Woohoo! I'm getting back into this and this should be something that you're all eager to read. Let the slaughter commence soon enough, but first...
Congratulations Wealthless for guessing how was being introduced. Guess I made the hints a little too obvious to really stay hidden.
Enough about this, let's get to the part with all the blood!
Izuku
The five-blood roses gathered in the high security briefing room I'd reenforced with several feet worth of titanium six months ago and looked to Stain and I expectantly. They seemed to be picking up on our repressed fury, eager to know who has managed to get both Stain and I after their head.
Sealing the door, Stain takes centre stage and in a frigid tone that seemed to lower the temperature of the room dramatically spat out "It's come to my attention through some information our good friend Judgement acquired that it's not just the heroes that need some purging. If you have any questions, save them until you've seen all the information we have" thumping the projector button to display the nightmare scenario.
After the two-hour briefing covering all the basics of what we currently knew, everyone was enraged. Spinner in particular moved to the reenforced wall and punched it with all his might, leaving a faint imprint on the metal as he stood there panting with pent-up frustration.
As I made my way to Spinner and fixed his hand, Stain called out "As you can see, the stain on this society is much more deeply entrenched than I had ever imagined. The time for only heroes fearing our retribution is gone. From now on, we shall purge every stain we find, where ever they may be. The oppressive, the cruel, the arrogant, all shall come to fear our wrath as we turn our gazes ever higher. We all came here to purge the unworthy, now that extends to all who do not deserve their ill-gotten fortune, their, power, their status...
Three days from now we shall gather all our strength, all our knowledge and skill, to purge the world of this filth. In three days, WE STAIN THE ROSES RED!" came his iconic phrase, echoed by everyone present howling it out in support of the purge to come.
I stood and call out in a low, haunting tone "They shall not escape their sins. Not as long as I still live" causing the Roses to look at me in a mixture of shock, awe and what might be excitement. Mad laughter echoed as I cackle "Know this, when you go to slaughter these monsters...
Judgement fights with you"
Three days later
Arriving at the staging point for the raid, I swiftly go over what extra information I've collected over the past three days and the measures I've prepared to deal with their alarms and automated security.
A whisper from Void Heart softly calls "Shall we fight together at last, my chosen?" as a warm sensation fills my heart with determination and confidence. Looking to the twenty Roses, Stain and Spinner by my side as we glare at the mansion in disgust, I respond directly to the source of my power for the first time.
"Together we shall be more than we are apart. Let's bring down judgement upon them...Pandora" causing an ecstatic glee to emanate from our connection. With that glee came a rush of new understanding, of new sensations and the feeling of becoming one with the immense pool of matter that was Void Heart.
Lips set in a snarl, I growl "I guess I'll start the opening act" reaching out to command Void Heart to find it already reacting to my will, feeling like an extension of myself. A tidal wave of jet-black, surged into the air before crashing into the mansion, burrowing through every window and door, every nock and cranny that it could squeeze through to access to the inside. Once inside, the communication already cut off by the signal jammer I'd formed beside me and the tampered signal boxes disabling wired and wireless communication she got to work.
Pandora took a great pleasure in restraining each and every person in the entire estate in tight chains that left them in embarrassing and painful positions. The parents were hauled out to the main hall and suspended upside down for us to deal with after we got the poor girl out.
Signalling that all was handled, I warped everyone directly to the main hall before the Roses spread out to find any more incriminating evidence. They couldn't have gotten away with something this big so easily without some aid in the background and we were going to make sure that they paid their dues as well.
Leaving Spinner to organize the search, I grab Stain's shoulder and warp us outside the door to her prison. Grasping the door with both hands, Pandora forms a pair of black feathered wings to dig into the frame and pull it straight out of the wall before throwing it aside. Announcing my presence with loud footfalls, I reach the bottom of the stairs and thank every deity in existence that I hadn't butchered the parents yet. What I had planned didn't begin to cover what they deserved.
A pale, skinny girl so thin she could almost be mistaken for a sack of sticks in her current condition. The wounds on her forearms and calves were festering, clearly infected yet only given enough treatment to ensure her survival and not fully recover. Her body was covered in tattered rags that barely preserved her modesty, yet allowed me to see her sunken stomach and her skin pulled tight over her ribs. Spotting the wires and the IV drip in her arm, it was obvious they only feed her enough to make what they needed her to and sustain her body.
Her face was sunken and gaunt, almost unresponsive save for a tiny flicker of hope that sparked to life in her obsidian eyes at my appearance. Her long, matted hair came down to her hips in a tangled mess, partly being used as a blanket to try and warm herself.
Feeling tears spilling down my face inside my mask, I reach her and delicately stroke her face, whimpering slightly "Sorry I couldn't here sooner, girl. It's going to be okay; they won't hurt you anymore, not ever again. I won't let them" and the effect was almost immediate.
She let out a faint dry and raspy laugh, breathing lightly "Even...my dreams...mock me...now. Just let...it...end" choking slightly on her despair and sorrow. Grasping the spikes embedded into her limbs, Pandora starts to devour the spike and free her from this hell as I comfort "This is real, I won't leave you here in this hell. You're going to get a life away from those monsters that did this to you. You're going to have a chance for the happiness you should have always had" getting worked up in my grief for her state.
The tiny flame of hope burned brighter as she asked "Why? Why save...me? Even heroes...didn't...care. If they got...their gear...they didn't care...that I...suffered...in this...hell" leading me to tell her something she probably had wished to hear ever since she was imprisoned like this.
Smiling lightly, I soothe "That's simple, they were fakes that disgraced the name of 'hero' and left you here. I swore that I would be someone that saved those who slipped through the crack, the ones that no-one else either cares to save or knows of their despair. No matter what they told you, you are your own person, you deserve a better life..." my next words framed in perfect timing by the clatter of the chains that once held her falling to the floor as the spikes are devoured.
"...and you deserve to be saved" I finish, bringing the fire of hope in her eyes to a fever pitch as she gazes at her arms now missing spikes driven through them, at Pandora fixing her up as best as possible, before weakly clinging to me and weeping hysterically into my chest, afraid that I'd disappear if she didn't keep holding onto me.
Momo
All my life I'd been considered a tool in one way or another. Before it had been to become a trophy wife to establish a connection between companies and improve our family's standing. After my quirk was discovered, it was as a machine to pump out materials and support gear for sale.
They installed a large screen in the wall opposite me, constantly showing everyone praising them, heroes using items I'd made knowing full well where it came from being admired and worshipped. A world that didn't know of or care about my existence. A world that had no one that would save me from this hell.
I grew to hate the world, to bitterly curse and wish for everything to come crashing down, to see the world that left me to rot brought crashing down. I thought that this was how I would spend the rest of my miserable life, a tool in my parent's plans and schemes. I thought all hope was lost.
Then I heard the sounds of something rampaging through the mansion above, the screams of the staff and my genetic donors sounding like sweet ecstasy to my ears. Finally, they were paying for what they'd done. I'd lived long enough to see them punished. I was content.
At least, I believed I was in that I was perfectly happy to die and hope for a better outcome in my next life, when heard something gripping the reenforced titanium doors with a dull clang and the screeching protest of the door being torn off and thrown aside. Barely able to raise my head I saw him, the one that had come down for me.
A strange set of exo-armour covered their entire body, flowing with a smoothness of motion that hypnotized me for a moment with how it could be so well-crafted. Seeing me, he hurried to my side as apologized for not being here sooner and that they'd saved me. All my hopes came crashing down in that moment.
I was a tool, something that people used to fulfil their own purposes. No-one would care about me. No-one would bother to save me.
Crushed by despair I mumbled my thoughts, uncaring of the hallucination listening to me. I begged for it to all be over, for it all to just stop.
Shocked by my words he, if his voice was any indicator, gently stroked my head and continued to speak, telling me that I would be okay. Telling me that I would be able to escape and have a happy life. That he would save me.
Seeking an answer to the mystery in front of me, I ask why he would save me, a tool, an object that others would just use to further their own interests. Why did he care, when some many others looked away from my suffering?
He spoke to me of a promise, of false heroes and his goal of being there for those who are ignored and abandoned. Of being someone to reach out to those that no-one else would. Of finding and rescuing those like me.
The last of his words rung in my head, echoing past the point he spoke. The words I had dreamed of hearing for so long were finally given to me. To save not just my body, but my heart and soul alongside it as well.
"No matter what they told you, you are your own person, you deserve a better life..." he declared, the sounds of chains hitting the floor sounding like thunder as I gazed in awe at my limbs. My free, unbound limbs. My limbs slowly being fixed by a black fluid as he finishes his words and grants me purpose.
"...and you deserve to be saved" as his voice fills my mind and grants me something I lost long ago. I had hope and a cause to give me purpose. I had found something I could dedicate my everything to.
Weakly gripping his chest, I weep hysterically on feeling his chest plate on my cheek, my arms free to move and hold him. Proof that I was finally free from this hell. Proof that I got a second chance at life. Still bawling into his body, I make a promise with all my heart and soul.
I would dedicate my everything to this man that gave me a new chance at life. I would see him live a life with all the joy and happiness he deserves. I would see his dreams of a better world made into reality...
no matter what it took to do so.
Izuku
Gently lifting her up, I carry her up the stairs and onwards to the main hall. Calming her as best I could, I focus part of my attention on patting her head the same way I would when Eri woke up from her nightmares and needed comfort. Instantly she starts to weakly push her head into my palm, probably desperate for any show of affection after all she'd been through, which only further hardened my resolve to make her parents pay dearly.
Crafting a soft beanbag for sit her on, I carefully set her down while trying to avoid jolting and worsening her injuries. Pandora starts to fix the parts of her body that had been left almost ruined, starting with the rancid mess of the infection in her wounds. Taking pity on her pain, a small part of Void Heart forms a puppy that sits by her side and offers silent companionship. As she tickles it under the chin it lets out a quiet yip and snuggles into her hand, eager to try and help comfort her.
Looking at all the people strung up in various positions around the main hall, I turn to the girl and gently ask "What's your name?"
Gazing up at me shyly, her throat now somewhat healed thanks to Pandora's attentive ministration and hoarsely spoke "Momo. My name's Momo" flinching slightly as if she was expecting to get punished for using her own name. Suppressing the rage as best I could, I reassure her "No-one here is going to hurt you. I wanted to ask you, who here was aware of your suffering and took part in it? Who was working here with no idea of what was going on? I do not wish to involve the innocent in this judgement" noticing her eyes widening in shock and a hesitant joy that someone would go to any effort to help her.
Her voice sounding ever clearer thanks to Pandora's efforts, she spoke as best she could with her long unused voice "None of the cooking staff knew as far I can tell. Only the head butler and maid knew aside from my parents that I was down there to my knowledge. I don't think anyone else knew about it" her words choking slightly on her grief. To think that someone could do something like this to their own children, no wonder she's an emotional mess. The very people who should have raised her, loved her and taught her were the ones to do this to her.
Looking up I announce "Since none of you knew about the vile actions of the Yaoyorozu couple and their accomplices the head maid and head butler, you will not be harmed for your unwitting association with monsters. I apologize for any pain or discomfort caused by this event, however you will not be contacting anyone or leaving the premise until we've found any evidence of the ones collaborating with them to allow this to happen. We must see to it that these pathetic excuses for humans are all dealt with mercilessly, no matter where they may hide. Now then, in you go" before shutting them all in the dining hall and blockading the windows and doors shut with titanium shutters integrated with signal blockers to make sure of our remaining secrecy.
Turning back to Momo, I solemnly inform her "The choice is now yours Momo. No matter what punishment you choose, I'll help you see it happen. They'll never know that you made the choice, whatever happens here will not reflect on you as far as the public is concerned in the slightest. This might be the first choice that they have ever let you have in your life. It'll all yours to decide from now on. No-one shall chain you down again"
Momo
Looking at the four who were responsible for all my pain, all the misery and despair of the last eleven years of my life, a small humourless smile spread across my face. Finally, a chance for some vengeance has come. With a dark chuckle I request "Please, death is too good for them. Leave them in a mess that all the healers on the planet and all the technology of I-Island couldn't piece back together. Let them spend the rest of their natural lifespans helpless and forever unable to hold the power and control that they always chased. Let them know what it's like to suffer and have no way to escape. Let them experience a living nightmare for the rest of their days" coughing with a hacking rasp at the end from overexerting my unused voice after so long in that basement. Looking up I see his mask projecting a somewhat amused expression and a knowing nod.
A dark cackle emerged from his mask as he snickered "Did you hear that? It was the sound of you getting thrown to the wolves, although in this exact situation..." the sudden sound of the others that had been searching for information about the people who helped these bastards do this to me all pulling out a few tools of torture with grins that spoke a lot about how much they were about to enjoy themselves punctuated his words. Looking to them with a soft laugh he continues "Well, it'd be better termed as you just got dumped in the rose garden. Don't you people know?
Roses have thorns"
Okay so that's the end of the chapter for now. Wanted to do the bit where the parents get what's coming to them, but I to stick with 3k words maximum a chapter and I've already hit that so that's going to be next chapter unfortunately.
Also, Voidborne has just hit over 100 followers! If you'd told me three months ago that I'd be writing something that would have this many people interested enough to follow, I'd have ask what drugs you were on. Yet now I'm here writing an author's notes for you all. This means a lot to me as an aspiring author and I'd like to thanks everyone for this encouragement.
Well, I'll be continuing to work on the next chapter over however long it'll take, enjoy yourselves and stay safe until next time.
Good luck out there everyone, BreadOfChaos.