Hello everyone, I'm alive once more! My freezing fingers have decided to stop acting up so much recently, so I should be able to write a bit more for your all to enjoy. Any questions can be left in a review and I'll get round to answering them in one of the author's notes segments. If you're asking that question, there's probably others thinking the same.
Also, in response to Restless's review, I won't say too much or it'll ruin any twists or reveals later on, but I will say that there will be a majority of focus on Izuku, Momo and Mei. Never ask a magican their tricks and never ask an author to spoil their work ahead of time.
Constructive criticism, feedback and any encouragement in the reviews is deeply appreciated and I make a point of reading them all before I upload a new chapter. With all that said, enjoy this next chapter of Voidborne!
The next morning, Izuku
Waking up late at ten, I stretch my arms feeling the new sensation of energy flowing through my body, constantly reinforcing and empowering me with each passing second. To practise the 'Fate-Breaker' you'd normally need to try and absorb ambient energy in the environment around you, be it light, heat, electricity or even life energy. Turns out having a compact nuclear fusion core on one of the isolated parts of the storage space for powering my processor arrays allowed me to work around it by just absorbing small amounts from the core at a constant pace. I was basically growing faster, stronger, tougher, more agile, more flexible and even gain a significant boost to my self-recovery to the point of being comparable to regeneration quirks. It also didn't hurt that it meant my stamina was improving as well.
After these few years I'd always noted that the mental and physical strain of using Void Heart quickly caught up to me, so I'd come to specialise in either stealthy extermination like the Shie Hassaikai what had become known in whispers as "Yama's invitation" or over the top slaughters finished as swiftly as possible after an interruption to my tormenting of the head of a sex slave trafficking ring based out of Venice using mini stealth subs in the canals for delivery. That particular incident swiftly shut down any assumptions that if I'm seen I'm helpless, a delusion that had been the one thing keeping several organisations dismissive of me.
The idea of being able to reduce the physical strain by itself was glorious, even if I still needed to work on the mental strain. The longer I could last in battle, the more I could purge before I needed to escape.
There'd been a rather funny moment when I'd check into The Underground, a site frequented by criminals, vigilantes and underground heroes, and a new page had been added called "The nightmare trinity of criminals". Turns out I was now feared by criminals to the point where All Might was the one that put down any villains that emerged into the light, Eraserhead (one of the few heroes I had come to truly respect) was the one the collected information and collected criminals into the tender mercy of the law, where I was the bogeyman, the nightmare that came for the souls of those that went too far and had invoked my ire.
Most villains were too afraid of getting on my infamous "shit-list" to even think of heading into several segments of the underworld that had once been huge issues. Sex slave rings, gone. Quirk traffickers, on the brink of extinction. Underground testing of quirked animals had become a death wish to dabble in after the mess I left in the labs I discovered still conducting it. Just by existing I managed to bring down serious global crime by almost twenty percent, all by myself.
Smiling lightly to myself I leave a clone to fool Mum and warp to Eri as she leaps at me and clings to my neck giggling "Papa, you're here!" like an adorable koala. It seemed that after saving her she had taken to viewing me as her father and I didn't hesitate to agree to let her call me that. I knew too well what growing up without a father was like and I'd be damned before I let her go through the same.
Putting her back on the floor I chuckle "Alright smol bean, have you been a good girl for Mr Nezu?" causing her to move faster than I thought possible for an eight-year-old without a speed quirk as she dashed to the counter, leapt to grab a piece of paper and held it up to me. One hundred percent on a test equivalent to a high school final exam.
Patting her head lightly I grin "Well now, aren't you an incredibly smart girl. Since you've obviously been studying well, have you been behaving yourself? No...'excessive pranking' I need to worry about?" causing her to look a little awkward. Coughing lightly, she mumbles "I might have aged Mr Eraserhead's coffee until it was slightly moldy inside. He was being mean, saying you were a 'pain in the ass' and I didn't like it. You're a nice Papa" ending with a stubborn pout as she gave me a determined glare that stated that she regretted nothing in the slightest.
Bursting into laughter I pick her up easily and hug her enthusiastically "I should have known that you'd pick up my penchant for pranks. It's good to see that your feeling happy and...you don't hate yourself or your quirk anymore. I'm so proud of you for facing your fears and overcoming them" bouncing her up and down as she giggled and climbed onto my shoulders.
Dramatically I address "Since you've been an incredibly good smol bean, I shall grant you a great treasure that you desire daily. A candy apple!" Pulling one from storage and handing it to Eri as she enthusiastically got to work on trying to devour it in record time. Turns out that I could alter the relative time inside the storage space, meaning anything stored in the right segment would never go off or lose its perfect temperature. Handy considering that Void Heart in the form of Karma had taken a great liking to drinking Mead in copious amounts.
Yeah, I brewed my own damn mead and used the ability to alter the relative flow of time to age it thirty years in a week. It's a necessary evil, especially after I took a liking to having a small cup to celebrate after a mission well done.
A thud interrupted my thoughts as I heard a cheery voice call "Nice to meet you again Judgement. Enjoying some family bonding time together I see. Would you like to come and have some tea and a chat with me? Don't worry, the Commision isn't anywhere nearby and I have no intention of helping those...people anytime soon" pleasing a particular emphasis on 'people' that let me know clearly that he viewed them as anything but people. A shared sentiment.
Lifting Eri off my shoulders, I boop her nose and say "Alright smol bean, see you next month. Be good" as she hugs my leg and sniffles a bit saying "I'll be good papa, just...stay safe, please?". After five minutes of promising I'd be careful she finally relented and let go, leaping up to kiss the forehead of my mask and running off to no doubt prank Eraserhead. Again.
Waiting until she has left the room I sigh "If this is another one of your schemes to try and catch me or convince me to turn myself in then do us both a favour and stop wasting our time. You know full well I won't stop. Not while there are people who need saving, but have been left to fall through the cracks to suffer without anyone to help them. I won't abandon them" irritation seeping into the edges of my tone.
Nezu simply nods and sighs wearily "I have no intention of doing so. I just wish things could have turned out differently. You would have made a truly great hero Judgement, probably one of the best from what I can understand of your nature. Another year and soon I'll have to try and find some people worth nurturing into heroes from the mess of self-centred brats. Before you mention the bullshit of the robot exams, I've already made arrangements for the upcoming years exam. It took far too much effort to get the idea through the thick skulls of the board" his irritation evident in his uncharacteristically grumpy manner.
The bane of all good in the world and the modern torture method of choice: Bureaucracy.
Snorting a little at his behaviour, jolt to a sudden halt at the sound of a dial tone. An emergency communication device for urgent information I had left with Giran, an underworld information broker and dealer. One I left very specific instructions not to use without very good cause. Either he's got a death wish and wants to go as painfully as possible or it's information that can't wait to trickle through to me via Stain.
Jumping to my feet I warp to a secluded rooftop and open the device hissing "Giran, this had better be good" with great displeasure at my trip to see Eri getting interrupted. For the first time in over three years of doing business with him in information dealing, he didn't have even a trace of his usual jovial façade in his voice as he snapped "I'm not so eager to die as to bother you without a reason. You're going to want to see this NOW."
That settles it, this is unusual for Giran to be this out of it as to get snappy with a client. Sending a clone back to look after Eri and play with her for the rest of the day, I warp to a point just around the corner and out of sight from Giran's usual meeting spot, stalking into the back-alley bar and making a beeline straight for Giran. Sitting down at the table I cool off for a second tensely stating "alright, what did you want to show me?"
Giran fiddles with his middle finger's ring with his thumb, one of his more well-hidden tics and a blaring alarm to those that knew him. He only ever did that before giving news that someone wasn't going to like in the slightest. Letting out a small huff he nervously states "Listen, Judgement, you aren't going to like this info, but please don't bring down the bar. The owner isn't someone I wish to tussle with"
If it was an alarm previously, it's escalated to a full orchestra of them at this point. Not trusting myself to speak, I nod my head and open the file to read. I thought that Eri's case was one of the lowest ones I'd seen as far as humanity could be concerned. This information, this travesty...
It seems that it was a good thing Giran warned me that it would be pretty awful to read. I'd have probably destroyed a good chunk of the block otherwise by accident.
In spite of all my mental preparation, a sudden outburst of pure bloodlust escaped from my grasp, causing everyone in the pub to freeze up and gaze at me in horror. Underground heroes, hardened villains and veteran vigilantes alike were stuck unmoving like statues as my fury started to echo in my ears with the sounds of crashing waves. While most were used to bloodlust to a certain extent, I trained with Stain, someone who made great use of his honed bloodlust to leave people twitch on the spot in fear even before he uses his quirk. This was something else entirely.
Eraserhead
I never did enjoy hanging around these sorts of places, but it's an unfortunate necessity in my line of work. These sorts of places always gave the best info and access to people who were rather useful to be "acquainted" with. I hadn't expected to Judgement of all people stalk in and start talking to a seriously nervous Giran. I couldn't catch what was in the folder he handed over, but his reaction made my blood run cold.
He was pissed. Whatever was in that folder had managed to send Judgement into an icy fury like nothing I had ever seen. In that moment, all I felt was the chill of death grasping me by the throat just from the suppressed bloodlust that had leaked out.
Shuddering slightly, I type as quickly as I could with trembling fingers an emergency bulletin for Nezu and The Underground. A message I knew for certain would leave everyone running to hide, to escape, to be as far from the coming disaster as possible.
"Judgement is on the warpath. Someone's just ended up on his shit-list"
I knew full well what sort of nightmare was coming after investigating the dismembered remains of the mafia ring. There would be blood spilt soon enough, and no-one could stop it. No-one except, perhaps, the blond ape.
As much as I dislike the man, I found myself hoping that he would be near where ever it was that Judgement was about to decimate. For the villain's sake more than anything.
Izuku
Reining back my bloodlust, I hand Giran some information from the Commision database and whisper to him "Great job you've done getting this to me. This is a list of all the Commision raids for the next three months that might affect you and your suppliers. If you come anything else similar in nature, I'll pay for it with something of equal value. I'm going to go and...take care of business. Keep it up, Giran"
Pausing for a moment when Giran grabs me and passes the data back, he hisses "I didn't do it for payment Judgement. I'll sell most things to almost anyone, but even I have limits. Who do you think leaked the details of the Shie Hassaikai operation? This crossed them by a large margin. If you want to pay me, make it brutal"
Pushing the data back towards him I whisper "All the more reason for me to not want you to get screwed over by the Commision. Put it to use and let me know if you find anything else like this" receiving a small nod as acknowledgement and the slight sensation of him becoming my first underworld "friend" outside of the Roses.
Walking out of the bar I warp to the command centre I keep in the storage space pulling blueprints, nearby hero patrol routes, possible connections and bribed security to get as much info as I could. These bastards were going to hell if I had to drag them there by their hair.
Keeping myself as calm as possible I all Stain's personal phone using the emergency protocol. When Stain answer's I suppress my rage to a low snarl and growl "Hey, I've got something important and I'm going to need to call in a favour. Can you meet me at our usual meeting point, as soon as possible?". Clearly picking up on my unstable state of mind I hear the rushing of wind on Stain's end stating "Five minutes Kid, try to keep it together until I get there"
Warping over to our meeting point, I sit and desperately hold myself back from rushing in without a plan. As my anger starts to grow, Void Heart echoes in a chorus of howls and roars "They WiLl PAY!" in sympathy with my rising bloodlust.
Stain
Shit, shit, shit, why can't I go faster? I'm already sprinting and I still feel like I'm moving at a snail's pace. Izuku's never sounded this angry before, unless...
Someone managed to do something that put them on the shit-list. Something that makes him even more infuriated than what happened to little Eri.
Launching myself onto the rooftop, I see him clutching his knees trembling as he lets out a constant low-level growl, words getting mangled and lost within. I dash over to his side and start to panic at the state he was in. Even if he muttered up a storm while planning, it was ordered, organized muttering, not this broken imitation of it. His expression on the mask was constantly twitching as his lips were set in an almost feral snarl.
A thought in the back of my mind idly wonders if this is what being a parent feels like, worrying and trying to do everything you can for your kids. Patting his head, I soothe as best I could "eh...hey Kid...do you want to get back to HQ first before we talk? I can dig out some hot chocolate for you if that would help. Damn it all Kid, are you going to be okay to talk?"
Coming back to himself somewhat he looks up and silently nods, before warping us both back to the private meeting room only he, Spinner and I had access to. Gesturing for him to take his helmet off, he relents and his eyes were truly haunted. He didn't struggle with his first kill or any of his subsequent slaughters, secure in the fact that his investigations showed their sins and how removing them before they hurt others would better everyone. What exactly could break him like this?
As if reading my mind, he slides a folder across the table to me, digging his fingers into the solid marble top he created a month ago, causing hairline fractures to radiate from beneath his hands. Opening the folder, I feel sick at what I see. No wonder the Kid was shell-shocked, this is messed up even by my standards.
A family lauded as pillars of society was their own daughter as a tool for her quirk, shackled in a basement with titanium reinforced bolts through her limbs connecting her to the walls furthest away from the door. No contact with the outside world. No chance to be a child since her quirk came into existence. The last part really got to me.
Slamming down me fist into the marble, not caring for the jolt of pain up my arm I roar "What sort of false parent tries to clone their daughter to 'improve material output' for fuck's sake!?". Looking at the Kid and recognizing that burning hatred, that blaze of righteous fury that hides away in the eyes of Spinner, him and myself. The eyes of those who will live and die by their code without regrets or hesitation, no matter what.
Grabbing secure communications device in the corner I send out the highest-level alert I had protocols for. "Attention all five-blood and higher Roses, prepare for an emergency briefing in the next hour. I repeat, I am issuing a Vermillion Garden assembly order for all five-blood or higher roses in an hour"
Panting with emotion I look at the Kid, his helmet back on and his rage almost visible around him. "Let's stain the roses red" he growls, a maniacal grimace forming on his mask. I return the gesture and cackle in rage "Let's stain the roses red indeed...my son".
So, special thanks to Kouji17 helping me proofread and giving me someone to bounce ideas off. You're a great help with this undertaking of mine and you deserve some recognition damn it. Anyway, until the next chapter stay safe and try not to die!