Inko felt conflicted when she saw the man at her door. "Oh, I wasn't expecting you."
"I can understand that Mrs. Midoriya." Toshinori said, his eyes looking at the ground. "May I come in?"
"Of course, it's nice to have visitors." Inko said and stepped aside. "Though I don't know how long the guards outside will let you stay."
"Guards?"
"Agents, spies, I don't know. Izuku wanted me to be safe so he made sure someone was always watching over me. I don't mind it much." Inko said as the two sat down in the living room. "Speaking of my son. I guess that's why you're here."
"Yes." Toshinori said and clutched his stomach. "When I heard you were alive I felt like finally had the chance to get rid of this guilt I've carried since I failed to save you that day."
"When I died? I don't carry any grievances from that. I understand that you can't always save everyone. Everyone messes up sometimes." Inko said, making Toshinori visibly relieved. "However, destroying a son's life, hope and dreams isn't that easily forgiven by a mother." She said coldly.
Toshinori gulped. "Yeah, that's what Uraraka told me as well. I failed him more than I'm able to describe."
"That would begin to cover it." Inko said, her eyes harshly aimed towards Toshinori "Because I still don't think you fully understand how much you hurt him. He always looked up to you and placed you high up on a pillar. Almost at the point of worship. I lost track of how much merchandize I got him. So when you said multiple times on television and in interviews that anyone could become a hero if they just wanted to, he believed you. He always did. He tried looking for other jobs as well where he could save people, but wherever he looked he only found closed doors. You were his only hope, his only reason for continuing. And you let him down. Told him to give up and then abandoned him on top of a roof. Treating him the same way everyone else did. He lost everything he valued that day because of you." Inko said, barely keeping herself together. "And I know it would be a lie to tell him that he could be a hero. Maybe if he could complete his research without turning to villain, but not without it. All you had to do was to be the one voice of comfort he needed. To tell him that things could be better, maybe even help him. I know he would have listened to you."
Toshinori's breath was ragged. "I knew he looked up to me once, and that I let him down." He said with tears running. "But not to this extent." He said and broke down. "I don't deserve forgiveness."
Inko place a hand on Toshinori's shoulder. "I might have been harsh, but the fact that you regret it so much and understand how wrong you were shows that you can earn forgivness."
"How?"
"By forgiving yourself." Inko said and let go of Toshinori.
Toshinori looked up with teary red eyes. "I'll try."
"Good. But now I thinks it's best if you leave. I don't those watching to get suspicious." Inko said.
"Yeah, I better get going. Thank you." Toshinori said and left.
Sometime after the former hero had left Inko sat down to watch some TV when she was interrupted by another knock on the door. Not expecting another visitor that day, she went to check the door. And nearly fainted when she opened it.
On the other side of Japan Ochako was in the middle of punching down a door. The door flew of the hinges and into one of the revolution's staging grounds. But as she rushed into the underground compound with the other heroes it quickly became clear that something was wrong. The facility was empty.
"Search the facility for any clues. They've must have left very recently." Ochako said.
In every room there was nothing to be found except a few empty wooden crates labelled with explosives. Ochako was about to turn around when a stabbing sensation went through her head. She tried to contact the other heroes, but only heard static. Then a scrambled voice began speaking in her comms.
"Hello heroes. As you've noticed by now we're not there to greet you. We're busy elsewhere. But don't worry, we left a present behind for you" The voice said.
Ochako rushed back to the entrance, grabbing any heroes she met with black whip. Once they were outside she went back in with other fast heroes, trying to get everyone back out. All the while, the voice continued to speak.
"The present will take some time to get ready so while you all get comfortable I'll leave you with a little history lesson that you would serve to learn from. After all, those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." The voice said, something familiar in the way it spoke. "In 1944, in the months leading up to the allied invasion of France, every measure was taken to ensure the operation's success. One of these was a deception campaign against the occupying Wehrmacht. The goal was not to make them think that no attack was coming, but rather direct the focus to where they wouldn't attack. And when the day came, the efforts proved to be successful. The fake army, the fake orders, the false information, and the fake attack plans ensured an allied victory. And today the same tactics ensured our victory." The voice said before the comms returned to static.
Ignoring what ha been said, Ochako went into the facility for a fourth time when an explosion went off. She was blasted back before everything became dark.
When Ochako woke up she was laying on a pavement some distance away from the explosion that had knocked her out. Next to her was another hero tending to other wounded. "What has happened?" She said.
"You got caught in the blast some minutes ago. We've had unstable communication with HQ since then. But they ordered every hero that was able to get to Kyushu." The hero said.
Ochako slowly stood up and looked over to the rubble. "Why?"
"The revolution has attacked the island, they're all over it." The hero said.
Ochako turned around and jumped away, soaring through the sky southwards.
The smoke became visible before the city as Ochako approached Kitakyushu. Eight years ago All for one had destroyed large parts if the city, and now the rest had turned into a warzone. A warzone that Ochako immediately became a part of as she landed. She saw a young girl dressed in a red dress running past her calling for her mother. Ochako tried following the girl, but was suddenly stopped as the air bounced her back.
"Apologies for the rude greeting Uravity, but it isn't often I see a familiar face these days." Gentle said as he rounded a corner.
Ochako jumped forwards and lashed out with black whips, quickly finding out where Gentle's quirk was active. The villain jumped up into the air only to be kicked back down by Ochako.
"I'm sorry Gentle, but I have a job to do." Ochako said.
"And so do I." Gentle said as a pink glow spread across his body. He turned around and drove his fist towards the hero, who caught it with ease and twisted Gentle back into the ground.
"If you cooperate then I can help get you a better judgement." Ochako said.
"I'm sure you would, but there are bigger games being played right now. So why go with leniency when you can have freedom?" Gentle said before a white flame shot up pushing Ochako back.
"What's up with the expression? No speech about needing to save me?" Todoroki said and raised his left arm. "Good" He said and unleashed his quirk.
Ochako jumped back from the flames and smashed through the glacier that threatened to trap her. Gentle saw his opportunity and bounced between the blocks of ice and crashed into Ochako from behind. The hero managed to regain control mid-air. She grabbed Gentle with black whip and changed direction towards Todoroki with Gentle as a shield.
The two villains crashed into each other and the pink glow around Gentle dissipated. With one villain knocked out Ochako focused on the remaining one, landing a solid punch that sent Todoroki flying backwards. She got ready to jump after him when something sharp grazed both of her arms. Turning around she saw Mushou throwing another set of knives, barely managing to evade them in time. Ochako then found herself unable to raise her arms as they hung paralyzed to her sides. Before she had time to process it a glacier threatened to capture her, forcing her back.
Ochako tried to come up with a strategy against the two villains, but was interrupted by a message from HQ. "All heroes must retreat from Kyushu. The island is lost." An order she decided was a good one and complied, jumping away before another glacier attack could reach her.
In just a few hours the revolution had managed to invade and conquer the entire Island of Kyushu, gaining a solid foothold. Dozens of heroes had died in the explosions in Hokkaido, many more injured and an unknown number was either killed or captured on Kyushu. The number of confirmed civilian casualties was already in the thousands and climbing.
Ochako was luckier than most. She had regained control of her arms by the time she reached the main island, and she had only received bruises and minor burns from the explosion. After a short check-up she was able to return home, defeated.
As she opened the door, Ochako didn't bother to say she was home. She was a top hero who had failed and not been where she was needed. She dropped down in the couch with her head hanging.
"Mom?" Eri said, entering the living room.
"It's been a though day. I just need some time to think." Ochako said, waiving away her daughter.
"Well, there is someone in your room you might want to talk to. He…" Eri said.
"In my room?" Ochako said as her head perked up. "Who?"
"You'll see." Eri said.
Ochako got herself up from the sofa and headed towards her room. She gently opened the door and froze when she saw the person sitting on her bed with his back against her. Admiring a picture on the wall. His green unruly hair matching that of the man in said picture.
"Izuku." Ochako said like she was seeing a dream.
The man turned around, showing a gentle smile on a freckled face. Green eyes locking onto Ochakos' with fondness. "Hi." He said. "It's been a while." Izuku said.
Ochako sat down on the bed, unsure what to do.
"I…" Izuku said, letting out a fond laughter. He grabbed Ochako's hand, slowly rubbing his thumb on it. "I've missed you so much"
"Why?" Ochako said and pulled away her hand. "You always say that you never lie yet you did 8 years ago. You said that there was no coming back for you. That I should move on, make my own life, take care of Inko, raise Eri and our son, and I did. For 8 years that is exactly what I've been doing because I thought you would never come back and yet here you are. Why?"
Izuku sighed, his eyes wandering. "I didn't know if I would come back or not. Ever since I cloned mom I thought about what would happen if I die. What would become of everything I've worked for? And I was scared for what would happen to the revolution without me, because I'm the only one I fully trust to implement my vision. So I began working on a contingency in case I died. The phoenix project, an attempt to clone myself. Unfortunately I was unable to solve the more technical challenges since I wouldn't be there to monitor the process for obvious reasons. The only reason my mom turned out okay is because I could monitor every step of it. Then I found someone who could help me with the technical stuff and we barely managed to finish it right as we killed All for one. A digital copy of my brain was made and the automated cloning process began right before I died." He said
"Do you remember what happened after?" Ochako said.
"Yeah, there's a small chip in my neck that updates the digital copy all the time" Izuku said and moved away some of his hair, showing the small chip. "After that it was up to chance. We obviously hadn't tested it before so I had no guarantee that it would work. There was a 70% chance it would work, but that's far from a certainty. So I lied. I thought it was better to not give you false hope in case the process failed."
"I see." Ochako said. She then suddenly embraced Izuku, catching him off guard. "I've really missed you too." She whispered. Izuku returned the embrace and they held each other for a while, only enjoying the other's presence.
"Did you plan the attack today?" Ochako said.
"I planned out the general idea. The specifics is the work of my generals."
"Gentle was there."
"I know."
"Many died today."
"Change never comes easily."
"What will you do next?"
"The same as before. Whatever is needed to win."
"You know that we'll have to fight each other one day."
"I know."
"One of us won't win that fight."
Izuku paused. "I…I know. But today I just want to spend here." He said.
"Me too. I also know someone who would love to see you." Ochako said.
"Right. Maybe it's finally time for some father and son bonding¨time."
It was dark by the time Deku exited from the portal and into the streets of Kitakyushu.
"You've taken your sweet time." Dabi said, some disdain in his voice.
"I know you're not a family man, but I am. And after 8 years of being in literal limbo, I needed this. And it seems like you managed just fine without me." Izuku said.
"Well, speaking of your family. You'll need to handle Eri. She has spent the last few years trying to join us. I had to talk to her just to make sure your orders were followed." Dabi said.
"I'll handle her. Now tell me how successful the Minami offensive has been." Deku said and began walking down the street.
"Alright. The fake plans leaked to Tsukauchi worked like a charm. The jamming devices from Melissa achieved a 95% coverage, delaying the response significantly. 643 Heroes have been captured and are secured. Mostly local heroes since most of the bigshots were up north. As of yet we also have confirmed the death of 117 heroes and several more injured. Most of Kyushu is under control with the exception of Sasebo Naval Base as that one is also a US military base and will have to be delt with." Dabi said.
"Start going through the records of the heroes we've captured. Find the worst of them, put them on trial and then execute them. We need to tear down the foundations of this society. As for the military base we can…" Deku said, but lost his train of thought.
Deku stopped in front of a pile of debris from a building. Between some of the pieces he could see the remains of a young girl, probably crushed by the rocks. One of her arms, her torso and her head poked out from the debris, revealing the red dress that she had worn.
"Deku? The military base?" Dabi said.
"How many civilians died today?" Deku said quietly, more to himself than anyone else.
"We haven't counted civilian casualties. You ordered us to since it didn't matter how many died in the end." Dabi said.
"That was before I died. From now on I want every death after every attack counted and handed over to me personally." Deku said and began walking again.
"You've changed. Have you forgotten why we're doing this?"
"Yes I've changed. Death tends to do that. But don't for a moment think I've lost my conviction." Deku said sternly. "Now, the military base. Contact them and say that the Americans have 48 hours to empty the base of personnel, equipment, and any other things they deem important. After that we will consider the base to be under our control, including anything that remains there." He said.
"I have a feeling we won't be popular with them. First killing a US hero and now forcing them out a of a military base." Dabi said.
"Don't worry, if they decide to get involved against us I have a solution." Deku said.
They then rounded a corner to where a podium had been set up in front of a large crowd. Deku quickly scanned the place for the cameras. He walked up to the podium while looking straight into the cameras he knew was broadcasting to the rest of Japan. He stood in front of the cheering crowd and smiled. "Missed me?"
A/N: I did! After so long of barely finding the energy to write I finally completed this chapter and I'm over the moon. I miss the feeling. I won't go into detail about why it took so long, it just did for so many reasons. But now I'm feeling better. My hopes for the future might not be restored, but they're better than in a long time. So hopefully none of you will have to wait this long for another chapter again, no promises. And man is it a lot of things and details in this chapter, way more than I can put in this note. Either way, I wish you all a wonderful day. Goodbye.