Emerald Lightning
Disclaimer: Check chapter 1 for disclaimers.
Wanda: You cannot be serious with that title!
Kei: I'm not.
Chapter 8: Why Does My Life Have Purpose?
"Let's review the situation."
"On Wednesday, the 24th of April, two men attacked the students of Class 1-A over at USJ between 2 to 3 pm. One is a class 3-H student, last name Rian first name Mandarou. His accomplice is as of yet unknown, but left behind a weapon; it's a rifle of the Remington 700 model, beige and black. Their target, Class 1-A's homeroom teacher Shouta Aizawa."
"And these are all the facts?"
"As so far we know, of course."
Over in the boardroom of UA High, the teachers are gathered at a round table discussing the school shooting that took place two days ago. Among them are famous heroes: the principal Nezu, Vlad King, Valiant, Snipe, Power Loader, Hound Dog, Thirteen, and Midnight. Also are detectives Tsukauchi and Midoriya.
"A Remington… such an old model for a weapon to be used in assassination," says Snipe as he looks over the item in use. "They don't make these anymore; it must have come out of a private collection."
"What's the situation with Aizawa?" asks Midnight glancing at the principal.
"Currently in the medical ward," is his response with a hand raised. He looks rather callous about it. "Luckily, he was wearing a special vest beforehand that took most of the damage."
"A vest?" Valiant asks as he faces the animal principal.
"He told us he found that in his classroom with his name tag." The others look among themselves thinking about how such a convenient item was left for him.
"Makes you think there's more going on than we know," Snipe adds.
"Doesn't matter!" Hound Dog snarls, pounding his fist into the table and causing it to almost tilt. "To think all those times Rian went to visit me, he faked any positiveness. I'm so ashamed!"
"Don't beat yourself up so much over it," speaks Power Loader, his tone also as depressed. "I'm just as at fault for being his teacher and not noticing."
"Let's not dwell on what might have been, everyone," is what Vlad King says to grasp the room's attention. "We have to focus on the matter at hand, and find Rian's accomplice."
"How right you are Kan." The principal faces the detectives. "Thirteen?"
"Unfortunately," speaks the space hero, shuffling his suit, "I checked the security cameras before and after the incident and found no one aside from Rian entering the facility. Whoever helped him didn't want to be known."
Tsukauchi steps forward pushing up a piece of paper in his notes. "We don't know exactly who either, but eyewitness testimony is all we have. One Izuku Midoriya mentioned seeing black whisps in the area where the sniper situated himself."
"Whisps…" Midnight cups her chin, her eyes digging into her mind through the corners of her sockets.
"It'll be easier when you take into account the motive to murder Aizawa." Nezu taps his claw onto the table. "While it's easy to see why our student was involved, there's no way he could have gotten close unless he accepted outside support. Rian wanted payback for being kicked out of the hero course, and while there are hundreds of villains who could take advantage of that, not many would be smart enough to keep quiet of their appearance and still almost kill Aizawa. He even had the gall to drug Rian so he never is fingered."
Tsukauchi takes in his notes, giving a look over to Hisashi with a serious expression as he looks to be internally decoding everything. "We'll continue to look into this individual, whoever it may be. We hope you all help us out."
With that, the officers make their exit. Tsukauchi gives a glance to Valiant before following Hisashi. The father of one takes a look back at his partner, saying, "I'm going to need some time to myself, a bit."
"Mm-hmm." Hisashi heads to his vehicle and drives off, putting away the beacon that would signify he's a cop on duty.
While driving, Hisashi looks at his notebook left casually in the passenger seat. "Looks like you were right again, Inko."
Later That Afternoon…
Over at the Midoriya residence, Izuku can be found with his arms stretched upward while in the living room. An electrical aura emits from his fingers as green as his hair and eyes, the latter of which is also glowing. Electricity sparks before he fires a bolt at a target sign moving across the air.
… and misses hitting the wall and leaving scorch on the flower pattern. "… oops."
"And that makes three." Inko raises a finger, pointing at the wall behind her showing the same burn marks. Well, one is bigger, and the other is just a hole.
"Sorry, mom!" Izuku raises his hand to continue.
Before his next failure, the front door opens up. Both mother and son look over to see Hisashi coming inside. "Dad!"
"Welcome back, Hisashi…" Inko pauses seeing her husband giving her a very serious look as he pulls off his hat. "Did everything go okay?"
"He was there." Confused at first, Inko soon looks silent. Solemn. Serious.
"I see…" The two turn to Izuku, still by himself in confusion. "Izuku, go to your room for a minute."
"Huh?"
"Just go," Hisashi tells him, the boy going back to his bedroom with a mild annoyance in his expression.
Inside his room the boy sits, lying back on his bed. The mind wanders as he does. What exactly are they talking about? Well, he could spy on their conversation; all it takes is a trash can that is in the kitchen.
"No. I shouldn't be spying on my parents." Using a single finger he zaps his computer turning it on. Once the screen is on he manipulates it to show news.
"It's like I said before," speaks Chitose on screen, "we need to put an end to these shootings. At first, they were children, and now they're adults!"
"Next." He pauses the video and moves on to another video.
As he watches, eventually he hears his name. He cuts off the screen before walking into the living room where his parents await. His mother pats the couch, gesturing him over. He quietly takes a seat.
"So, first," Inko begins, placing a hand on her child's lap, "how have you been taking this?"
"It's… I've been fine," he replies with awkward honesty. He can say that has been true for the most part; when it happened he reacted in rage and blasted the building to attack whoever shot Aizawa, but for the few hours after he's been rather upset. Not just for failing to catch a criminal, but because of how close that bullet has been to his body. Just a few inches away and he could have taken that bullet.
"It's okay if you feel scared," says Hisashi next to him.
"Dad, it's okay. I mean, this is something we deal with when you become a hero. I bet this happens to you all the t-" Here he stops, unable to finish that. While that's true, that's a hard reality to take in.
"That's true, Izuku. I do." Hisashi pats his son's shoulder. "Just understand that it's okay to feel scared. That doesn't mean you're helpless."
Taking a deep breath, Izuku slowly forms a smile for his old man. "Thanks, dad, mom."
"Good." Their hands remove from Izuku's person.
"Is that all you wanted to talk about?" His father faces Inko, nodding to her.
Taking that cue, Inko extends her right hand. From it, she draws forth a small box from the counter table and catches it. "Izuku, you're going to take part in the Sports Festival that's going to happen, correct?"
"They're still doing that?" His eyes shooting open, he continues with, "After what happened? What about Aizawa-sensei?"
"Recovering, but okay." Izuku sighs out of relief.
"Well, I do have plans for entering." Inko groans through her closed face.
"I didn't want you to, but if you do then I need to tell you the truth." She taps the device attached to her wrist. "I know you've been listening to us talk about this thing."
Seeing the flinch he makes, she follows up. "What did you hear about it?"
"T-That…" Stumbling, Izuku breathes to catch himself. He didn't expect to talk about this already. "I didn't hear much. Just that it drains something and you need another or else you'll be taken away."
Panic grows in his eyes as he faces her. "Mom, what does that mean? Who's gonna take you away?"
"It's hard to say outright why, so I'll start from the beginning. This energy sap device, the person who shot your teacher today, and your powers all originate from this person." Looking back at his father, Izuku feels his old man tensing up. Now he's worried. What sealed can did he just ask for them to open up?
"It was a time after the illuminating child was born. Quirks were appearing in people, and then came the problems; some people had Quirks and were hated by the world, people who didn't who hated them, and people who had Quirks thinking they were invincible. It was chaos." It's something he was aware of; those history classes taught more than they did.
"In the midst of it, he appeared; he was a man who took advantage of it using his Quirk. It allowed him to steal Quirks and give them to others. He called it All for One."
"All for One?" Izuku repeats, finding the first part of the name familiar.
"With this power, he stole from whoever he wanted and gave them to those who supported him, giving him incredible influence in the shadows. For years his power allowed him to rule the underworld of Japan, until twenty-four years ago when he was killed." Killed? The way she words it makes it seem personal to her. That, and he can hear her voice breaking. "In the battle against the hero Nana Shimura, she and her successor All Might fought and killed him at the cost of her life."
Now that catches his ears. "All Might? But, he didn't-"
"It was before his debut," his dad adds. "For a time, All for One's legacy and reign of terror ended, until your mother's debut."
Debut? His mom made a debut? "What do you… you were a hero?"
"A villain." A… a villain?
"What?! Mom, you're a villain?" Eyes on her wide enough to see through the gordian knot, Izuku can see for certain that it's true. The shame in her eyes that he's picked up before has told him all he needs to.
"It was six years after that man's death; I donned armor, caused havoc and panic, and sent heroes into the hospital. For days people feared me as the most powerful villain, Polaris."
There. That has done it. His world starts to come crashing down. While he was rather upset to find out his mom was a villain, this just destroys a few foundations of the opinions of his mother. Even more, this also connects back to what Yaoyorozu told him before USJ.
"Did… did you kill anyone?"
"No." He breathes out relief. "I only sought out All Might to murder him… almost succeeded too."
"What!?" He almost falls out of his seat. His mom almost killed All Might?! Was she that strong?! "You almost… is that why-"
"That's not for me to say," is her reply. "The only reason I was able to enjoy the life I have now is because of the deal I made with the chief of police thanks to your father and All Might. This bracelet is designed to sap the electrical aura I produce and disperse it so I do not release a signal to be tracked or use my powers for things other than lifting small objects to me, and for this entire time I've been living as Hisashi's wife raising our only child."
Perplexing is his situation. Izuku can't help but find himself amazed and traumatized by everything he's learned. But, there are things that he needs to know. "Mom, there's so much I need to know. I keep a record of every fight All Might's been in and every villain he's fought; how come I've never heard of Polaris until Yaoyorozu brought it up?"
Maybe he said more than he should have because sweat is starting to come down her face. "Yaoyorozu?"
"… do you know her?"
"No." That's a lie he feels. "But, the reason you don't know is that there's no information about me. You can't file info on someone if they erase it, and modern jammers are flawless. Since I can power any device I can just have it on me, and no one can record me."
"But, the people who did call you a guy."
"My outfit masked my appearance and voice. If everyone was looking for a guy, no one would check for me." She looks rather whimsical with that anime logic.
"The point is, no one would know about Polaris unless they were there," his dad tells him.
"I guess… but, what does that have to do with Wednesday?" Hisashi turns to Inko.
"After your description of what you found, your father and I have an idea of who was behind it." He digs into his coat pocket and pulls out a burnt book cover.
"'Berati?'" he says, looking at the remains of the cover. Wasn't that the restaurant from One Piece?
"Meta Liberation Army." Hisashi gives his son the cover. "Someone came and visited your mother while you were away at school, and left this little clue for us. His Quirk to disappear had the same whisp effect you described to your teachers."
"IT… it did?" The two nod to their son. "And… what's the Meta Liberation Army?"
Inko crosses her arms together with narrow eyes. "They are, in short, a secret cult of villains who hate the regulations put up on Quirks. The army was once active back when those regulations were being made and disappeared after their leader Destro died."
"An army of villains?!" he shouts, shocked by the idea of that many villains capable of taking action and destroying society.
"When All for One died, they started a resurgence gathering funds and resources to attempt to take action one day. Attacking Eraserhead was them making the first move since his Quirk can stop anyone else's and it's unique being so easily used." With all the information his father brings, a layer of whys is being answered for Izuku. They used that senior's hatred for Aizawa to unsuccessfully kill him.
Finding himself with one last question, he asks, "Is it okay for you to tell me this?"
"We kind of have to because your life is in danger too." It feels like this whole 'several-minute-meet' has been a clustering pile of crystal surprises.
"I'm in danger…"
"No one else has the power that rivals the scale as that man's, except for All Might, and the MLA want that on their side," she tells her son, her golden aura crackling from her hand. "Whether your power is my scale or not, once the whole world sees your Quirk, those who know of my Quirk will put two and two together and see the second coming of Polaris."
Now that's something to think about. The Sports Festival will expose his Quirk to an entire nation, and those MLA villains are watching. Everyone he knows will too How would his friends feel if they found out? How would Yaoyorozu and Uraraka see him? Why are they the first people he thought of?
"So with that in mind, are you still going to become a hero?" Hesitant, Izuku keeps her words in his head as he thinks about what to do. Does he still even want to be a hero after all this information?
"… yes." Answering himself and his mom, he keeps a resolute face with his decision. "Dad said to me before that being a hero means striving to become stronger to protect others. Would you remove that to protect me and dad?"
"Without hesitation," is her quick response.
"Then I'll just get stronger to protect you and dad, and where else can I than the best hero school in Japan?" His dad crosses his arms now.
"What am I, a charity case?" says Hisashi, causing the mother and son to laugh. He then smirks. "It's my job to protect you two, as both a police officer and the man of the house. Besides," he eyes Inko, "I was the first person to touch her."
"Only because I didn't know you were a dragon," is her response.
And they laugh after that.
Elsewhere…
Hitoshi approaches a lavender home on the outskirts of the city. He knocks on the door and stands there waiting, holding a bag in one hand. "Alright, just stay calm. Do not make yourself look stupid. And-"
The door opens up, and all of his planning goes out the window. A brown-haired beauty peers her head out the door and presents to him a warm expression. His face turns bright red while looking at her. "Oh, Shinso! You finally made it."
"Hello… ma'am…" She takes his hand, smiling now, and brings him inside with a pull.
As the older woman guides the purple-haired student into the peaceful interior, his eyes spot a funeral display off in the corner, two pictures on the top. "I'm glad that you came over. Toshi was just by."
"I bet he was," is his response before they enter the kitchen. "Here're some things mom wanted me to give you."
"Why, thank you." Receiving the bag, the Shimura mother goes through the bag and sorts out what amounts to groceries. "Would you like to stay for dinner? Tenko should be over soon."
"Against my better judgment…" As delicious as her meals are, he has an important quota to reach today. But… "Why not?"
Friday…
Two days have gone by since the events of USJ. As it was Tuesday, the students are brought back on the last school day of the month. Bright and early this day, the main door to the building opens up.
Inside the building steps the green-haired representative of Class 1-A, going into the room where the rest of his classmates are. Most of them are already talking amongst themselves about what they did over the weekend. Of course, once he steps in he becomes the center of attention.
"Midoriya!" Iida says as he steps forward. "How is your head injury?"
"Oh, uh, just fine." He pats his head where the blow he suffered was. After it closed up he completely forgot about it. "The wound's gone and there's no scarring, thankfully."
Mineta examines his head, forcibly prying his hair to view where he was struck. "My word. It's only been two days; such injuries shouldn't disappear that quickly."
"Really? It's not that uncommon for me." Pulling free of Mineta, Izuku returns to the front of the class where Yaoyorozu stands.
"Midoriya, good to see you've also returned. I was worried." He gives her a questionable look.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Many of us have mentioned that their parents feel unsafe putting us back into school, including mine." He can agree to that; it's not every day the greatest hero establishment in Japan has an assassin break-in and attack a teacher.
"We're here now, so no need to worry. I'm just wondering who's going to replace Aizawa since he's hospitalized." At that moment, the door opens up.
"Don't look down on me, Midoriya," says Aizawa as he steps into the room.
"Sensei!" The class representatives walk back in a hurry to their seats with his arrival, glaring at the hero recovered.
"I can't believe you're actually back."
"It's not a big deal. Besides, it'd be irrational of me to believe I can remain convalescent when you lot can't even quiet yourselves in less than 10 seconds."
"He's got us there," Mineta agrees.
Izuku nods.
"That's true," Kirishima adds, the red-head crossing her arms over her chest, "besides, he was only injured, not sick. No need to convalesce for that."
"It's the same thing," Shinso says back to her. "When you recover your health from something over a while that's convalescence. It applies to injuries, surgeries, and illnesses."
"That's not what Google says!" she replies.
"Then what's the word for recovering from an injury that doesn't apply for illnesses?" His question is met with silence. "See?"
Kirishima slaps her head with both hands, forcing her face into the desk. "I gotta learn Japanese again…"
Quickly, all students are silenced at the sight of their teacher glaring his crimson eyes at them with his hair flaring up. These features fade after silence is established.
"This is exactly what I was talking about." He sighs before getting back his posture. "Now that that's out of the way, we have another issue at hand far more important than what happened on Tuesday."
Eyes on him, they await what their eclectic teacher would tell them. After what happened previously, it could be something extremely bad; there could be a super hard test, villains could have infiltrated the school again, maybe even expulsion is in the air.
"You must prepare for the Sports Festival coming up." Sighing with relief, it's still a regular school thing.
Many speak out in excitement after that bit of info was released. UA's annual Sports Festival is the perfect way for many students to go out and expose their abilities to the world, showing all how up to snuff they are.
Raising a hand, Asui asks, "Is it a good idea to have the festival after what happened? It could easily be a breach in security."
"Yes, while we are going to work on security even more," begins the teacher as he rubs his hair, "we're going to continue with this. The world knows of my shooting so the world is going to see that UA is safer than before. What better way than continuing with a major event such as this, is what we agreed upon.
"Besides, all of you students will have internships after this. This will be your means of making a resume; let them know what your capabilities are by going far in the festival." Pausing for a moment, Aizawa takes out eyedrops and hovers it upside down over his left eye. "There are two weeks from now to then, and you have other priorities in between such as Entertainment lessons – which I'm not participating in at all – and your Midterms."
Once his eye is lubricated, he turns back to the class. "Keep that in mind in the following weeks."
Following his announcement, the rest of the day proceeds smoothly. Amidst it, Izuku writes in his notes. It shows a picture of himself with lightning surrounding him. Blurs are showing him moving fast. 'I don't know what Shinso's Quirk is, but there seems to be an energy application involved with it. A theory I had was that he gets energy that lets him produce incredible power and makes him strong. So maybe, I can use my electric energy to make me faster.'
He turns the page and looks upon a new picture. "Huh?" He doesn't remember this picture. It looks like some adult who is wearing armor colored red, black, and gold. He has a helmet on with an opening shaped like an M, but he can't see his face. He also possesses gold eyes and a flowing cape.
'When did I draw this? And color it? It's weird.' It kind of reminds him of that dream, the one he told Shimura about.
Well, that's not important right now. What is important is that he gets stronger. For his future as a hero, for the sake of others, and his mother's freedom…
Kei: There. That should put an end to all of this.
Wanda: This ends nothing! You cut it too short!
Kei: Yeah, kind of like the Shonen Jump titles that this was based on. Regardless, there should be no more chapters after this one. We only did it for some form of clarification and closure. Whether we come back to this or not, or someone else takes this up, that's not our main concern. We're tired of My Hero Academia fanfiction that follows canon closely.
Wanda: What about Justice?
Kei: Those are many short stories, not just one. Anyway, bye, folks. Goodbye, FoxonPie.
Wanda: And there it is.