CHAPTER 4: THE EYE
A week ago…
Yagi Toshinori gripped the coat that covered his fragile body, the cold of the city night was biting hard, and the wound on his left side reminded him that cold nights as this did nothing good to it, it just made it ache like nothing he could ever imagine.
Yet he shouldered on, it wasn't the first time he felt his wound giving him trouble due to the weather, but it had been a while, usually staying in the apartment of the city he is currently staying, looking for that one, the one to inherit One-For-All, to become the next Symbol of Peace, to carry a legacy of justice few can only imagine.
He…hadn't exactly found that one, he had traveled all over the world to be perfectly honest, looking for that one, and so far he had been unsuccessful.
His return to Musutafu, the place where it all began was only know to Sir Nighteye, who immediately phoned him, Yagi at first believed he was going to get an earful, and he got one, one that surprisingly lasted a minute, then Sir went to the matter at hand.
They needed someone, that someone being him to infiltrate the coliseum, an underground fighting pit where the youth of the city, the troubled youth that is, fights, not each other, but actual BOW's of various designs.
They needed Yagi Toshinori, not All-Might, to infiltrate it, keep an eye, and constantly update them for the eventual raid they will carry to the place.
All-Might is too noticeable, Yagi Toshinori is not, he would blend with the crowd, Sir Nighteye had told him in a call three days ago.
And he had done that, he had went the moment he was able, which was right after he rented a small apartment, and started his mission, he was told to just carry his cellphone, nothing more, no monitoring devices on him, the coliseum security was…tight.
He learned how tight it was the first day, entering had been easy, it was like entering a stadium and buying tickets, they actually sold tickets to enter, despite the fact the place was located in the ruins of Musutafu's old metro lines, inside he had seen that most attendants were teens, troubled teens, teens who were one bad day from becoming villains.
There he had seen a lot of things, from the defense lines, which varied from very thick metal doors he could knock out with a punch, from gun turrets, actual turrets, and two tall boxes that seemed to contain something within, it was something humanoid, he assumed, and he assumed well when he saw what the teens were willing to fight against.
These…BOW's, they were truly works of horror, and actually dangerous, each one capable of untold damage if not fought properly.
He did notice the amount of gangs in the coliseum, to the point he felt sick to the stomach, every kid there, wanting to earn easy money, easy fame, easy everything.
Many assume that going hero it's the easy road, they assume wrong, it is a hard road, one that can kill you if you aren't careful.
The first night had been…rough, the exit of the coliseum had been…screened of all things, they had scanners of all sorts, scanning his body for anything that wasn't a cellphone, and if the cellphone was actually bugged.
That day he understood how heavy their security was, one can enter easily, exiting was the hard part.
The first report…had been a pain, not because he was bad at paperwork or reporting, but because he didn't knew how, he didn't knew there was a protocol for these things, so his first report was rather informal, they forgave him about it, especially since he was adding more to what they already had.
Now, three days later, he was back in the coliseum, sitting on his lonesome, looking at the kids fight, willing himself not to jump and intervene, and probably ruin everything.
The BOW's still perturbed him, especially when he learned that those things were in fact video game monsters, someone had taken something out of fiction and made it real, and functional, he doesn't want to know how you make a monster like the Licker functional, the brain its outside the skull and it has no skin, or eyes.
What kind of creature works in such a way? It should be in pain and begging for death, not trying to claw a kid's face off and impale so said kid with a tongue that shoots like a spear, and its long as one.
During his scouting he spotted several kids, Nighteye had pictures of them, mugshots, they had rap-sheets, one of them was responsible of nearly crippling a student of Aldera, a student that was expelled after protecting a fellow student from being raped by shouting someone so hard that Present Mic would be proud, and slightly miffed.
He also saw adults, adult leading these kids, leading them astray, showing them vices and…Yagi bit the urge to buff-out and beat everyone in the coliseum, realistically he could, he hasn't transformed in the past three days, he had stayed in his skinny form, according to Nighteye it would be a huge surprise to suddenly see All-might on the scene when there was no mention of him ever arriving, and he agreed, but the wait was killing him, metaphorically of course.
Yet he had to remain calm and focused, he would have plenty of time to vent once the order it's given, oh then he will let loose some steam.
For now he would observe and learn, these creatures would certainly would be used in the defense, he wanted to be ready for anything they might throw at them, thrown at him, he knew that he was stronger than anything these things could ever hope to be, the Nemesis as Nighteye had called them, could pose a problem, they seemed strong, agile and also intelligent, scarily so, but they would fold, even if he had to punch them to stains to the ground.
He might hold a little against the average criminal, but that that was because the average human would not be able to handle a punch like his, a BOW however, a creature as disgusting as this? Oh they would taste his full power.
He might be weak, but he is still the strongest, and definitely stronger than a Nemesis.
Six days ago…
Mirio gazed at the book Izuku had handed Sir Nighteye several days ago, well one of the books, the other was being used for the case, the one detailing the story of Aldera, the very lurid story at that, honestly Mirio had found himself disgusted at the very contents, he knew the story of Aldera High was a torrid mess that made sewage water look pristine in comparison, but this put in contrast.
But the book he was looking now, the book of villains as it was dubbed, made him realize something, something deep.
He had been slacking in a particular area, one area that Izuku had honed to the point of becoming his very own sword.
While both Mirio and Izuku were very able to realize what Quirk is being used against them, Mirio depends more on his speed and Quirk to quickly overwhelm his opponents with brutal blows to the gut and liver, but that puts him too close for a villain to counter if that doesn't work, or he doesn't realize what Quirk the villain has, what it can do and how it activates.
Izuku in the other hand, he didn't need to be trained in that art, because he was already a master of it.
He put it in the book itself, a villain way of dressing and equipment can tell you how their Quirk works, less clothes in a villain means two things, one that their Quirk requires skin exposure, so it can be an emitter type Quirk, also it means it is highly destructive and can be a collateral nightmare.
More clothes means that the Quirk affects the person in question, and needs to regulate it, less he or she falls victim of his or her own power, specialized equipment means specialized weaknesses, weaknesses that can be exploited, even their own behavior can be used against them, they become dependent of their equipment and telegraph their attacks.
Specialized clothes, ones with themes were sure marks to distinguish what kind of Quirk they possess, and how to counter it.
It was an eye-opener, this they didn't teach in UA, or any other academy, maybe because it was something you had to learn in your three years, or maybe because heroes tended to be far better trained than the villains, who despite having powerful Quirks tended to be overwhelmed by teamwork and a fist force trauma to the face, that was one of the many edges heroes had against villains.
One that seemingly the Troupe had been trying to undermine, they had worked the long-con, and the purpose was clear as day.
Fifty years ago, when the Troupe first made their debut, by having the British parliament butchered by one of their BOW's, they had been no more than a myth in the underworld, when the massacre occurred, they send a manifesto all over the world, in it they stated that the world was a petri dish, and they were the scientists in this 'grand experiment' and they would experiment to their hearts content, no morals, no one would stop them.
That was the basic gist of it, of what Mirio knows, the manifesto was over a hundred pages long, denouncing everyone, heroes, villains, governments, other scientists, blaming the for the state of the world, the stagnation, the Troupe swore that they would drag the world out of this 'needless' era, kill all false idols, burn all governments, create a new world order, one where logic and science rules over, and they would do so on the blood of their enemies and children.
Suffice to say that they became the first terrorist organization in the current Quirk era, most, if not all terrorists organizations of the pre-quirk era suffered…casualties at the hands of their now empowered victims, all while they struggle to defend themselves against a tide that was long time coming.
The Troupe had become one of the main targets of Interpol, who had pretty much become an international Hero/cop force, pulling from every corner of the planet to hit any criminal organization that might become a problem.
The fact that the Shie Hassaikai had passed their radar was disconcerting, that or someone was messing up and feeding them up false info, this were the guys that helped manufacture the Asian and oral version of Trigger, how could they when they were working on scraps and savings was beyond him, but they did it, in five years no less.
Closing the book, Mirio stood up from the desk he was using, he began to roll his neck and shoulders, Sir had drilled him to stretch after staying in the same position for a while, prevents pain and cramps, and keeps him prepared for anything that might come.
With his impromptu stretch done, Mirio made his way to Sir Nighteye's office, knowing once, he entered once he heard Sir's voice giving him the okay, once inside, the had to blink in surprise when he saw none other than All-Might, sitting in one of the chairs, a chair that looked comical for a man of his size.
"Mirio-kun, welcome, I hope you read Mr. X's book" Mirio nodded, actually noting how Sir Nighteye used Izuku's new nickname, at least the nickname he gave to the others regarding who gave them the two books and actually identified the BOW's pictured in the coliseum.
It had been something that Nighteye had to made on the spot when THAT cop had actually, somehow, entered the conference room where he, Ryukyu, Fat Gum and Naomasa were discussing and had tried to worm himself into the investigation, asking who had provided the books.
Nighteye, on panic, had decided to nickname Izuku as Mr. X, after one of the creatures featured in the pictures, according to Izuku, the Nemesis and the Mr. X in the pictures were collectively known as Tyrants, since those particular Tyrants, unlike the Nemesis, were made to infiltrate and actually look human-like, human enough to pass unaware in a crowd and not spare a second glance, if you ignore the fact they are over seven feet tall.
Nicknaming Izuku Mr. X was also to protect him as well, this guy, Durara Honda, the cop that had screwed an operation so vital against human traffickers that a cop was willing to kill him and several Pro-heroes were willing to look the other way because of his 'fuck-up' over fifty kids were lost to them and no one was captured, it was a disaster the media attacked heroes for months, the police lost a lot of faith of the public by that alone, the only reason Honda wasn't fired was because his dad is the Mayor of the city, and had actually threatened both the heroes stationed in the city and the police force, Durara was still in the force, but no one wanted to work with him and ensured to keep him away of anything that he might fuck again, like this.
After that it became the norm to call him Mr. X, a security measure that Nighteye had hoped they wouldn't use, hell he had planned to keep Izuku away of the investigation altogether, only calling him when testimony of his days in Aldera, the staff treatment off him would be the final nail in the coffin of Aldera High staff, and perhaps finally replace them with more competent members.
Alas it wasn't meant to be, and had to put him under the alias 'Mr. X' and as an informant.
"Yes Sir Nighteye, I have…it is rather perturbing" Mirio confessed, taking a seat near All-Might.
"I know, but it is not the reason you are here now, we are here to talk about your participation in the raid we are planning, and your role in it"
Five days ago…
BOOM!!!
Kai Chisaki, or as he liked to be called, Overhaul, was glad for the mask on his face, for it covered his nose from the smoke, soot and the horrible smell, of burned flesh, carbonized bones and what he assumed where the chemicals used for the bombs.
Yes, bombs, bombs that somehow were placed, inside his base, under his nose, and the nose of his underlings, bombs that where placed on the cells where he kept Eri, an Eri that was now FUCKING GONE!!
"…I'm going to kill someone" Overhaul blinked, looked to his right side, and spotted at one of his underlings, they called him Warden, for he was that, a warden.
After Eri's last escape, one of his underlings, one that was tired of her constants escape attempts and that caused collateral damage as a result, approached him, when he was at his worse, and lay to him a very complex contention plan for Eri, keeping her as a prisoner, it had been quite a successful plan, if Overhaul was being honest, the three last attempts of Eri to escape had ended even before she left the hall.
Then this happened.
The plan was surprisingly simple and yet complicated, Eri was constantly being moved to the labs at least twice a week, so every day, when she was required to do her necessities, while she was in the bathroom, the room/cell was thoroughly searched, all while she was moved to another room/cell, this ensured that every day they would keep staking the room she was before, looking for any artifacts she may have stowed to escape again, all the while it prevented to formulate an effective escape plan.
Simple but at the same time difficult, as it required that five guys to search the cell for any kind of object she might use in her escape, her sessions in the labs lasted two hours, they had that exact amount of time to ensure the cell/room was searched and ensure that when she eventually ends up in that room again after the rotation, she can't find whatever item she may have stowed.
This could only be done with a single prisoner, multiple would be a logistical nightmare.
"I'm going to wrap my hands in the intestines of whoever did this and make him eat them!" the warden screamed, screamed like an animal, he was mad, an honestly Overhaul was too, but right now he let the man rage and rage for him by proxy, because honestly this was bullshit, and if he raged he would end up killing people and they need the manpower, and also save energy for the one who fucked up this.
It was half an hour later that the warden stood in front of him, in his office, looking miffed as hell, but more calm than he was before, which was saying something, Overhaul was also prone to violent outburst when things didn't come his way, but warden took it to a new level.
The man stood over six feet tall, but wasn't too muscular, in fact he was quite lanky compared to other members of the same height, brown eyes and brown hair he looked rather…simple in his frank opinion, vanilla looking, if you were to ignore his Quirk that is, Sniff, which allowed him to sniff out anything and identify it with pint-point accuracy, something had to be really mixed-up or messed up for him to not identify it via Sniff.
"Warden…what happened?" Overhaul asked, as usual Chronostasis stood at his side, his ever loyal assistant, and of course Mimic, making counts of the damage and how much they would have to pay to repair the damage and clean-up.
"We…I…got blindsided" Warden confessed, visibly angry, "The cells, all five of them were infiltrated, someone drilled holes on the wall, or better said melted holes in the wall, my best guess, they were after Eri" Warden confessed, there Overhaul took a deep breath, narrowing his eyes.
"No one but us know about Eri, not even the heroes, no one else, how someone knew about her and where to hit, and at that point what we were hit with" Overhaul asked, now wondering who was the rat and how it was going to die.
"Bombs sir" Warden stated, looking rather irritated, "I used my Quirk on the remains of the bombs, all I know is that they started with White Phosphorus, and ended with something akin to nuclear waste" Warden stated, making Overhaul blink, even more when Warden placed what seemed to be a melted, blackened and wrapped piece of metal on the desk, "This…is all I could find of the bombs, all four caused massive damage, this last one didn't detonated properly, so I found it in a…pristine state" he added with clenched teeth.
Overhaul blinked, so did Chronostasis and Mimic, Warden's quirk would and should had allowed him to determine the ingredients of the bombs, the fact he could identify two, and the last one is a big 'if' meant that whoever did this was a professional.
"My best guest, they waited until Eri was in one of the cells, melted the holes in the walls, at the same time, looking for her, once found they took her from us and placed the bombs to cover their escape" Warden stated.
"…Any leads, did you found the exit holes and where they lead?" Overhaul asked.
"I did sir, which leads me to believe we are dealing with a very dangerous organization, they had military grade materials, if the white phosphorous is of any indication, tactically it was a smooth operation, what I cannot, for the life of me figure is how they escaped, the tunnel leads to nowhere" Warden stated, there Overhaul heard Mimic huff.
"Use your mind, they surely had someone with a warp Quirk or a teleportation Quirk, waiting for them in a master tunnel" Mimic sneered.
"The tunnels were not connected, each one of them was individually made, they all present the same chemical pattern in the walls, the same chemical used to melt the walls was used to melt tunnels, individual tunnels, this leads me to believe this was made by a military-like organization, this level of coordination it's above any other villain gang in the city" Warden stated, clearly angry at all this.
"Indeed, yet the question remains, who was it?" Chronostasis wondered, Mimic just kept working on the accounts, trying to find a way to handle the money without going into the red.
"I could only think of two organizations with the manpower, coordination and the recourses to go against us with what Overhaul-sama has made" Warden stated, "One is the Meta Liberation Army, they have the deepest pockets, and unlike most of us, keep their identities a secret, it has worked wonders on them, until-"
"Until there was a disagreement" Overhaul stated, looking at Warden dead in the eyes.
"Yes sir, a rogue faction of the MLA, they made their name during the galley incident" no one wanted to add that the galley incident saw the Prime Minister's wife dead, their son in a wheelchair and their son's wife losing their unborn child, and that the Prime Minister wanted blood, and scalps, and he wanted them both in bulk, one could really not blame the man for abdicating rougher sentences to villains and mass murderers, and to completely annihilate organizations like theirs.
"The other…is the Troupe" Warden heard Mimic actually mutter a 'motherfucker' as he stopped doing accounting.
"Are…you certain?" Overhaul asked dangerously, and he had his reasons, the Troupe didn't allied with no one, they used organizations and people like using toilet paper, then they dispose of it, so he is not to blame when considering that one of the most dangerous terrorist organizations, with their own Biological Weapons, could have Eri, it fits them.
"It fits sir, if somehow they know about the key component of the bullets, then it would stand to reason they would risk war with us, I mean they can throw as many soldiers as they want to us, we don't have that luxury" Warden stated the grim truth of their state to their leader who as well aware of this fact.
"…Any way to find her?" Overhaul asked, seeing Warden shake his head.
"Not without tipping our motives, we are underhanded now, those three guys that died in the explosions are the guys I specifically set to hunt Eri if she ever, somehow escaped, they could track her within minutes, but with them dead" he let that hung in the air.
Overhaul was honestly seething right now, this all smelled to a rat, the death of the only people that could hunt Eri, where to find her, her role in all this, it bothered him, greatly.
"…But I could go to the coliseum, the kids there are dumb, they talk, a lot, someone would babble about having a horned girl with white hair and red eyes in their custody, as something to impress the boss and something" Warden supplied.
"No, you won't go, I need you here to tighten the security, I want you to find the rat and bring him or her to me, I'll deal with the rest" Warden nodded, "Chronostasis, I want you to go to the coliseum, see if you can find information" so said man nodded, but had his own doubts, doubts he didn't need to voice because his boss could see them as clear as day in his face.
"Yes, I know, I could send Rappa for this, but right now we don't need bashed skulls, that comes later, right now we need a velvet glove, you are that glove, Rappa is the mace, and one we have the info, he will break skulls" Overhaul promised.
"No one steals from us"
Four days ago…
Eri had thought that she was saved, that she was going to be okay, but it hasn't been that way.
The day she had been 'freed' she had been honestly happy, she was out of Overhaul's hands.
Then she got handed to someone worse, which she thought was impossible.
They took blood, they took skin, they took hair, they took her tears…they touched her in ways that made her feel…ill.
They were worse than Overhaul, but they were sloppy, first-timers on keeping a prisoner.
The moment one of them looked away, Eri was gone, running away as if the very Devil was behind her, whispering to her 'run little girl run, or I'll get you' so she ran, ran, ran and ran on this strange base that she didn't know until she came across something she was familiar with.
A truck, a truck filled with junk.
It was a perfect escape option, these guys didn't knew where she was now, or what she was capable off, with a small sigh of relief she went to the truck and found what she wanted, a sofa, an upturn sofa with a broken bottom, also there was a lot of junk and metal sheets she could use to cover the hole, so she did that.
Her hands were small, she was weakened by the blood extraction and the scraping of skin, she was dizzy and hungry, but she somehow got the job done, she hid on the broken sofa and put the sheets over it, and then she waited.
She felt the first movement and then elation as the truck filled with junk began to move, she was tense, also she was hungry, so time simply felt like crawling to her, she didn't knew how to measure time, so to her a single day can drag to a week, or sometimes it can fly as fast as a wink.
This time it felt like forever.
Eventually the truck stopped, and she felt movement, then she felt the sofa, and by extension everything, move, then the world moved around her.
Her body was weakened already, but she was used to the pain (a sad thing) so she didn't scream or whimper in pain as her body hit the insides of the sofa, then all it stopped, she didn't moved, not until she heard the truck's noise move away, but once she didn't heard the noise, she began to leave her hiding position.
The first thing she saw was the ocean, it was not a familiar sight, she had seen it at least twice in her life, she wished she could cross it, putting as much distance as she could of Overhaul and these new monsters.
Looking around she saw she was on a beach, a beach filled with metal and rust and sofas and everything, thankfully there wasn't anything…squeaky in the beach, just metal.
She didn't knew where she was now, which was a good thing, neither did Overhaul.
Looking at the horizon, she saw dark clouds forming in the sky, not good, they usually mean rain, cold, with what she has on, she cold will force her to Overhaul once more, it did in more than one occasion.
She needed shelter, she needed food.
So Eri left the beach for her search of food and a roof.
She found a nightmare hours later.
Three days ago…
Inko frowned, not because the weather-man had pretty much predicted a week worth of light rain, cold and winds, not because she now had to break her coats and umbrella out, this was pretty much a necessity in Japan, especially with the weather as it is, even after two hundred years of trying to fix the fuck-ups of nations and governments that thought it would be a good idea to pass over mother nature, only to be reminded by so said mother nature that she is not to be fucked with, as North America learned the hard way with ten class five hurricanes popping out of the freaking air, in a month, during the first year a Quirk first ever manifested.
No, the reason of her frowning was because her son, had once again, gone and done it, he had added something else to his ever growing list of powers, and he promised her that he would try to tone it down.
She was kinda miffed, not enough to yell or be mad, but disappointed that her son had done this when he said he wouldn't.
But then came clarity, what else was he supposed to do? He was pretty much confined to the house due to his injury, the weather was bad enough that walking with a crutch would guarantee a fall to the ground, not to mention that the cold was actually making him ache, she had seen him rub the cast of his leg several times over and make a face whenever he thought she wasn't watching.
And apparently he had a reasoning behind this one, timing.
According to his son, he had this game basically completed, but he thinks his Quirk might be a little arbitral with its activation method, since this game had no visible difficulty modifier, at least to make the overall game harder (unless you want to play blindfolded) his Quirk seemed to demand him the one hundred completion, as a result he had to tackle the last obstacle he had in-game.
He called it the Shattered Throne, and he had to do it solo, and with the armor that belonged to that particular spot, while…whatever ascendant is, and without dying.
He did it, in an hour, so he took his sweet time because of the last challenge, not dying, the end result?
He burned the controller, and part of the carpet, and freaked her the hell out!
To be fair, when your son comes out of the room, enveloped in flames that seem to not burn him, but give the impression that they do, you would too.
Then came the scolding, and his defense as well, she did saw this coming, he had nothing to do but study and play video-games, and actually lift the weights she had in her room, a memento of times past, that was literally all he could do right now.
He could not train with all he had due to his leg, the doctors had been clear with that, the skin grafts would take time to become part of Izuku's own skin, the muscles, while rebuild, would take time as well, the bones were the actual issue, with fourteen fractures, the operation to put them all in place, while successful was also delicate, and so the recovery time, all fourteen fractures had to mend, he couldn't, realistically support his weight on his right leg due to this, he had to keep it from touching the ground, to support weight, reason he had to remain either seated of laying down, or if he moved, used a crutch.
Honestly she should had seen this coming, he did had said that this had to happen, he had to complete it now or he would have to wait three more weeks, due to the rotation of the 'curse' as it was known in-game, he had already put it past for two days due to the amount of homework he had, which he completed.
She also knew what he was doing when he wasn't actually on bed or seated, playing and writing.
She had seen him play other games, playing actually slowly, taking his time, and when he wasn't doing that, he was on his notebook, working on whatever there it lay, she trusted him, she knew that this all stemmed from the fact he had ten years of catch-up to do, his Quirk potential was great, perhaps greater than anyone's, to actually cherry pick power, she knew half of the world would wish for something like Izuku's power.
With a sigh, Inko focused again on her son…that now was floating-wait what?
Inko blinked once, then again, looked down, and saw that her son was in fact floating off the ground, with electricity coming out of his feet, the possible reason he was defying gravity, that and the fact he was now covered in lighting, small bolts of lightning dancing around him as a blue-ish aura covered him.
"Izuku" Inko began.
"…I am the storm now mom, I ascended to a higher plane" then he began to float into his room, slowly, yet she noted the small smile tugging at his lips.
"You are not the storm you're fourteen stop FLOATING!"
"I can't, I am the eye of the storm, I am the calm and the rage, I am enlightened" now she was sure he was smiling.
"I WILL ENLIGHTEN YOUR RUMP TO MY HAND STOP FLOATING!"
Sometimes she wondered if this what other mother's felt when their Quirked children began to activate their quirks at random and spouting weird words, the frustration, the elation.
And yes she is elated, doesn't mean she is not going to ground him, then again he melted his controller, that's punishment enough for not telling her what he was about to do.
Two days ago…
"Did her blood worked?"
"It did wonders, the T-Dolls are stabilized"
"The skin?"
"Again, wonders, we were able to clone it in great numbers, we send a box to America"
"Yet we are still away of our original goal"
"Not far enough sir"
"Oh?"
"About a week or so one of our aides in a hospital came across an interesting blood sample, it is highly adaptable, remember that creature we took from that failure of a doctor?"
"Yes, it reminds me of a Licker, but…incomplete"
"Yes, it also had a Quirk, or multiple, we tried to add them to our T-Dolls, it didn't worked"
"I know, why bring it up then?"
"The blood sample our aide took from the hospital, it has incredibly adaptability, far above our experiments ever reached, we use one of our beta Dolls, alongside the new samples and…it worked sir, it had power, power beyond our expectations, not even M98 matches what we made with this one, it had a Quirk"
"I see, how successful are we talking about?"
"Superior reflexes, strength and durability than expected, we added that creatures blood with some chemicals of our own and enhanced it even more, of course we are not deploying something of this value, we are going to run more tests, then dismantle Beta and use the parts for something better"
"And the source of the new blood sample? I hope you have a name"
"I do, even a dossier, Izuku Midoriya, highly unremarkable, clean sheet, he could be the new Pope if he wanted, freaking saint he is, he was part of a control group, all but him had Quirks, endured three years of bullying that send someone like him in group gamma into suicide after six months, he endure three years straight of it, no thanks to our prospect, Katsuki Bakugou, real piece of work he is, we are aiming to…break him to our needs"
"Hmm, what makes this boy special, you said he had no Quirk"
"Yeah, we based our findings, as usual form medical records, it showed he didn't had one, but he is directly responsible of putting one of Bee's lackeys into a wall, with his voice alone"
"A Quirk? Manifesting this late? Interesting"
"That's the tip of the iceberg, the kid's blood was all over his pants, thanks to Bee's breaking his leg, we got a hefty sample, his DNA is a marvel, our scientists call it 'adaptive' I call it what we need to speed up the process, but with the girl gone"
"How she escaped?"
"Freaking ghost that girl is, you blink she's gone, we can thank Overhaul for that, our source inside claims the girl has died over twenty-five times this year alone, Overhaul blows her up with his Quirk, they grab all the blood and organs they can of the mess, then he puts her back together, explains why she attempted escapes at least twice a week, and completed one every two months, she perfected the art out of desperation"
"Hmm, make capture of the girl priority Epsilon, ascend it to Alpha if we start running short of material and we need to study her Quirk on a deeper level, as for the boy…hmm, you say a Beta became superior to M98, right?"
"Yes sir, I dare say it could take ten Nemesis with both arms tied and win, M98 can only take five, and in peak condition"
"…Tell Bee to acquire him, and his family as well, make her believe she…needs to ensure social norms to be back in shape, put them in the coliseum, have M98 there"
"Want to see if M98 can win against the source of Beta's augments?"
"Yes, if Delta loses, we gain combat data, and if M98 wins, we gain a corpse for our scientists to poke at and clone to their merriment"
"Consider the message send"
"…You know what, let's make it even more interesting, send the GOLEM's, send the Under Takers, send the C6's, allow Bee free reign on how to acquire the Midoriyas, but it has to be done in two days"
"You want to ascend her?"
"She is young and brash, this will be a proof of how she will handle under pressure, succeed and she will share a position of comfort when he rid Japan of this…filth they call Government and 'heroes', fail and well…people like her are dime a dozen, we can always find someone else"
"Also, should I send a drone for the data gathering? You are sending our foot soldiers"
"Oh but I expected you to do so, we have so little combat data acquired, and third world countries and obscure guerrillas are hardly worth sending a platoon of Troopers, let alone a platoon of Under Takers, even more so for combat data, they don't last long enough for it to be a successful experiment"
"Agreed, I'll send two drones then, have them ready for anything sir"
"Good"
One day ago…
Izuku held his hand upward, with a mental command he began to channel the Light of the Traveler he now wielded, to be more specific, he began to wield the Arc Light into his hands, letting it form into a stream of electricity that licked his skin.
With a grin he began to give the Arc energy in his hand a shape he had in mind, it was hard, but it would prove fruitful in the end, as he was trying to learn how to control the output of so said energy when he finally uses it.
He had been surprised when he had acquired the Light, it had been a gamble to be honest, when he had first compiled his list he hadn't considered that he might need a Ghost to get it, after all there was no registered case in-game of anyone gaining the Light without a Ghost.
But he had it now, and he had been surprised by what he had now, he wielded the Light, and as he had suspected some abilities the Guardians had were not on him, like the self-regenerating health, or the 'light' shield, he suspected both of them were a Ghost thing, he did feel stronger, the basic Warlock palm strike could kill a Dreg with a hit, a basic Titan punch can kill in one hit as well.
He didn't had the grenades, as he suspected it was perhaps another Ghost thing, but he wielded the Light in its three spectrums, Arc, Solar and Void…and he somehow slipped into the Stromtrance within minutes of getting it, and melting his controller when he first wielded Solar Light.
He had the Supers, no doubt about it, the thing was that he didn't just had Warlock supers, as he expected, his main was a Warlock, but the Supers of all three classes, all mashed together by the Light they shared, how he found out about this? Well he melted the controller with the Hammer of Sol, while he was still holding it, the fact he hammer didn't explode as they usually do made him realize he had certain control of when they do.
This was a game-changer, it made his Quirk more complicated, he knew that he should have just the powers of one class, the Warlock, but he had all three, versatility wise, it would allow him to do a lot of things in one go, with the Well of Dawn he can become a mobile Triage center, with the Ward of Dawn he can create a small safe-haven for civilians, the Nightstalker Bow would be perfect for detainment and containment of masses and criminals, as the bolts and tethers of the bow actually suppress, he doesn't know if they will actually suppress a Quirk, but if they do, of that will make the bow and invaluable tool.
Like Cayde said, everyone loves Nightstalkers.
But then came the hard part, control, unlike Guardians, he doesn't has the Crucible, or Ikora, or Zavala, or Cayde, or a legion of alien monsters to test himself, or someone to teach him how to control the Light, from here on out, it was all him, he knew how to cast a Super, and how to bring the three spectrums of Light forth, but that made him dangerous, he needed first control.
To that end he began to focus on a single element, and what better way to start that with Arc energy, he somehow had slipped into and out of the Stormtrance with an ease that he figured Ikora would find scary, he figured that since he had lived a chaotic life and had tried to weather it the best he could, his emotions were better attuned to enter the Stormtrance with ease, he means he is slipping in and out of it to actually levitate, not using the crutches, which was cool, he had slowly learned to tone down the trance, allowing himself to just levitate, and actually interact with other objects, also to use it longer, still he carries a lot of electric current, so he had to be careful, no hugging mom and kissing her while in the Stormtrance.
After he was certain that he had mastered the trance, he'll focus on the second part, Chaos Reach, a pure, concentrated beam of Arc Energy that can vaporize anything caught in its path.
One would think that's a bad idea, but not him, Chaos Reach was one of the few Supers that didn't required him to touch the ground, also it would allow him to test how much energy he can expel and demand during the casting, for he had found something else.
He seemed able to cast the Supers with particular ease, almost no cooldown, he slipped in and out of the trance with particular ease, but in-game you can't do that, once you enter the Stormtrance, you have to use it completely, only Chaos Reach can be cancelled during use, the others not so much.
Which led him to his final theory about his Quirk, at least for the day, since his Quirk allowed the use of powers that belonged to games, and therefore tied to codes and video game physics, now that were in the real world, they were not tied to that code, to that logic, Supers were no longer tied to a bar and could be used until they were full, like his shouts, they were in a word, unbound.
It scared him, this kind of power…he needed to learn to control it.
With a sigh he summoned his Spectral Arms, all six arms suddenly going forth and cupping at the air, all while Izuku held his hand with Arc Light, and let it dissipate.
Then let it out into the Spectral Arms, each limb cracking with Arc Energy, then each first cracked against one another, a small thunderclap, localized on the room made Izuku slightly flinch, but it didn't bothered him, it was a happy accident that allowed him to discover that particular features of his Quirks.
He could mix his powers with one another, he found out about this when he used his Elemental Fury Shout, while he had his Spectral Arms out, just to see what would happen.
He expected them to cancel one another, he didn't expected to see the arms enveloped in small gush of wind, and actually, after throwing some jabs, so said jabs to be faster than they usually were.
Dismissing the arms, he focused again in his hand, letting Arc energy again flow to the palm of his hand, with a deep breath he began to form the shape of what he wanted in Arc energy, a circle, and actual circle.
It would be simple to just make a ball of pure Arc energy, but he wasn't aiming for that, he was aiming for control, what better way to do that that to make a circle, and actual circle out of Arc energy.
He honestly didn't want to end up like the Kappa.
Now there was a story that would make it to video games because of its absurdity.
A man with the power to take Quirks form others, a mastermind of the underworld that actually ruled Japan, even if there were public elected individuals on seats of power, The Kappa ruled Japan from the shadows with an iron fist.
Of course heroes of that time knew of the man, many died trying to fight him up-front, but his power didn't only stemmed from his many Quirks, but from the empire that he controlled, so they decided to attack that instead, take the legs of his empire, dummy companies, drug manufactures, laundry schemes, human trafficking, that one had earned him international notoriety.
The Russians called him Baba Yaga, an entire platoon of soldiers with exceptional Quirks had been lost, they were found a month later, lost, weakened, without their Quirks near Hokkaido.
South Africa had suffered an incredible loss of people thanks to him, who they called Tokoloshe, the amount of children that became Quirkless thanks to him, even when South Africa became a super-power thanks to the emergence of Quirks, was staggering.
In Latin speaking countries, they knew him as the 'El Hombre del Saco' or the Sack Man, for very good reasons, of all the countries that had a story about him, Latin America was hit the worse by him, in ten years dozens upon of dozens of children were lost, never to be seen again, kidnapped, unlike the rest, they were never found, many doubted it had been him, but rather human traffickers using his shadow to conduct their business, but the fact remained, unlike children taken by those men, they sometimes escaped, the ones taken by the Sack Man never did.
They were just an example of the man, a man that disappeared into anonymity at least a hundred years ago, many assumed that age had gotten him, escaped the authorities, but not the pass of time, but from time to time someone would surface, without a Quirk when he had one before, and the shadow of the Kappa would appear once more on a country that got an ill reputation thanks to his exploits.
Yes, Japan may be known as the current home of Heroics, with some of the rarest Quirks know, and some of the most powerful heroes in the world, but the shadow of the Kappa still shrouded them, still stunned them.
He didn't want to then like the Kappa, hungry for power, realistically he knew that a hero should be powerful, and that he had zero chances to become the Kappa, as he didn't take Quirks, he takes video game superpowers, he hurts no one, maybe his thumbs a little, his nerves, playing games in their hardest setting can be a test of patience, but the lingering fear of becoming the Kappa was there.
It was there the moment he acquired Blade Mode, even before his mother mentioned it, the old saying kept popping on his mind every time he used his powers, 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely' and he felt the fear that it might do that to him.
But it had been a struggle, either by chance or choice he ends up adding something else, The Thu'um, by chance, Blade Mode, by choice, Siren Powers, by accident, The Light, by choice and fear.
He didn't like how things were now, Sir Nighteye's visit had served to made him realize that Aldera, and by extension, anyone associated with them, would be targeting him and his family, it was paranoia build out of facts that he could see.
The case was already with TV coverage, the Internet, at least locally could not stop talking about the 'Aldera case' as it was referred to, there were two clear sides, the ones that wanted the school finally brought to kneel and answer for all it had done, the other who wanted it to succeed, despite its history and the blood it has shed.
Freaking social warriors, reacting to anything and believing they are right, without knowing the full story, typical of them, pretty much corrupted the term Social Justice Warrior beyond repair.
"(Sigh) LAAS" Izuku shouted, letting the power of the shout wash over him and allow him sight of auras around him, more precisely, people.
Again, he grew paranoid, using the Aura Whisper Shout periodically to check his surroundings.
Seeing no one, as usual, only the auras of his neighbors, Izuku closed his eyes, letting the power wash away, Aura Whisper would not cancel on command, it was something that all Shouts had, a weakness in the very time they work, he can stack them up, ensure that they continue on a target, but he had to be careful, don't want to end up killing someone because he thought using Drain Vitality and staking it up was a good idea.
Looking at his hand, he saw he had made a circle, or what could pass as one, it looked more like something drawn by a one year old baby, it was connected from end to end, and crackled with Arc energy, but he needed to train more, perfect his control.
Maybe he was doing too advanced exercises, using just one hand, he brought both hands close enough, and let Arc energy dance one another, this time he was able to form a passable circle out of Arc Energy.
As he watched this, he resolved to train as hard as he could, The Light was by far the most powerful and destructive power he had now, the Arc energy in his hands can disintegrate someone, not electrocute, disintegrate, if he wanted to help people he had to tame his powers, less he hurts someone with them.
He was still on the fence of adding more powers, mostly because of his fear of becoming the Kappa, thanks to the burning of his only controller, he pretty much couldn't do anything to gain more, he had the money, but not the means to get one, he could order online, but then there was his mom, she just…knew stuff, so better not push it, besides he was advanced enough in several games that he could catch up with them in the time he recovers from his fracture and can actually walk and go to a store and buy another.
He could float, but that might count as illegal usage of a Quirk without license, and he really doesn't want to explain that what he is using is in fact a paracasual force that he got from a videogame.
There is Quirk crazy, and there is downright ridiculous.
The day it happened, morning…
The rain pitted the roofs of many houses in Musutafu, the bad weather hasn't exactly abated in the past days, it hasn't gotten worse either, just a steady amount of rain that fell on the city.
Many blamed it on a Quirk, which considering the days they live in, might not be that far off the truth.
Izuku wanted to use Clear Skies Shout to stop the rain, if at least for some hours, the cold was making his leg hurt like hell, it is killing him.
He couldn't, as his mom had pretty much said no.
'No you're not going to shout at the sky like a lunatic to see if you can actually disperse the rain, you might mess the weather pattern' had ben her argument, his counter had been that the weather was messed up as it was, one shout would not made the difference, at least if it worked he could add 'weather changer' to his list of 'what can I do with my powers' list.
"Mom?" Izuku asked from his position on the sofa, seated, hands cupped together and harnessing Arc Light, trying to form the shape of a cube.
"Yes dear?" his mother asked from the kitchen, finishing what would be their lunch, and packing her own food for the day of work.
"Are you going to Auntie's dinner?" Izuku asked, having forgotten about that, considering all that happened, he wasn't exactly to blame for that.
"Izuku" Inko began, "It happened three days ago, I had to cancel, I return of work too tired, and you are in no condition to leave the house" his mother reminded.
"Mom I am not dying, I broke a leg" Izuku said, "Also what are you doing I your job, I just thought you crunched numbers?" Izuku wondered, the Arc energy shaped like a cube now took the shape of a pyramid.
"Is more than 'crunching' numbers, I have to sort out payments and deduce the overall budget the agency has and keep them in neat piles, especially with collateral damage" Inko reminded, "This week has been hell to be honest, several agencies have been targeted by the Hero Public Safety Commission, there had been some credible claims of embezzles, two agencies are already on the loop for it" Inko stated.
"Really? But the one you work in is brand new, barely a month, if I recall it was founded by Magma Dragoon and Frost, why is targeted?" Izuku asked, referring to his mother bosses, two rookie pro-heroes who were not afraid to ask for help and professional help when needed, the burning Judo Hero, Magma Dragoon and the cold Heroine, Frost.
"The representative of the HPSC said half of the agencies selected was on a ballot, the others were selected because they were suspicious of embezzles, we just happened to be on the first, Dragoon wants me to have a sheet of our finances so we can have the HPSC out of our hair, the investigation has lagged the work of the agency to a crawl" Inko stated with a frown, "Not to mention Frost, I think this investigation has her on edge, she froze her coffee when we learned what was going on and nearly froze a copy machine because it was not working" Inko added as she shook her head.
"The city it's chock-full of delinquents and underage villains, and I just learned some heroes were doing some embezzles, wonderful" she hissed.
"Mom, they are humans, tied to human flaws, like greed" Izuku reminded, the Arc Pyramid in his hands became an octahedron, "I am not defending them, just that we kinda forget they are humans, flawed" he added, looking at his hands, Inko peeked her head form the kitchen, looking at Izuku and the energy shaped thing on his hands.
"Yes…for how long are you going to keep that up?" Inko asked, changing the subject, Izuku immediately perked up.
"Until I can do it without thinking and looking, then I'm moving to one hand" Izuku said, "I need control, the Light is powerful, but rather volatile, the average Guardian can effectively disintegrate someone with their Light, a hero does not disintegrate, unless its rubble then that's fair game, or a BOW" Izuku said, "I have all the time on the world to perfect my control over the Light, two months, after that well…train the body, my legs already feel weak without all the walking" Izuku said, making Inko smile, she was glad he wasn't taking anything for granted.
"Good" Inko stated with a smile, "Have you talked with your friend, what was her name, Mikaela?" Izuku nodded, albeit with a sad smile.
"Yes, she is doing well in Somei, apparently the school is not too keen with racism and bullies, they have the highest expulsion rate of any school in Japan regarding that, some say that the school is too soft and the kids should learn to stand up on their own, but when the kids have the potential of becoming walking nukes, well they can't put the excuse of 'we are tough so they can be tough' because it can end bad for someone" Izuku whispered, making Inko roll her eyes.
Two hundred years ago, the kids having to endure bullying and do nothing may have been the norm, not only in Japan, but the world, but after an incident in Florida, the blindfold was off, the ear muffins were roughly yanked and those who tried to justify 'bullying creates character' had to face a horrible truth once Quirks were introduced to the world.
The reality that others tried to ignored was shoved to their faces and schools around the world had to adapt to this new environment, Europe was a leader in these kind of actions, America, as in South, Center and North America had to follow, especially North America after the NRA fell due to Quirks replacing them and allowing several reforms to be finally placed, that and three Quirk related attacks in schools.
Japan, sadly had not moved too well, technologically wise, they were leaders, socially things were not that well, Gaijins were still a demeaning term, even after two hundred years, Japan as a society was still hyper-competitive, failure could lead to tragedy if you weren't careful, last but not least, bullying, you had to endure it, it creates character, it is still endorsed in many schools, many parents still believe that bullying does build character.
She is no kind of mother to wrap her son in bubble wrap, she knows the world can be cruel, and she had taught him how to roll with the punches the best way possible, but sometimes the world is just pushing it and sometimes she just wishes she could punch the world back, and stomp its head, and kick it in the balls, and stomp the balls, and fingers, and cave its teeth in.
"Oh, I'm glad, I was afraid she might…you know" Inko began, "Get…a complex or something, an assault is not something you can walk out unscathed" she added.
"I know, I still have…dreams, Mikaela does too" Izuku said with a frown, one Inko mimicked, she knew that his 'dreams' were more akin to nightmares, waking up at the middle of the night, mid-shout and making the apartment shake by the force of his voice alone, eyes darting around and sweating, ready to fight whatever monster that lurks his nightmares, monsters she knew had names, and were, unlike the monsters from videogames, very real, and far worse than a mutant using a rocket launcher as a club.
One could not really be prepared for the evils of men.
"Oh dear" Inko crooned, "I know I can't relate, but I know that…as long she has you as her friend, she will be fine, besides she is a strong girl, she'll overcome it" Inko said with a small smile.
"I know she will, but the question is how much time will pass before she can?" Izuku wondered, "The mind…is a fragile thing…you can't heal the mind like healing a wound, it doesn't take days, nor months, but years…I worry for her"
"I do too dear, but we have to-"
TAP!
Izuku actually perked up, so did Inko, something had tapped a window, "Mom, did you heard a tap?" Izuku asked, Inko again poked her head out of the kitchen.
"I did dear, sounded too hard to be a bird"
Both Midoriyas actually winced when something began to scrape one of the windows, like someone dragging a knife on the glass.
"Mom, that came of your room" Izuku actually stood up on his good leg, then began to float using Arc light, his hands dancing with the same energy, "…LAAS!" Izuku intoned, and his eyes widened when he saw the aura of what was making the noise.
Or rather the number of auras, currently outside, hanging from the wall.
Turning around Izuku was ready to call his mother to leave when Aura Whisper revealed what lay on the entrance of their home.
"MOM HIDE!"
BOOOM!!
Inko had little time to see what had just knocked the door of their home, only that it was big, clad in black and moving at a speed not befitting its colossal form.
But Izuku recognized what had just charged their home entrance, and in panic rose his arms, and without hesitation let loose a bolt of pure Arc Light, the bolt travelling at a speed befitting lighting and hitting like a truck.
BOOM!!
The Nemesis was instantly toppled by the sheer impact and electrical discharge, but momentum kept it forward, Izuku moved at the side, avoiding the seven and some foot tall monster-
CRASH!!!
Only for glass to rain on him, some met his face, but barely fazed him, what did faze him were the two GOLEM's that actually rappelled into the living room.
"Dammit I didn't saw them with Aura Whisper!" Izuku thought angrily, the two GOLEM's landed hard on the floor, one of them flinging the sofa to a side like if it was no-
Pain.
Izuku was now flying, his back hurt, then his face hurt when he landed on it, rotating to his side he was the reason why.
Another Nemesis, there were two Nemesis, two GOLEM's and whatever were outside-
"LEAVE MY SON ALONE!" Izuku eyes widened when he saw his mother charge at the Nemesis that hit him in the back, knife in hand, and jamming it up to the hilt in the Nemesis throat, purple like blood pouring out of the wound-
Then the thing backhanded his mom, and Izuku saw red.
"YOU!" Six ethereal arms sprung forth and slammed into the ground, propelling him upwards, towards the wounded Nemesis.
"SU GRAH DUN!" the room shook with his voice, and his fist, all eight of them were encased with a wisp of air, air that was mixed with Arc Light.
The first fist met the knife, pushing it even deeper, the hilt disappeared in the throat of the creature that staggered after the vicious blow, and Arc energy caused it to suffer more pain, Izuku didn't knew how to throw a punch, but that didn't matter much when your life is on the line, you have enhanced strength, speedier hits and the target in front of you towers over you.
So he aimed his real fists to the midsection, a vicious but sloppy hook that anyone could block, if they didn't had a knife jammed up their throats.
CRACK!
The satisfying sound of bones breaking made Izuku snarl as he brought another punishing blow to the midsection, again another crack signified a cracked bone and the creature staggered, and Izuku capitalized it, his Siren Arms began to rain punch after punch on the damaged mid-section, each blow making the sound of broken bones fill the air, ten blows made the creature fall to a wall in pain, blood pouring from the knife wound.
A growl behind him made him remember the GOLEM's and the other Nemesis, the GOLEM's just like their game counterparts, were slow, and were armed with the same sword-like energy pike on their right arm, looked like an anorexic gorilla with a military hazmat suit, and Izuku was done analyzing at this point.
"IIZ SLEN NUS!" a concentrated blast of cold hit the two GOLEM's before they could move, and they were instantly encased in ice, they still tried to move, but the ice was thick enough to keep them from moving.
With that out of the way he focused on the first Nemesis, still on the ground and trying to stand.
BAMM!!
Izuku gave it no such reprieve, he brought his arms upward, encased in Arc Light, and brought them down like a hammer, instantly the Nemesis cried in pain as it was roughly shoved to the ground by a force superior to its own, there Izuku brought his Siren Arms to bear, and began to punish the Nemesis back.
CRACK!!
CRACK!!!
CRACK!!!
Izuku punished the beast for attacking his home by breaking its back, and ribs, and probably exploding its internal organs by the brutal blows that made the Nemesis vomit purple blood-
CRASH!!
CRACK!!
Izuku looked to the source of the noise, and his eyes widened, Lickers, at least five of them.
Five dead Lickers in his opinion.
"FO KRAH DIIINNNN!" With a scream, Izuku let loose Ice Breath at the all, and sustained it, making the five Lickers rushing at them actually recoil in pain and slow their movements as frost began to encase their exposed muscles, two that were on the ceiling fell to the ground with a 'thud' and along the other three began to trash around, trying to shake the frost forming on them, but their movements began to lag due to the intense cold.
Closing his mouth Izuku focused his attention on the GOLEM's that were still frozen, but struggling, he began to float to them, angry, Arc Light enveloping his hands, with a snarl he thrusted both his palms at the creatures, letting out a torrent of energy that hit them straight and pushed them into a wall, broke the ice and made them twitch in agony, only to be disintegrated by the sudden influx of energy, letting an imprint of their bodies on the wall-
POW!!