Hey everyone, Author's Notes Time is now airing and on this episode it's time to say a few things.
To Ben Turner1, yeah even as a cover quirk it's still powerful on paper, just deliberately very fair off what it actually does in order to throw off suspicion. Your example of how it might work is glorious to picture and might have something similar happen later on.
Hopefully everyone's enjoying this so far, there will be several funny moments and bouts of sass that could kill with their potency lined up for the future. Enjoy the chapter and stay safe while everything is going to hell in a handbasket in this pandemic.
Two years later, Izuku age 12
Waking up to my bedroom with certificates hanging on the wall, I smile at the thought of no longer needing to go to the hell that was Aldera Middle School. Even if the school started to pull the same stuff for me as that always had for Kazumi I wasn't interested, not in the slightest. The day I got to graduate early has a special place in my collection of treasured memories.
Quickly checking the storage space, Void Heart had grown massively over the past two years, gaining millions of tonnes worth of total mass, even if much of that mass had been restructured to form a gargantuan bank of processors similar to the bit-coin farms of the old era on an impossibly large scale. Using this giant bank of processor, I'd managed to simulate and develop tools and weapons that would be necessary in my goal to bring justice to the world. It had hit the point of being questioned as to if I had two quirks at one point by Detective Naomasa from the police. Fortunately, all I had to say that I only one quirk and he filled in the blanks as Karma being my only quirk. It's surprisingly easy to cheat a living lie detector if you know how.
For all my knowledge and brute power at my disposal I knew that trying anything in terms of violence now would welcome unwanted attention, especially since I lacked any practical training in how to use Void Heart properly. Thankfully it had fully developed its own sentience, even if "it" turned out to be a "she" in an awkward realisation. That meant I could get the theoretically knowledge from her fairly easily, but there's a difference between knowing the theory of how to fight properly and actually doing so with the threat of death around you.
Fortunately, I might just have a way to solve that issue if my gut feeling for the last six months was accurate.
Stain, Musutafu
This child was a conundrum in of himself to say the least. After tracking him down six months ago and looking into his past he certainly seemed like someone who wouldn't act without some assurances of success. At least he knew that going in sloppily without a plan would get him into a bad situation. He certainly had been doing something these last few months, but I couldn't work out what it was. Murmuring my doubts and confusion to myself my thoughts are interrupted by a sudden voice "If you wanted to speak to me so badly you could have just asked Hero-Killer Stain".
Whirling around in shock I see the child stood silently behind me as if he'd been there all along. How the hell did he do that? Sensing my confusion, he simply chuckles lightly "Now, now, did you really believe I would trust those false idols who think themselves to be gods with full knowledge of what I can actually do? Deception is part of the art of war and I fully intend on winning the war to create a better world" confidence and charm dripping off every word.
Looking at me with those emerald eyes blazing with conviction, strong enough almost take on a visible glow he wondered aloud "So, what is it that you seek me out for Stain? I doubt you would let a social visit get in the way of your crusade".
Collecting my thoughts and clapping lightly "Impressive as expected. You wish to see a better world for the innocent to live in and I wish to rid the world of the false heroes holding it back from that utopia. Our goals align and I would like to offer you training and knowledge that cannot be gained from books only experience. All I ask is that you show the world what it means to be a true hero" as a brief flash of sorrow crossed his face the boy sat and told his story, his past to me.
By the end my rage was blazing inside my chest, so strong and fierce I could almost feel my insides burning up in its dreadful flams. The boy takes a steadying breath and talks more to himself than anyone else "So many heroes have become everything they were never supposed to be. Selfish, power-hungry, vain, manipulative and drunk on their status. There exists a bigger problem that is the root however. Children being told that their worth in this world is solely dependent on their quirk, something that they can never change or improve, that you either win or lose the genetic lottery and that's what will decide your lot in life for however long you live. People with weak, mutant, 'villainous' or no quirk are shunned and treated as less than human" slowing down for a moment the child ponders something as I try to process his words. As much as I hate to admit it, his words contained a lot of truth. Even as a child I suffered similarly to what he described, leaving my heart heavy with the knowledge of how deeply ingrained the stains are in society.
A thoughtful hum brought my attention back to the child as he said "You seek to rid the world of false heroes, yet if people do not know why you chose to target those heroes in particular, the Hero Commision will cover it all up and use them as martyrs to smear the integrity of your crusade. If you wish to cleanse the world of its stains, show the people who have been kept blind all this time the truth about their so-called heroes as you purge the fakes. A society can only cleanse itself of stains if the people are allowed to see them in the first place" bringing an epiphany to my mind.
Finally, a missing link, a piece to the puzzle I had sought to find the answer to my crusade had been found. I stand tall and speak in full seriousness "Thank you for pointing out a way to better my crusade and this world. I will avoid harming true heroes even if it means giving up on purging a false hero, for they are too rare in this twisted world as it is. Are you willing to train with me and create a better world?"
A wild gleam appears in the boy's eyes as he utters with steel in his voice "You got yourself a deal Stain"
One year later, Izuku age 13
The training over the last year had been hellish to say the least. Quirkless combat, weapon training, stealth and pain tolerance training, sensory training and Stain's unique muscle training method. It turned out that the main reason that Stain was so ungodly fast and strong to the point of out pacing many strength and speed quirks was his training that instead of increase the amount of muscle or increasing muscle density to achieve greater strength and speed, it focused on improving the individual muscle fibres to their maximum limit and then breaking past those limits repeatedly. The result is remaining light and lean, but with a bizarre amount of strength and speed for such a physique.
Having explained my quirks real capabilities and the analysis I was running in the storage space for development and improvement, Stain allowed me to devour and then recreate a spare katana, improving its cutting power, durability and balance to perfectly suit his fighting style. After a few purges using it, he gave it his personal seal of approval for the improvements and got his knifes and costume a similar treatment to upgrade it.
From my time training with Stain, I'd also learnt how to use Void Heart to repair any injuries I had acquired over the course of training and healed Stain on several occasions from less than stellar encounters, usually with the "chunky matchstick" Endeavour. The nickname stuck and became Stain's favourite way to infuriate the embodiment of all things wrong with heroes.
After learning how to create and use weapons with Void Heart I spent three months to succeed in making secondary bodies to spread my consciousness between and use to control as proxies or appear anywhere Void Heart had left a marker. Over the three years that Void Heart and I had worked together, there wasn't a single city on the planet that didn't have several tiny markers smaller than peas hidden around the place and many towns and villages had at least one somewhere. At this point I could transfer anywhere on the planet, stop a crime and be back home in half an hour.
A savage smile adorned my lips as I recall a particular group that had infuriated me beyond belief with their cruelty. A certain small-time yakuza group that had been cutting up a six-year-old girl to make quirk erasing bullets called the Shie Hassaikai. I think I just found my stage to announce my existence to the world, drenched in their blood and broken bodies.
Creating a burner phone using Void Heart, I send a quick message to a certain local adversary of mine. I think he'd like to know of this kind of bullshit.
UA Principal's Office, Nezu
This is certainly a riveting challenge to say the least! In spite of spending much of my free time outside of my duties attempting to track them down I have almost nothing to work with. The only details I could pick up was whatever is devouring the waste from the oceans has some form of intelligence or directive to avoid devouring boats or living creatures and it seems to have been deliberately released in the middle of the Pacific Ocean to make tracking that much harder. The lack of strange current or displaced water would suggest whatever it is that has become known as "Sweeper" was carried there by ocean currents, but without a time frame to work with it could be from anywhere on the planet.
Rubbing my temples slightly I try to reason this mystery from the perspective of what kind of person would go to such lengths to do something like this and remain hidden. A certain characteristic that is highly likely is a certain level of care for the environment due to the nature of the event and an active set of morals considering it specifically avoided devouring any ships or living creatures in the ocean. Since they never revealed themselves publicly and issued a challenge, I could assume a certain reluctance to being well-know and yet seeking to be found by those willing to find them. Possible signs of a lacking sense of kinship or friendship in life due to trauma or past events creating deep-seated trust issues in regards to people and is hoping someone might care about their existence, even if only for the challenge the provide.
The picture was a less than pleasant one, only reminding me why I went into education of all places. To try and help the young to not be trapped in that darkness as I once was. My thoughts turning melancholy, I trace the scar over my eye as the faded memories flit through my mind. Suddenly a harsh buzzing from my phone jolt me from my reverie and I hear an unfamiliar voice over the phone.
"Hello there Nezu. Had any luck finding me yet?" jolting me to my feet. It was this mysterious individual that the world was searching for. Why would they contact me? A light laughter that was tinged with rage came through as they continued "Not that it has any bearing on why I'm contacting you. I know you have a lot of pull with heroes and if you say something needs to be done, it'll happen somehow. There's a group called the Shie Hassaiaki that has been using a six-year-old girl as material to try and make quirk erasing bullets. I'm already on my way to butcher every last one of those monsters myself, I'm just letting you know out of courtesy and the necessity of finding the child a new home, one that won't try to turn her quirk into a tool for them to exploit"
A slight gulp makes it way out of my throat as I ask "What's her quirk?" before an awkward, crushing silence comes from the phone of a second. Their voice sounding utterly tired of this mess, they utter "She can rewind organic matter to a previous state in time. Now do you see why I don't want her near those that would exploit her? That goes doubly so for the Hero Commision considering their dirty secrets. You find her a safe home Nezu, because if I catch wind of the Hero Commision or anyone else snatching her to use as a tool, I will slaughter every single person in their headquarters in the most brutal fashion possible. Am I understood?" with their killing intent suffusing the air in my office with a crushing pressure. I knew that this person wouldn't hesitate in the slightest to butcher people who'd cross that line and they'd enjoy hearing the wicked scream in agony.
A drop of sweat drip off my nose as I respond with "Crystal clear, I don't suppose you're going to turn yourself in afterwards, are you? With your abilities you would have made a great hero if you hadn't chosen this path". There was a momentary pause that only made their bitter response all the more heart-breaking as they murmur "That'd be a first to hear. True heroes are becoming harder and harder to find while being more restricted than ever for not being as obedient to the Hero Commision thanks to their morals and code. I wouldn't be able to do nearly as much good as a hero as I can as a vigilante. All I can do is make sure I will never bring harm to an innocent or a true hero, protecting them in my own way. Please look after the girl for me Nezu, give her a proper childhood" before they hung up, the conversation repeating in my mind as I recall the bitter, jaded outlook on a world that had obviously been unkind to them.
Hurrying to call in some old contacts and organise a clean-up as soon as possible, I swear to take their existence not as a challenge to be solved, but a broken and bitter person I would do all I could to save. It sometimes becomes hard to remember in amongst the politics and the paperwork, but this conversation reminded me of something. To be a hero is about one thing and one thing only at its core.
A hero is someone who wishes to save others, no matter who they are or what is harming them. I will save you as soon as I can so wait for me, my worthy opponent.
Izuku
Looking down at the compound below me I witness the scum swarming around on the ground, uncaring to the screams and begging of a child in the tunnels below. Thinking about it sent my mind into a berserk frenzy, wishing for nothing more than to tear them apart piece by piece for their sins. Picking up on my fury, Void Heart pulls any spare mass to the front of the storage space, leaving the computer banks running their analysis and research in the back ground. Sensing the two hundred tonnes of spare mass I had to command, a malicious aura burst from my body. Even if these monsters could escape and hide from the heroes this day...
They cannot escape Judgement.
Okay, this chapter got me good. Hope you enjoyed it and look forward to another chapter soon. I don't intend to have a schedule, but I'll upload as often as I can. Take care and see you next time!