Quirks not Required

XIV

Kato stared "It's ready! And I'm to be the first, when does sensei want to do this?"

Yaoyorozu, Midnight and Aizawa each raised an eyebrow. Aizawa due to the inherent madness of Tomura Shigaraki, links were forming rapidly in his mind; Daiten Kato and Shigaraki Tomura were definitely colluding towards something.

Aizawa was tempted to suggest the downfall of Heroics would be the aim. He didn't blame Kato for wanting in. "For now, share his enthusiasm. Kato has made giant steps in the medical world; what with his ability to repair a broken spine…so many heroes might wish to come back."

Aizawa smiled "If what you suspect is true, quirks aren't required to be a villain. It might just take one bad day, and Kato has had many of those bad days."

Somewhere, Yaoyorozu pulled out a bottle of champagne "A spectacular breakthrough, warrants champagne. Kato, I know you shirk the spotlight and prefer to hide away to drink…but this is no time for you to hide away. You're a hero, Daiten Kato, you've managed to reverse an old career ending and life altering injury. Accept it!"

Kato wanted to protest but they were correct. With Nemuri about to give birth, it was time to let the good times come and quite frankly enjoy the ride. With that Kato, picked up his flute of champagne "Thank you...Konan, Nemuri, Shouta; I know I might not have been the easiest person to interact with, be with and or even love but I want to say to you three, thank you...thank you for just being there; I might not have said it but I appreciate it. Now I have surgery and then rehab. So let tonight be the last night of me being in a wheelchair."

With chuckles and grins were had as the quartet began to drink the champagne.

(Kyudai and Shigaraki)

"Your apprentice's study has been completed." Shigaraki stated, as Kyudai was examining what appeared to be a smokers patch.

"It has. He'll be able to walk in a week's time, as much as I know you're urging me to sabotage it; I will not. My student, protege and quite frankly my surrogate great-grandson, he'll never know that whilst I am alive, does not need or deserve us sabotaging his experiment. Not when you read the punchline…villains profit and win."

Shigaraki cocked his head "Villains profit and win?"

"Kato came to us. We provided the materials, time and the willingness to foot the bill providing we could use it for our own gains. Shigaraki, do not delude yourself that Kato came to us because he had nowhere else to go; he came to us, me, because I'm one of the best at what I do. He's sharp, he knew nearly from the moment that we met that I had an alternative agenda, Kato still desires Endeavour to experience vengeance, justice, retribution...many different words but all in all it's the balance that Daiten Kato wants."

Shigaraki nodded "What else has he given you?"

Kyudai giggled "Sometimes the greatest gifts look the most innocent. This, smokers patch, works akin to a synthetic heroin...yes much like the old Marvel Iron Fist tv series idea. Anyway the patch contains recessive quirk genes, coupled with a few enzymes unique to the stomach along with neurotransmitters, you have a fast acting temporary spontaneous quirk user amongst the quirkless community but in the quirked community it acts like a stimulant…an extremely addictive stimulant."

Shigaraki chuckled "What happens when or if it goes wrong?"

Garaki paused "Something along the lines of 'human soup', I think is a possible outcome…there are many outcomes and unfortunately all of which are fatal. I'm pretty sure Kato would much prefer it instead of flooding the market with this, it'd be better to make a cure or rather a temporary one. Kato is a remarkable asset but…"

"He's too attached to doing the right thing. Even though he doesn't care how he does it, he wants the right thing."

Shigaraki nodded "...And what of his Nomu Project? Tomura was asking for better Nomu."

Kyudai sighed "Your namesake needs to be patient. I am slowly beginning to see how and why Kato's Nomu aren't brain dead and yet contain a multitude of quirks."

"Oh, and how is that?"

"All of the quirks involved are thematically similar in origin. Molten Core, a powerful heat and fire quirk will work extremely well with a heat resistance quirk, pyrokinetic…you took that one about eighty years ago. I have taken the liberty of duplicating Molten Core, Phoenix, Pyrokinetic, Heat Repair and Flame Control and adding them to a Nomu. The procedure is working, I designed the damned thing, all we need to do is wait. Besides I'm working on another gift for Kato...getting a sample of his family's quirks, I should be able to jump-start his own quirk factor."

Shigaraki nodded "Make the preparations. It will not do to prove that villains do not reward their followers for services rendered complete."

(League of Villains)

"Remind me Giran, why sensei said for me to keep you around? I asked you to find me powerful players for my team and yet you keep throwing useless trash my way?" Tomura growled as he dissolved a former applicant.

"Tomura, please control yourself, have you considered a change of tactics? I understand you want to make a dramatic impact; but it is also worth considering the idea of biding one's time for a more powerful impact." Kurogiri suggested, the Mist Villain had been ordered to tend and care for his well being, caring and tending to were both umbrella terms; so the Mist Villain had decided to challenge Tomura's mental ability.

"Finding allies, building influence…I'm going to ask Teacher for advice and recommend some reading."

Kurogiri watched his charge slope off and turned to Giran and summoned several files to hand "These people need to have a reminder and an introduction to the Boss…I trust…"

Giran looked at the Smokeman "I'm always discreet. Of course, have a pleasant trading day."

Kurogiri watched the broker leave the bar. It was all he could do people watching. Something inside of him stirred, a ghost but as soon as it stirred it vanished again.

(Kato and Nemuri)

"Kato…Kato." Nemuri whispered tapping her lover on the shoulder; it wasn't working. One thing that Kato had told her was his neck was extremely sensitive and running a finger down his neck from the base of the skull would be enough to wake him.

It worked, Kato was bolt upright rubbing sleep crust from his eyes "Yeah."

"Water broke."

Kato stared at her before grabbing his phone and began dialling the emergency services. The ambulance said it'd take fifteen minutes to arrive, it arrived in five. Within forty minutes Nemuri had been wheeled into a ward, leaving Kato outside to begin calling the various people he had wanted to be there.

As he gazed at his phone, Kato hovered over his mother's contact details. He paused, he was at a crossroads "Endeavour needs to go...or change." His resolve made him press the call button "Hey kaa-san, I need you to get to the Hospital…you're...going to be a Grandmother."

"We're on our way. The pair of you have some explaining to do." There was something in the tone that suggested fear, anger and concern. His heart stilled…oh fuck, everything he'd calculated on not having a contingency for his family.

"I..I do?"

"Why didn't you tell us sooner! We would have helped out, silly, but we do need to chat. We'll see you soon."

Kato smiled. He couldn't believe this…his child would be learning about everything he'd done as he'd done it. "Well, you can't win them all." Kato sighed "Normally this would be where I walk away, but my work is not yet done."

"But you've managed to repair your spine…surely that's heroic enough?" The idealist voice murmured in the back of his mind, that little voice that had told him to set his sights on making him, Daiten Kato, the last paraplegic in this quirked world.

"They'll not accept it, not unless I present it to them on top of a bed of battered, broken and bested heroes with the screams of society recognise that we quirkless are still present."

Kato sighed, this stunt was going to send the world spiralling back into the days of terror, anxiety and dread as the first emergence of quirks had done three centuries ago. Three hundred years later, is that all it took to forget what had happened before, Kato smiled softly as an old record he possessed came to mind. "You'll see that old becomes new, then new becomes old, til old becomes new again."

But for now, everything was going to be okay. He was going to be a father, what happened next...well it was going to be fun.

(Dabi and Giran)

"Did we have to threaten his family?"

Giran sighed and looked at his colleague "You and I both know the reason you're asking; no, we didn't. However, Shigaraki wants the word to reach his colleague that he, himself, has a long arm."

Dabi nodded "You'd better have a reason for wanting him dead."