Chapter 11


"President Mori!"

The man standing in front of him had a gentle smile, but Shouto knew better. He's seen that smile before on multiple villains. And even on his father. This wasn't the smile of a benevolent leader.

This was the smile of a knowing dictator.

"Well, this is quite a surprise," Mori said, stepping forward to peer down at Shouto. "A Todoroki child is back within my borders. One that's supposed to be dead."

Shouto narrowed his eyes at him but said nothing. He couldn't give anything away. He knew nothing about this man and how it would affect Izuku and the others.

Mori grabbed a chair and sat down in front of Shouto, crossing his legs elegantly. He cut his dark eyes up at Shouto, making Shouto's skin prickle uneasily.

"So… You were much easier to capture this time. Why is that?" Mori asked, tapping his chin. "It seems that you just… gave up."

Mori glanced over Shouto's body, sending chills down his spine. If only Shouto had control of his quirk. This guy would be sorry he ever messed with him.

"Besides what these two did to you, you don't have a scratch on you," Mori said. "Are you that eager to die again?"

Shouto took a deep breath but never took his eyes from Mori's face.

"Well, is this a new quirk? Are you masking your identity? Using Todoroki Shouto's body as a cover?" Mori asked. Shouto stayed silent, and Mori sighed, long and heavy. "Not going to say a word, huh?"

Shouto watched as Mori turned to look at one of the guards standing in the room.

"Do it," he said to them, his smile fading just slightly.

Before Shouto could even react, one of the guards grabbed him by the hair and yanked his head to the side, exposing the column of his neck. Something sharp was jabbed into his neck, making him choke.

"Ack!" Shouto gasped.

"Ah, so you do have a voice," Mori said with a tease on his lips.

The guard attached a wire to the device in his neck and then attached that wire to a nearby machine. He flipped a few switches, the machine whirring to life, and then he turned back to look at Mori, giving him a brief nod. Mori nodded back and waved his hand. The guard then turned on the machine.

Shouto's body immediately tensed up, his eyes nearly rolling into the back of his head as he gasped for breath. All of his muscles coiled, and suddenly, Shouto felt both sides of his body release, ice forming on the right side and flames scorching on his left.

What is this?! Shouto thought, his nerves screaming as he was unable to control his quirk.

Mori smirked at the display, his hand reaching up to rub his chin.

After another agonizing moment of his body convulsing with energy coursing through his nervous system, Mori lifted his hand and the guard shut off the machine.

The pain that was once in Shouto's limbs immediately left him, and he hunched forward and heaved in several pained breaths. Both sides of his body ached, his right side shivering and his left side burning.

When he finally caught his breath, Shouto lifted his head to send a confused glare at Mori, who only smiled in response.

"So you're not an imposter," Mori said. "You still possess the same quirks that Todoroki Shouto has."

Shouto grit his teeth as ice fell from his cheek. "What… What the hell did you do to me?"

"Oh, so you're asking questions now?" Mori asked. He pointed to the machine. "I have several incredible scientists that are experts with quirk genetics. They simply forced your quirk to work. They've done it numerous times on others to test their abilities."

Shouto narrowed his eyes. "So you're doing experiments on people?"

"Oh, my. You make it sound like I'm doing something so terrible."

Shouto glared and shut his mouth. What in the world was this man hoping to accomplish? And why was he talking to just him? Why didn't he take Bakugou aside?

"Now then. Enough small talk," Mori said. His smile faded slightly and his brows lowered over his eyes. "I can only guess the reasoning of how you are here but I won't know unless you tell me. So explain to me who you are. Now."

The guards shifted closer to Shouto at his words, their arms folding across their chest. Shouto eyed their movements carefully and then glanced back to Mori. He set his jaw and frowned, his eyes locking onto Mori.

Mori's lip twitched at his act of rebellion.

"Suppose we'll do this the hard way," Mori said. He glanced up at one of the guards. "Do what you need to do."

The guards both bowed their heads to Mori and then walked off to the nearby table, their hands inspecting the array of tools. They each came back with a weapon in hand—one holding a sharp instrument while the other carried an electric rod, the metal ends crackling to life.

Shouto took a deep breath and clenched his teeth. His hands curled into fists behind his back.

He could only pray that Izuku and the others were faring better than he was.


His plan was crumbling right before his eyes.

Izuku stared after the prison guard's back as he walked down the hall after shoving a furious Kacchan into the cell with a teary-eyed Kirishima.

He wasn't allowed to patrol the prison. Not with the police uniform he was wearing.

What was he going to do now? He had to clear out the hallways to secure his friends' escape.

How was he going to clear the halls in a police uniform?

"Well, what now, Deku?" Kacchan hissed quietly from the cell, finally on his feet.

"Deku? You mean… Midoriya, is that you?" Kirishima said, his voice rising.

Kacchan immediately whapped him on the back of the head with both hands. "Zip it, moron!"

Kirishima yelped and hunched over, unable to rub the sore spot because of the shackles. Kacchan sighed and tugged out the keys Izuku had given him.

"K-Kacchan, what are you doing?" Izuku sputtered, glancing around the hallway. It was empty now but guards would soon come to patrol.

"Would you relax? I'm going to break his shackles so the serum stops going into his system," Kacchan said, quickly removing the shackles from Kirishima's wrists. He fiddled with them for a minute, and the sounds of glass breaking echoed softly against the metal walls. "There. Done."

Kacchan slapped the shackles back on Kirishima's wrists and then pocketed the keys, sending a glare to Izuku.

"The serum should wear off eventually. But you need to find a way to get these damn guards away," Kacchan said.

Izuku swallowed and then glanced around, watching as a prison guard turned down the corner. His breath hitched and he turned his back towards him, eyeing Kacchan and Kirishima out of the corner of his eye.

"I'll figure something out," Izuku said. "Just hang tight until I can come up with another plan."

"I swear, Deku, if you leave us in here—"

"I won't," Izuku said, his hands squeezing into fists by his sides. "I promise."

"Hey, you."

Izuku jolted when he heard an unfamiliar voice call out to him. He turned his head to see the prison guard walking towards him. He looked younger than the guard he spoke to before.

"What're you doing in here? Did you drop off a prisoner?" the guard asked.

Izuku straightened his back and nodded towards the cell. "Yes, sir. Dropped one off here."

"I see. Well, you should get a move on, then," the guard said. "We can take care of things here."

Izuku glanced out of the corner of his eye towards the cell, watching Kirishima and Kacchan as they stared back at him with concern in their eyes and sweat on their necks.

He needed to stall. At least until he could come up with a plan of action.

Izuku refused to leave that prison without his friends by his side.

"A-Ah, actually!" Izuku squeaked, grabbing the guard's attention.

The guard quirked a brow, his hand clutching the handle of his rifle. Kacchan and Kirishima were frozen in place, waiting with their air trapped inside their lungs on Izuku's next words.

"I-I need to use the bathroom!" Izuku squeaked.

The guard's brows rose to his helmet, and out of the corner of his eye, Izuku could see Kacchan smacking his palm to his forehead and muttering a soft, "Dumbass." Izuku held his ground on his decision, though, hoping that the guard wouldn't catch on.

"Is it that urgent?" the guard asked dully. "I've got a job to do."

"S-Sorry, but I can't hold it! I r-really need to go now!" Izuku said.

The guard sighed and shook his head softly. He started to walk past Izuku.

"Fine. This way," he mumbled.

Izuku's heart was slamming against his chest as he stiffly turned around to follow the guard. He waved off Kacchan, giving him a signal of "wait." Izuku could only hope he understood what he meant.

Now, Izuku had a bigger problem. He needed to come up with a plan to somehow get the guards to leave their post. But how? How could he convince them? Especially since he was in this police uniform?

"Here. Use it and go so I can get back to work," the guard said, nodding towards the restroom door.

"A-Ah, thank you," Izuku said, stepping inside.

He took off the suffocating helmet and set it on the sink counter, letting his face breathe, and then glanced around the bathroom, sighing in relief when he found that he was alone. He had to find a way to get away from this guard. Perhaps there was a vent?

Izuku searched up and down the restroom, even peeking behind each toilet to see if there was a crawlspace. But every vent was tightly screwed in place, and there were no windows or access to the ceiling.

Damn it, Izuku thought, starting to panic. He was running out of time. And who knew where in the world Todoroki had been dragged off to.

He closed his eyes and placed his hand to his chin, mumbling out ideas and possibilities. Maybe he could get a tour of the building? Or find a way to contact Hagakure? Or maybe he could go back and find those police uniforms and—

"Oi, what's taking so long?"

Izuku squeaked and stumbled, reaching for the helmet that he left on the counter. His shaking hands knocked it off and it bounced on the tiled floor.

"Ah, j-j-just a minute!" Izuku called.

"What was that noise?" the guard asked.

"It w-w-was nothing!" Izuku pleaded, picking up the helmet.

Suddenly, the bathroom door opened and the guard walked inside. Izuku felt his heart fall into his stomach.

"What's going—Wait a minute! Who the hell are you?!" the guard yelled.

Izuku swallowed, his thoughts racing.

He couldn't get caught now. He refused to get caught. All of his friends were depending on him!

Izuku took the helmet in his hand and flung it forward at the guard, the guard ducking his head. While he was distracted, Izuku rushed forward and leapt up into the air, kicking his gun from his grasp. The rifle slid on the floor and tapped against the far wall.

Then, Izuku whirled around and grabbed the guard by the back of the head, shoving his face down and into the wall. Blood immediately spattered from the guy's nose and he fell unconscious at Izuku's feet.

Izuku panted, staring down at the limp body on the floor. He heaved in a big breath and sighed, looking down at his body.

He hoped they were at least the same shoe size.


Hagakure swallowed thickly, her eyes darting around the room for any clue on how to get out of this mess.

Two of the guards were currently standing in front of the controls, staring up at the cameras. The head of security stood behind them, hands folded across his chest. Hagakure could see his keycard still hanging on his hip.

Okay, Toru… Hagakure told herself. Just have to get that key and…

She glanced to the control panel.

…And turn off the alarms.

She slowly tiptoed to the guards standing at the controls, their eyes occasionally going up to look at the cameras. She glanced over their shoulders as they spoke to one another, scanning the panel for any sort of button or switch that activated the alarm system. There were a few switches and buttons here and there, but she couldn't quite decipher them from such a distance.

She had to get closer.

She held her breath and toed a bit closer, leaning over the panel. She was able to see the labels better beneath each button.

Okay, she thought. Just have to find the right one…

"Hey, did you see the guys that the officer brought in?"

Hagakure nearly squeaked when she felt something brush her back. She covered her mouth with her hands and stilled, her head slowly turning to gaze over her shoulder.

The head of security was standing right behind her.

"Yes, I did," the head of security said, folding his arms across his chest. His arms lightly brushed Hagakure's hair, sending tingles down her spine.

"Didn't you kill that kid?" the other guard asked his boss.

The head of security huffed, blowing Hagakure's hair. She remained as still as possible, barely even breathing through her nose. Her knees started to knock together as her body trembled.

"I did," the head of security said, a pinch of agitation in his voice. He sighed and turned to the side, his arm shooting out to lean against the panel. Hagakure nearly screamed with how close he was. "I don't understand it."

"Maybe you didn't actually kill him?" one guard asked him.

Hagakure turned her head to the side, eyeing the head of security. She could practically count the stubble on his chin. Her eyes travelled down his chest and landed on his belt, the keycard right in front of her eyes.

She swallowed, her eyes cutting back up to the man as he spoke.

"I shot him in the head," the head of security said, his eyes glaring up at the screens. "There's no way he survived that."

"A new quirk we don't know about?" a guard asked.

"Maybe," the head of security said.

Hagakure reached out her hand, her fingers grazing the keycard. Her other hand fiddled with the metal clasp, her whole arm shaking with effort. She finally got it out of the clasp, and she smiled despite the situation.

"But I need to know what's going on," the head of security said.

He raised a fist and slammed it down on the panel in frustration, making Hagakure flinch and stumble backwards into a chair. The chair clattered to the ground and Hagakure dropped the keycard, the card sliding underneath the fallen chair.

"Whoa, Boss!" a guard exclaimed.

"Are you really that angry?" the other asked.

"Of course, I'm angry!" the head of security yelled. "They bring in this guy that we killed so long ago and now he's back in our prison? And no one decided to tell me?"

Hagakure kept her hands over her mouth, her legs still shaking. She was shocked that none of the guards found the collapsed chair suspicious.

"That's it. I'm going to find the president!" the head of security said, turning towards the door.

"What?! He's here?" a guard asked, following after him.

"He has to be!" the head of security said, opening the cracked door wide. "He's the one obsessed with the Todoroki family, so he has to be involved!"

The head of security stomped out of the room, and the two guards followed after him.

Hagakure finally released a breath, her hands falling from her mouth as she took in big gulps of air. That was way too close.

Once she calmed herself down, she turned back to the panel and scanned over the labels, looking for something resembling an alarm system. When she finally found the switches, she sighed in relief, and quickly turned off all of the alarms on every level of the prison where the cells were located.

Hagakure then hurried over to the fallen chair and grabbed the keycard, hoping and praying that this would open every cell door that they would need. And if possible, maybe even find Ojiro…

She stood up and rushed to the door, looking down at the keycard in her hands. She noticed the man's picture on the front and then paused, her mind going back to their earlier conversation.

"Wait…" she mumbled to herself. "Why would the president be obsessed with Todoroki?"


Shouto hissed and held his breath painfully inside of his lungs until they felt as if they would explode as the guard pressed the electric rod to his chest for the nth time. He nearly bit his tongue as all of his muscles seized up, forcing him to clamp down his jaw.

His body was bruised and cut after several punches and slashes to his chest and abdomen, and he was sure his face was mottled blue, too. It was a struggle to breathe properly. He assumed he had a broken rib or two.

He was close to breaking, just spilling that he was from another universe, but he couldn't risk any of the lives that still had a job to do inside the prison.

After Bakugou was ceremoniously kidnapped their first year—which Shouto still shares some guilt about—Aizawa decided to have to a talk with everyone about the protocol for when captures take place.

The class discovered just how lucky Bakugou had been. With him being able to walk—no, blast—his way out of the villain's complex without so much as a scratch on him was a feat in itself. Most heroes who are captured by highly intelligent villains don't end up unscathed.

Shouto thought Mineta was going to pass out from the pictures of the aftermath of torture that Aizawa brought in that day. Most of the girls looked blue in the face and Izuku wore a grim expression as his hands curled into fists.

"Use your best judgment," Aizawa had told them that day. "If the information they want doesn't risk lives, then give it to them."

Shouto will never forget the look on Aizawa's face as he said his next words.

"But if they want something that will destroy lives," Aizawa had said, "then hold out until someone can get to you."

The guard finally pulled the electric rod away from Shouto's chest, leaving his chest heaving and his muscles twitching. He could feel the skin on his chest stinging with a painful electrical burn, and his heartbeat was trying to right itself. He glanced up at Mori with a jittery glare, taking in his appearance.

Mori was no longer smiling, but calmly observing. Shouto had seen that look, too.

On his father's face, it meant the beginning of frustration.

This could be good or bad, Shouto thought as he gasped for air. If Mori was getting agitated, it meant he was winning this battle. But it could also mean that Mori would increase the torture methods.

"Stall for as long as possible," Aizawa's voice rang in his mind. "Endure what you can. And if the secret is too risky to share…"

Mori stood to his feet and walked over to the table, eyeing the tools on the table. He picked up a particularly long knife, sharp enough to cut stacks of paper like butter.

"Then you may be facing death."

Mori walked back over to Shouto's side, his lips slightly curled on the edges, and rested the tip of the blade to Shouto's scarred left cheek. He winced when Mori pressed down, slightly nicking the skin.

"Another fascinating thing about you, or this strange version of you, is that you have this scar," Mori said. "Sure, you could've earned this scar after somehow being resurrected, but the dead skin shows evidence of you receiving it several years ago."

Shouto blinked up at him. Stay strong, he told himself. Don't let him break you.

"Was it a scuffle? Damage by your own quirk?" Mori asked. He tucked the blade underneath Shouto's chin and forced his neck up, the length of the blade kissing Shouto's pale skin. "Or perhaps… damage from someone else's quirk? Such as a great villain?"

It was fine. He wasn't anywhere close.

"Maybe even…"

Izuku could get his friends out in time. No problem.

They would come for him.

He was going to get out—

"…from a family member?"

Shouto stomach clenched, and it must've shown on his face because Mori's smile was back.

"Ah. Did I guess right?" Mori asked. He chuckled softly. "It seems you really aren't the Todoroki Shouto I knew, but some sort of… clone."

Shouto barely resisted rolling his eyes. He's heard enough of that from Bakugou.

Mori took the blade from Shouto's neck and handed it to one of the guards. He reached inside of his blazer pocket and pulled out his phone, quickly swiping his thumb in search for something. When he found what he was looking for, his eyes brightened and he turned the phone around so Shouto could see.

Shouto inhaled a painful breath.

On his phone was a picture of Endeavor. But instead of him standing in his arrogant pose, all covered in his hot flames, he was chained to a wall, face splattered with blood and his muscles atrophied. He was the shell of the man he used to be, but Shouto could still tell it was his father.

"So you do recognize him, then?" Mori asked. "Fascinating. I took this picture of him yesterday. Still hasn't died on me, yet."

Shouto snapped his eyes up at Mori. "H-He's here?"

"Back to the questions?" Mori chuckled. "Yes, of course. I need him alive until the very end."

Shouto's eyes narrowed. "Very end of what?"

Mori gave him a strange, friendly smile. "The end of quirks."

Shouto suddenly felt sick to his stomach. The end of quirks? Was this guy really trying to wipe out quirks altogether?

No, he wouldn't. Then he would just kill them off, wouldn't he? Why keep them in the prison, then?

He wouldn't just kill everyone… would he?

"Ah, I've seen that look on your face before," Mori said. He chuckled and shook his head. "Although, I've forgotten that I've already given this speech to you in the past."

Shouto shivered as a drop of blood slid across his hip. He hated where this was going. If only he could access his quirk…

Mori sat back down in his chair and crossed his legs, letting his hands rest on his lap.

"Well, the other you already knew why I had a vendetta with the infamous Endeavor, but when I showed you that picture just now, you looked so confused," Mori said. "As you saw, your father and I didn't exactly get along."

Shouto scoffed. Not surprising. There were several people who had quarrels with his father.

"Although, I suppose I should be thanking him," Mori said, his face turning smug. "After all, he was the inspiration behind all of this."


Izuku poked his head out of the bathroom and quickly looked down the hallways. The new helmet on his head exposed his face, so he would have to be extremely cautious when he talked to the other guards. He hoped that he could pull it off.

Once the coast was clear, he took a deep breath and exited the bathroom, tugging on the slightly baggy pants of the prison guard uniform. He adjusted the gun in his arms and nearly tripped over the too-large shoes.

He hoped that the guard would stay passed out in the bathroom long enough. He shackled him to a toilet and gagged him, but there was no telling when someone else would enter and find him in the stall.

Izuku felt sweat on the back of his neck, feeling the danger from the situation. This was so incredibly risky. Committing an act like this could warrant execution.

He took a shaky breath and hurried back to the hallway where Kacchan and Kirishima were still huddled in a cell. He had to get back to them and clear out the halls as quickly as possible before Hagakure could—

"Oof!"

Suddenly, Izuku slammed into something and then fell on his back, his gun falling from his grasp. He groaned as he sat up, his hands coming to his back.

"Sorry, I didn't see…"

Izuku's voice trailed off when he found no one in front of him. He blinked, glancing around.

"What in the…"

"M-Midoriya?"

Izuku's heart did a flip inside of his chest. He scrambled up onto his feet and glanced around.

"Hagakure?" Izuku called.

"Ah, Midoriya! I found a keycard!"

Suddenly, a keycard floated up from the floor and into Izuku's hands. He glanced down at it and read over the description, a smile breaking out on his face when he realized who the card belonged to.

"Hagakure, you did it!" Izuku said, smiling brightly.

Hagakure hummed, and although Izuku couldn't see her, he was sure she was smiling.

"Okay, let's go get our friends," Izuku said.

"Right!"

They rushed back down the hall and turned the corner, Izuku nearly bumping into another guard. He choked on a gasp and nodded to the guard as he passed, keeping his head down. Once they were out of sight, Izuku picked up the pace and rushed back to the same hallway where they once stood.

When Izuku came upon the line of prison cells, a guard was standing near Kacchan's cell.

Izuku skidded to a stop and resumed a leisure pace as he headed towards the guard. He wracked his brain for ideas, testing them on his tongue. When he found a probable lie, his thoughts going back to the layout of the prison, he breathed slowly and deeply to get his breathing under control and then came to a stop in front of the guard.

"Boss says we need to head to the training field," Izuku lied.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kacchan and Kirishima glance his way.

"Training field?" the guard asked. "For what?"

Izuku shrugged. "Didn't say. He told me to grab the people he needed."

The guard hesitated for a moment, eyeing Izuku with narrowed eyes. Izuku could feel the sweat soaking his back, making the material stick uncomfortably to his skin.

Finally, after a big sigh, the guard slumped and reluctantly headed down the hall, mumbling, "This better be good."

When he was fully out of sight, he quickly turned towards the cell and swiped the card, the door opening automatically. Izuku braced himself for any type of alarm but nothing happened. The hall was silent.

"Holy crap!" Kirishima exclaimed.

"Let's go," Izuku said, nodding towards the exit.

Kacchan and Kirishima didn't waste any time, and they hurried outside of the bars, both of them flinging their shackles off.

"Okay, do you know where the rest of our friends are?" Izuku asked Kirishima.

Kirishima thought for a moment and then snapped his fingers. "I saw a bunch of them get carted down that way!"

He pointed down the end of the hall where double doors sat. Izuku nodded in response.

"All right. Let's go find them," Izuku said. "You guys stay behind me in case there are other guards."

The four of them rushed down the hall towards the double doors, Kirishima and Kacchan staying at a safe distance behind him. Hagakure stayed by Izuku's side, her breathing the only evidence of her presence.

"So, is Todoroki in on this, too? Where is he?" Kirishima asked.

Izuku's heart jolted, the sudden reminder now fresh in his mind. Why had they taken Todoroki, again?

"Things went a little south," Kacchan mumbled.

"Huh?! Is he okay?" Kirishima asked, a little panicked.

Kacchan didn't respond, but he must've given Kirishima a wordless answer.

Izuku felt a pit growing in his stomach at the thought. He knew he had a job to do, but could he really just abandon Todoroki here?

"Midoriya," Hagakure called softly. Izuku glanced over at her invisible presence. "I heard the guards talking about Todoroki."

Izuku's eyes widened. "What?"

"They were saying something about how the president is obsessed with the Todoroki family…" Hagakure said softly. "Would you know anything about that?"

Izuku bit his lip as he approached the double doors, his brain juggling the new information. President Mori… obsession with Todoroki. It didn't make much sense. In all of the years that Izuku spent with Todoroki, the quiet boy never said a word about there being hatred between his family and the president. He barely even spoke of his family at all.

Izuku felt his heart squeeze painfully in his chest.

If only he had gotten closer to Todoroki when he had the chance.

"No, I…" Izuku murmured. "I have no idea."


Shouto's eyes flashed.

"What are you talking about?" he asked Mori.

Mori's smug face only increased, making Shouto grit his teeth in annoyance.

"Thought you'd be curious," Mori said.

Mori stood to his feet and nodded at the guards, both of them bowing in response. The guards left the room in a haste, leaving Shouto alone with this crazy president.

"I was born quirkless, you see. One of the few born this way," Mori said, taking off his blazer and placing it over his chair. He walked over to the table of tools and picked up a pair of pliers, turning them over in his hand and looking at them carefully. "I was studying to be a police officer because I wanted to make a difference in the world."

He put down the pliers and went on to a different tool.

"But one day, my university came under attack by a bunch of villains. I was one of the hostages," Mori said, his expression unreadable. "I was about to be the first sacrifice when, in all his blaze and glory, Endeavor broke through the walls and nearly fried every villain in the room."

Mori set the tool down and stared at the table, his expression falling slightly. It made Shouto tense up slightly, his heart starting to climb up his throat.

Something wasn't right.

"I wanted to thank Endeavor for saving me. I wanted to tell him how much I admired his hard work, and how much I wanted to be a hero, too," Mori said. "So once the chaos was over, I did just that. I marched right up to him and thanked him. I told him about my life, how I was born quirkless but I still wanted to be a hero. And do you know what he said?"

Mori turned around and faced Shouto, his expression nearly crazed as he stared with wide eyes. Shouto pressed his back against the chair, not wanting him to get any closer.

"Endeavor took one look at me and said that quirkless people are useless to society."

Shouto's stomach dropped, eyes blowing wide. He knew his father was terrible at communicating to the press, and that his social skills were lacking, but to tell someone, a citizen, that they were useless? It didn't much shock Shouto as it disappointed him.

He was glad he decided to follow his own path to become a hero.

"I went into a blind rage, quitting school and instead seeking out those who also hated the oppression that quirk users brought upon this society," Mori said.

He unbuttoned his white shirt and slipped it off of his shoulders, leaving him in just a white tank. Shouto spotted several scars on his arms, all different in shape and size.

"It was a slow process, but I gained trust from several different groups. I rose to power easily and climbed my way up the ladder, and once I became prime minister, I turned this country upside down, claiming myself as 'president,' and I began to eradicate everything that the heroes stood for," Mori said.

He approached Shouto with a wicked look on his face, and Shouto squirmed against the bindings.

"I thought about killing all of them off, leaving just a society of quirkless, normal people," Mori said. "But that would be such a waste of an opportunity. Instead of that, I came up with an alternative."

Suddenly, Mori's left arm ignited into bright, orange flames.

Shouto gasped, eyes blowing wide. He shook his head at Mori, jaw dropping in disbelief.

"You… That's…" Shouto stuttered.

"Look familiar?" Mori asked.

Then, Mori lunged his left arm forward and slammed his palm onto the right side of Shouto's chest. His flesh began to burn, and Shouto couldn't bite back the scream that clawed up his throat.

It was the same pain that he grew up with, the same pain that disfigured the left side of his face, the same pain that brought him so much emotional turmoil that it left him socially disjointed from the rest of his peers.

The intensity of the pain stopped as Mori took his flaming hand away from Shouto's burned and bleeding chest, allowing Shouto to breathe and hiss.

"Y-You," Shouto began through gritted teeth, "f-figured… out how to transfer quirks."

Mori smiled as he put out the flames.

"Well, aren't you just clever?"