Chapter 43 - Redemption

Joshua took a breath, slowly unclamped his fists, un-gritted his teeth, and opened his eyes. He then looked to his friends, who were waiting for his answer. This was it, and do or die, it was going to happen.

"First off," said Joshua, his tone tense. "I want you to know that all of you guys, all of Class 1-A, Class 1-B, and the other American students, are my friends. You've all treated me so nice, despite how I've been for the first couple of days. And for that, I am truly grateful. But, considering the circumstances in which I have found myself in, I have to tell someone before it's too late…"

"What do you mean, Joshua?" Sunshine asked.

"What I'm trying to say is, we can't go to Zoo Dreamland this Sunday." Joshua replied. "And it's because of a stupid mistake I made."

"Why can't we go?" Ashido asked, her tone concerned. "Is there something wrong?"

"Yeah, there's something wrong. If you guys go to Zoo Dreamland on Sunday, you are…"

Joshua found himself struggling to get the words out; it was almost as if something was keeping him, forcing him from trying to save his friends! Whether it was the guilt, or bad memories of his father, Joshua didn't know, but he tried his hardest to struggle through it. It was almost out there, and all he needed was to keep pushing…

Joshua took another breath and continued, "If you guys go to Zoo Dreamland on Sunday, there's going to be… an attack."

"What?!" asked Midoriya, his tone shocked.

"An attack?" Milo asked. "By who?"

"The…" Joshua struggled. "The… The… The League of…"

"The League of Villains!" Midoriya finished. "There going to attack?!"

"Who's The League of Villains?" asked Sunshine.

"There a group of villains who have been at war with U.A." Jiro replied. "Heavy-metal guys and girls, bent on destroying everything good about the hero society. But what I don't get is… how do you know this, Joshua?"

"Yeah, how do you know this information?" Matthew asked.

"Let me finish, and I'll tell you." Joshua replied, his now sounding less tense. "Yes, there's going to be an attack on Zoo Dreamland by The League of Villains. Their leader, some weaselly little guy named Shigaraki, has been making these creatures called Nomus. From what I was told, you guys encountered them in the past, and were able to defeat them. Well these ones… these ones are able to stand against your quirks, and not be affected by them. He's planning on releasing them at Zoo Dreamland, where they'll kill all of you; Class 1-A, Class 1-B, and the American students. As for how I know this…"

The tension returned again, and Joshua was struggling to get the words out.

"I'm not who you think I am…" Joshua continued, his voice now struggling. "I'm… I'm… I'm an… an undercover villain!"

Instantly, the tension broke, and Joshua was able to breathe again! He took gasping breaths for air, like he had been underwater for the longest time and now just had surfaced! The looks on the faces of the students of Class 1-A, along with the American students, turned to shock at what Joshua had announced!

"You're a… a villain?" Matthew asked, his tone shocked. "You are a villain?!"

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Joshua replied, his tone sounding hurt. "I was sent here to get information on you guys, and send it back to the League of Villains! But then I got to know you guys, and I saw how nice you were! You treated me like I was a family member, and never in my life have I ever felt that way!"

"So you didn't really defeat Death Wish to get here, did you?" asked Sunshine, her tone soft.

Joshua sighed, and said in a sad tone, "No… it was all staged, as part of the plan. But it gets worse, because Death Wish is my father…"

"He's your father?!" Midoriya asked, his tone shocked.

"I believe he just said that." Milo added, his tone somewhat joking.

"Yes, Death Wish is my father." Joshua continued. "My last name's not actually 'Graham', but it's 'Rourke'. My real name is 'Joshua Rourke'. My father, Death Wish, his real name is 'Caleb Rourke'. He's one of the most notorious villains in America, and he decided that needed an heir, somebody to past on his knowledge to. So, he found a homeless woman, kidnapped her, impregnated her, nine months passed, and I was born. The homeless woman, my mother, died in childbirth. She also had a powerful quirk, which my father hoped would be passed on to me, but it wasn't. For sixteen years, I grew up as the child of a villain; I was beaten, told to never cry, forced to do things I didn't want to, forced to see things that nobody should see, forced to live in a veritable hell of an existence…"

"Gee…" Matthew spoke, his tone shocked.

"Yeah, gee indeed. About a year ago, my father met with a villain called 'All for One'. He was the same one that All Might defeated. All for One was interested that there was a villain with a son, and decided that I could be… used, in some way. So, he and my father devised a plan; wait a year until I became of age, then we would find a way to get me into U.A. A year passed, and All for One was defeated and jailed, but my father and I continued with the plan. Shigaraki, as well, was informed by All for One of the plan, and he went along with it. A year passed, I turned sixteen, and my father and I staged a fight between us. I defeated him, and I was offered to go to U.A, through Justice High. I accepted as part of the plan, and… here I am…"

Everyone was silent, and Midoriya and Matthew looked at each other with surprised expressions; considering that All Might told both of them, they knew exactly what Joshua was talking about.

"That's why I was being such a jerk when I came." Joshua continued. "Because I thought that if I grew close to you, I would become weak. But I didn't, because growing close to you guys made me stronger. And I don't want to lose any of you, which is why I'm telling you this."

The expressions on the faces of the six students was a mix of confusion, surprise, and hurt. They were confused at how this could be happening, shocked that Joshua was the son of a villain, and hurt that he was against them. Joshua felt that out of all of them, he had hurt Jiro the most, because they were in love…

"You can hate me, you can beat me, you can report me, you can do whatever you want." said Joshua, his tone sad. "I know I have it coming, so go ahead and do it. But… I want you to know that I love you all, and that I don't want to be a villain anymore. I don't know if you believe me, but what I'm telling is the truth. But, I have to pay for what I've done, and I can't change who I am. To be honest with you, I was afraid of this moment ever since I became good. But now, I'm no longer afraid. I don't have any control over my emotions, anyway; as the son of a villain, they were beaten out of me a long time ago…"

The students saw that Joshua no longer looked strong to them. He now looked vulnerable and weak, having bared his soul for the first time. Nobody moved, or knew what to do. It was a strange situation for them, one that had never happened before. No villain, as far as they knew, had turned himself over and asked for forgiveness.

Jiro then approached Joshua, who looked away in shame. He didn't want to look her in the eyes; he had lied to her about who he was, he had lied about everything, and he was her enemy. If there was no more love between them, he could understand that from her point of view. But from his point, he still loved her, no matter what…

"I'm sorry…" Joshua said, his tone soft and upset as he closed his eyes. "I know it doesn't mean anything to you now, but… I still love you…"

For a few seconds nothing happened, as Joshua expected that Jiro was going to earphone-jack him, which she would usually do to somebody like him. But, it didn't come…

Instead, what happened next surprised everyone, including Joshua himself. Slowly, Jiro slipped her arms around Joshua, and pulled him into a hug, her head only going up to his chest. At first, Joshua was surprised by this, and his arms hung limp. This was the first time he had ever been hugged; his own father didn't even hug him, nobody he knew ever did. Slowly, Joshua's arm came up and he returned the embrace, resting his forehead against Jiro's shoulders.

And he broke, right then and there. Resting his forehead against Jiro's shoulder, Joshua began crying. Everything that happened to him, a whole life of never knowing love or kindness, had come out right in that moment. Joshua felt awkward, oversized against Jiro's small body, but she still held onto him as he cried. Jiro then reached up and gently stroked the back of Joshua's head, her eyes a little teary as well.

"Easy, Waterworks." said Jiro, her tone somewhat teasing, as she stroked the back of Joshua's head. "We've already got one crier with Midoriya, we don't need two…"

It was funny, and Joshua wanted to laugh, but it came out as a crying guffaw. He couldn't do anything, and he just stayed in her arms and sobbed. Jiro comforted him, speaking kind and encouraging words into his ear.

Milo, who's eyes were a little teary as well, then came forward and put his hand on the back of Joshua's neck, saying in a kind tone, "It doesn't matter where you from, Josh. You're still our friend, and it's going to be okay…"

Ashido then came over as well, reaching with one hand and gently stroking Joshua's back. Sunshine followed, and rested her hand on Joshua's shoulder. All five stood there together, with the four U.A students comforting their friend and assuring him that they weren't going to leave him. They weren't going to turn on Joshua; they were going to be with him, no matter what.

Matthew, who was standing by Midoriya and watching, rubbed his teary eyes and said, "So Joshua's the son of a villain; I didn't see that coming."

"I can't imagine what it must've been like, for him to grow up like that." Midoriya replied. "But, what are we going to do now?"

"I don't know, Midoriya. I just don't know…"


After a couple of minutes, which felt like hours to the group of seven, Joshua had stopped crying. Jiro let him go, and then the group sat down on the steps, thinking over what to do in this situation. Milo sat with Ashido, Matthew sat in the middle with Midoriya and Sunshine, and Jiro sat by Joshua, holding his hand to comfort him. Everyone was silent, and deep in their thoughts, thinking of what to do.

Finally, Midoriya broke the silence and said, "You know, it kind of helps that you're the son of a villain, Joshua. I mean, you know how villains work, so that gives you an advantage over them."

"I guess." Joshua replied, his tone calm. "I'm just glad that you guys didn't attack me, and turn me in."

"Of course not." Matthew spoke. "But now for the million dollar question: what are we going to do about this amusement park attack?"

"We'll have to tell the teachers, obviously." said Sunshine.

"Tell the teachers?" Milo asked. "If we tell them what Joshua told us, they're probably going to get suspicious."

"You think that's bad? If the villains on the outside find out I told, they'll send an 'anonymous source' to spill the secret that I'm the son of a villain!" Joshua added.

"An anonymous source?" Jiro asked.

"Yeah, probably one of the villains I've been working with. His name is Daisuke Haruki, calls himself 'Stone-Fish'. His quirk allows him to eject sharp, needle-like spines from his arms, legs, and back. They carry a toxin that will not only paralyze whoever get stung by them, but it also makes the victim hallucinate for a short time."

"Hey, couldn't we try using an anonymous source?" asked Ashido. "We could write a note, have someone sneak it into the principal's office, and they won't suspect anything."

"Hey, that's pretty smart idea, Mina." said Milo, his tone admiring.

"Yeah, good thinking." Matthew added.

"Thanks!" Ashido giggled.

"There's only one flaw in the plan." Jiro spoke up. "How are we going to sneak the note into the principal's office?"

"Yeah, you would need to be invisible to do that…" said Midoriya.

Suddenly, everyone's eyes widened, like they all had the same idea at once!

"You all thinking what I'm thinking?" Sunshine asked.

"If you're thinking of using Hagakure as a messenger, then yes." Joshua replied. "But that means we'd have to tell her about who I am, and we'll have to find a way to turn the note invisible as well."

"We could fold up the paper and stick it in her mouth." said Sunshine. "Whenever she has something in her mouth, it disappears from view, so that might work."

"Okay then, I think I got a plan." Matthew spoke up. "First, we'll write out a note about the attack, on my laptop, and then we'll print it. Second, we'll get Hagakure to join this plan, and we'll tell her what we're doing. Tomorrow, we'll put the rest into action; During class, Hagakure and Sunshine will go to the bathroom. Hagakure will go full invisible, put the note in her mouth, sneak into the principal's office, drop the note on Nezu's desk, head back to the bathroom, get dressed, the two of you go back to class, and that'll be it. It's foolproof!"

"Then we'll do it?" asked Joshua. "You guys will really do it for me?"

"Sure thing, man." Milo replied. "Like I said, you're still our friend, and friends stick together."

"Yeah, but let's just hope that this plan sticks together." Joshua spoke.

"It will, Joshua, it will." Matthew replied. "Just have faith, my friend."

Having made the plan, the seven went back into the Class 1-A Heights Alliance. Inside, Joshua's attitude had changed dramatically; he no longer was dark and brooding, but now more friendly and cheerful. Having gotten it out that he was the son of a villain, and having been forgiven and accepted by his friends, he no longer needed to be villainous anymore. Now, he could change, and start a new life.

But first, they had to put the plan into action, and that meant telling Hagakure about who he was. Hopefully, she wouldn't freak out… too much.