damian picked her up in his arms, firmly securing her as he spoke one last time before teleporting away. "Let's go home, Eri."