Chapter 13: Family and an Enemy
Marie
She awoke in Joey's room in her Mother's apartment. Marie could hear that Joey was still asleep from his breathing, and slowly, carefully, left his side. She felt her way to a wall, and from there to the door to the living room. Her Mother was already awake, cooking chocolate chip pancakes and coffee was already dripping into a pot. "Good morning," her Mother greeted her. "Morning, Mom," Marie said before starting to stretch out. "What time is it?" Marie asked as she stretched. "Early, about 5:09," her Mother answered. Marie went about her morning stretching routine, focusing on it kept her from thinking about Joey for a little while. After she finished stretching, Marie stood up and sighed before making her way to a chair at the small table her Mother had to eat at. "What are we going to do?" she asked her.
Her Mother put a plate with pancakes and syrup down before saying, "I won't be able to go out with Joey until Sunday, three days from now. I'll try to talk to him, but my schedule…it's full of work." Marie nodded as she put syrup on her pancakes. "I'll try to talk to him then when I can. Recovery Girl forbade me from sparring for a month, I'll have time for Joey…God that sounds terrible out loud," Marie said before eating. "It's the life of a Hero," her Mother explained as she poured a cup of coffee for herself. Marie nodded, her Father always used what time he could get off to spend with his family, to make the most of it. However, to be a part of a Hero Family meant that your time with your loved ones was always limited.
Marie continued eating silently for a while as she wondered what she could say to her little brother. If she had to, she could reschedule her planned date with Shishida. He seemed like a reasonable student, like he would understand putting her brother's needs first. After she finished eating, Marie asked, "Can we change my living arrangements? Make it to where I can stay with Joey?" Her Mother tapped her fingers on the counter several times before answering, "I'm not sure. The dorms were erected for the protection of U.A.'s students, and my apartment isn't much safer than any other apartment on the block. The only real protection it offers from Villains is that the addresses for Heroes isn't public knowledge, and the government keeps that information sealed up tightly. I don't think the Principal will allow it."
"Can't you do anything? I mean, you're a teacher after all," Marie said. She felt her Mother's eyes on her then before she heard an edge in her voice, "If word got out that a teacher used her position to help her child, the scandal would ruin the school's reputation. Marie, you don't know this, but U.A. has been on a tightrope since last year, first when the League of Villains attacked the USJ building in an attempt to assassinate All Might, and again when they attacked our Summer School. Bakugou-kun was kidnapped during the second attack, and several students were injured and even poisoned, some of them may never fully recover. You may not have known this, because you were living in America at the time, so I will forgive you. But, U.A. cannot afford another hit to its reputation. Do not. Ever. Suggest such nepotism. Again. Do you understand me?"
Marie swallowed nervously and saw that her Mother's persona as 'The Eighteen Plus Hero' was more fact than act. She had a will that was unbreakable. "Yes Mother," Marie quietly said. Her Mother sighed as she finished her coffee, "While we're on the subject of school, I've been hearing about your fights with Bakugou from Aizawa-san. You need to be more careful." Marie snorted at that, "Why, because he was kidnapped? I don't care what his excuse is, the guy's an asshole. Asking me to be nice to him is like asking a cactus not to be so prickly: it ain't happening."
"He was improving," her Mother said, "Starting to become less angry, relating more to his classmates. But it seems that your attitude is making him…regress." Marie snorted, "He's a bully, and I'm not backing down. I don't care how good his Quirk is, his attitude sucks." The Eighteen Plus Hero sighed at this, "Then be above his level. That's what everyone else did. I think that's why he's so angry with you, you're the first person to ever go that low with him. You two are almost like peas in a pod." Marie nearly choked at that comparison. "You're both aggressive and cuss a blue streak when you're angry. You're both proud of your abilities and worked hard to master them, and neither of you backs down from a challenge," Midnight summed up their similarities. Marie ground her teeth for a second but couldn't think of a way to argue and win, her Mother's assessment was spot on when she thought about it. And it REALLY pissed her off knowing that.
It was around that time that Joey woke up. "Morning Joey," Marie greeted him. "Good morning, Joey," Midnight greeted him, in English. "…morning," Joey bashfully said. "Joey, wait," Midnight said as she walked to him. "I know what happened yesterday," she started, "I know how hard things have been for you. I didn't take a lot of things into consideration; I should have tried to help you more. You've been holding things in for so long, you've been so strong. But you aren't in this alone. You can talk to me if you want to, both of you." Joey didn't answer, and Marie could hear her Mother's sadness in her voice, "Joey, please talk to me. I know I haven't been the perfect mother, but I still want to try to be the one you deserve."
So quietly that only Marie heard him, Joey whispered, "You're not my Mom." Midnight only said, "Joey, please speak up." Joey then said so loudly Marie was sure that people in other apartments heard him, Joey screamed, "YOU'RE NOT MY MOM! YOU'RE NOT! YOU'RE MARIE'S MOM! I'M ONLY HERE BECAUSE SHE IS! IF SHE WASN'T YOUR DAUGHTER, YOU'D NEVER EVEN WANT ME!" "Joey!" Marie yelled, only for the boy to quickly run back into his room before either of them could stop him.
Midnight remained silent as she stood back up and started to go to his door. "Hold on, Mom," Marie quickly said, "Let me talk to him." Her Mother took a deep breath before letting it out slowly, "Very well. I'll…get ready for the day." Marie went to Joey's door and knocked on it. She heard him whimper on the other side before she said, "Joey. Can I come in?" She stood and waited at his door, losing track of time because every second felt like an hour. Eventually she heard the door unlock and she went in. She heard her little brother sniffling in a corner and went to him, hugging him.
"I don't wanna go," he said as he hugged her back, she felt his tears on her shirt. "You won't have to go," Marie told him. "She doesn't want me. She hates me now. She doesn't need me," Joey sobbed. Marie's voice was full of steel a she said, "That won't happen. I promise that she doesn't hate you." Joey sobbed, "She's not my Mom, she's yours." Marie felt herself crying at that, "Do you really think that I didn't love Mom? That she didn't love me?" Joey was quiet for a while before Marie said, "Mom was in the same boat as Nemuri. I wasn't her child, she was going to marry Dad, but I was an add-on. But it never mattered to her. She always treated me like I was hers. Did Nemuri ever treat you badly?" After a minute Joey answered, "…no. But she's never there, not like Mom was always there for me."
Marie took a breath before saying, "Think about what's been going on. Nemuri has two jobs, and never had kids before. She's not even married. Mom had Dad, Nemuri…has no one like him. She had to focus on making sure that we were taken care of, that we had tutors to help us adjust, finding a school for you, getting me into U.A., getting us moved in, plus getting lessons planned for her class and being a Pro-Hero, I'm amazed she hasn't passed out from all that work. It's not that she doesn't want to be with you, she doesn't have time. She's trying, hard, she really is. She's managed to plan to spend Sunday with you. I promise that she does care about you. Just give her a chance, okay?"
Joey let go of Marie, and she wiped the tears from her brother's face. "Okay," he said. "Come on then," Marie said, "You need to hurry and eat breakfast, so we aren't late for school." Marie and Joey went out, Midnight was waiting outside. Joey told her, "I'm sorry." Midnight replied in English, "Joey, I know things have been difficult for you. I'm proud of how you've handled everything so far. I promise that I'm going to try harder to be the Mom you deserve. Just be patient with me, I'm still new to this whole thing." "Okay," Joey told her. Joey sat down with Midnight to get breakfast, while Marie went to get ready.
They all went into the taxi after getting ready, and Midnight promised extra if the driver could get them to their destinations quickly. As they got to U.A. Marie made sure to give her brother a hug before heading to the school. She made her way to Class 2-A, where the rest of the class was already. She felt everyone's eyes on her as she sat down at her desk. "Hey, Marie-chan," Tsuyu asked, "Is everything alright with Joey?" "I think he'll be okay now," Marie answered, "We talked, and he had some things he had to let off his chest is all. He should be okay now, if I'm lucky." Marie crossed her fingers for good luck as she said this. Aizawa entered the classroom, and the day started as usual.
Pyromaniac
Oahu, Hawaii, USA
The small TV in the hotel had the News on. The cute Latina reporter with purple hair reported, "After two months of searching, authorities are still on the lookout for the villain known as Pyromaniac, aka Donovan Takahashi. He is wanted for a dozen bank robberies, fifty counts of arson, twenty counts of murder including the murder of the Hero Wolfheart, Joseph Jerome Freeman Sr, and his wife Mysa Freeman. The public is advised that if you see him to contact the police or the nearest Hero immediately and are warned not to confront him." The TV showed an old picture of Donovan, from before Wolfheart had torn out his left eye. His caramel skin he inherited from his mother was contrasted by his fiery red hair and slanted eyes he inherited from his father.
Pyromaniac touched his false eye, it was colored green with black sclera, and he had to wear a green contact with black sclera to change his appearance. He was struggling to keep his Fire under control. There were so many things he wanted to see burn. To see them beautifully consumed by the flames, to return humans to the ashes they came from… He gritted his teeth as sparks started to flicker in his hands. He took a deep breath before the fire went out. The Feds and Heroes were serious now, he couldn't afford to make any more mistakes. After murdering a Hero, the unofficial response among other Heroes was always 'Search and Destroy'. He had been hiding, suppressing his Fire, for two months as he made his way across the U.S. until he finally made it to Hawaii. He had barely any cash left now, he had to get out of the country if he was going to have a chance. But he needed cash to get to another country.
Japan was a likely place to hide in, villain groups were exploding there, one more villain wouldn't be noticed too much.
Suddenly, a bright light flashed through the window of the hotel. "PYROMANIAC! THIS IS THE FBI! THE BUILDING IS SURROUNDED!" He noticed the sound of helicopters in the air and quickly rolled to the floor. "Shit," he cursed. He was on the fourth floor, there were bound to be at least three Heroes there, standard protocol for Hero Killers like him. He had to do something they wouldn't suspect. And fast. He crawled towards the window and took a peek outside for five seconds. He spotted a helicopter, five SWAT Teams, with what looked like one more arriving. He didn't see any Heroes, which meant they were on the way inside. Pyromaniac smiled; his Fire was finally going to be unleashed.
Most people dismissed him as a petty thug before, and he was. But losing his eye to Wolfheart had forced him to train, to learn, to become better. He thought more, that was how he managed to kill him and escape, to stay free for these last few months. He wasn't going down now. Pyromaniac focused his Fire in his right finger, like a blowtorch, and quickly cut a circle on his floor and stomped down hard. He was a large man, 6' 6", and was 248 pounds of muscle, easily breaking through the floor, and the one below. He was on the second floor then.
The Villain looked at the hole he had made and saw a Hero looking down it. He smiled as he unleashed his Fire straight up into his face. The Fire hit the Hero before he could do anything, and he screamed as his head was lit up. Ecstasy filled Pyromaniac as his fire burned around his body, burning his clothes to nothing as he jumped out the second story window.
He unleashed flames from his hands thirty feet all around as he fell, obscuring the vision of the SWAT officers, and burning twelve of them to death. The feeling of ecstasy grew as officers ran and rolled to put out the fires on themselves, and he summoned a fireball, and threw it the helicopter. He hit the main rotor and watched as the helicopter screamed down to the ground, killing five more SWAT officers and another Hero as it exploded once it hit the ground, sending shrapnel flying everywhere.
Pyromaniac laughed as he ran towards the SWAT van that had been approaching, it had stopped. He opened the back door and blasted the officers inside at once, instantly turning the inside of the van into a crematorium. He then ran to the front as other SWAT teams tried to shoot, but the side of the van was between him and their bullets. He punched threw the front window and grabbed the drivers throat, burning it black and choking him before opening the door from inside. He pulled the dying driver out of the vehicle and instantly got the van running, turning it to the other officers.
The standard SWAT van was practically a tank as far as armor went, and he laughed as he ran down officers, their bullets bouncing off the armor of one of their own vehicles. He drove the van around the hotel twice, hitting any police he saw, before suddenly, a massive ice stalactite crashed through the windshield.
Pyromaniac barely dodged it, and quickly rolled out of the SWAT van, letting it roll. He saw as it was encased in ice, before stopping in front of one of the Heroes that had been sent to take him down. She was about 5' 7", with pure white hair and skin. Her lips were thick and blue, she reminded him of some movie stars he had seen in the looks department and was wearing a skin-tight blue jumpsuit with a white stripe running down the middle with ice skates on her feet. She glared at him with large icy blue eyes that were only a few shades darker than pure white as she said, "You'll pay for everything you've done, murderer!"
Pyromaniac smiled; his money problem was solved. During his training he had studied other Fire Quirk users and their techniques, he knew one Japanese Hero in particular who he had been mimicking. The Icy Heroine slammed her right foot on the ground, freezing the ground around them, only for him to jump up, and then focus his Fire to blast out of his back like a rocket. He was so fast that she didn't know how to respond before he flew at her and landed a hard kick to her stomach, sending her flying for ten feet before she hit one of the SWAT vans. "Shit," Pyromaniac said as he looked and saw a SWAT officer that was only killed by shrapnel from the helicopter he felled. He grabbed a pair of Quirk nullifying cuffs from him and went to the Hero. She was still breathing, but she had hit her head. She was struggling to get up to keep fighting.
Pyromaniac cuffed her and then lifted her up, knocking her out with a punch to her solar plexus. He then threw her into the van and closed it before getting in himself. There were some people that would pay top dollar for a captured Hero, especially a pretty one like her. After he got the cash, the next stop was Japan. This was a good day for him, and he was all smiles as he drove the SWAT van through traffic, lights and siren blazing to get people out of the way.
Author's Note: Should I change the rating after this chapter? Let me know in the reviews. Sorry it took so long to get this out, life's been crazy.