Chapter 38
Metamorphosis
A week has passed since the four future heroes started to intern under Endeavor. Currently, the number three hero is standing on a rooftop, preparing to fly away. He is about to hop off the rooftop until he hears something behind him. He turns around and sees Shadowstriker standing behind him.
"What are you doing here, my shadowy friend?" asked Hawks.
"I'm just hanging out. Don't you have a secret meeting to get to?" said Joshua.
"Secret meeting? What are you talking about?" asked Hawks.
"Don't play dumb, Hawks. I know that you're an inside man. You're pretending to be a villain to figure out what they're planning to do next. Now, can you tell me what you've learned so far?" said Joshua.
"Why do you want to know?" asked Hawks.
"We're both heroes. We both want to protect the innocent and defeat villains. Even though I legally don't have a license, I still come out here to stop crime. I just want to make sure the Deika City doesn't happen again," said Joshua.
"You heard of the Deika City incident too huh," said Hawks.
"Everyone has heard about it. A city got leveled by the League of Villains. It would be impossible to cover something like that up," said Joshua.
"It wasn't just the League of Villains. They were fighting someone," said Hawks.
"Who were they fighting?" asked Joshua.
"The Meta Liberation Army," said Hawks.
"Who's that?" asked Joshua.
"It's a large group of people who want to destroy this society and rebuild it. They want to make a society in which people with quirks can use them freely," said Hawks.
"How powerful is this group?" asked Joshua.
"They were powerful enough to level an entire city by just fighting an opposing faction, so I'll say that they're a threat," said Hawks.
"Who leads this army?" asked Joshua.
"It used to be led by Re-Destro, or publically known as Rikiya Yotsubashi," said Hawks.
"Rikiya Yotsubashi huh. Why would a CEO of a support gear company want to destroy this society?" said Joshua.
"Many people put on facades to hide their true feelings and intentions. The army is now led by Tomura Shigaraki and it's called the Paranormal Liberation Front," said Hawks.
"That's a dumb name. I'm not surprised that Shigaraki would choose that name. He seems like he's a weirdo," said Joshua.
"He is pretty weird. He accidentally killed his family and the hands-on his costume is their severed hands," said Hawks.
"That's just disgusting. I won't be able to enjoy dinner with that on my mind," said Joshua.
"Importantly, they want to go to war. They have this doctor that they call Ujiko. He's a quirk doctor, but he has more skills than just that. He is obsessed with creating nomu and he's practically All For One's right-hand man," said Hawks.
"So, he's the mother of nomu huh. That's also the name that Dabi said before he was teleported away during the Girai Industries attack. He must have a teleportation quirk," said Joshua.
"I don't know about that, but it's a possibility. He's very dangerous, not physically of course because he's a middle-aged man, but he's very smart. He wants to upgrade Shigaraki's body," said Hawks.
"Upgrade?" asked Joshua.
"As the successor of All For One, Ujiko's responsible for making him as powerful as All For One. Shigaraki may be weak for now but in a little while, he will be one of the most if not the most powerful villains of all time," said Hawks.
"If I could take them down tonight, I would, but you have a job to do," said Joshua.
"I understand. Pretending to be a villain makes me sick," said Hawks.
"Anything else?" asked Joshua.
"They also have this giant guy called Gigantomachia," said Hawks.
"Gigantomachia. He just sounds like a threat," said Joshua.
"He's completely loyal to All For One, so he's completely loyal to Shigaraki as well. You have to be very strong to beat him," said Hawks.
"All Might will be able to deal with that guy, so he doesn't scare me," said Joshua.
"I gotta go. I can't leave my new allies waiting," said Hawks.
Hawks hops off the building and flies in the air.
"The Paranormal Liberation Front is a threat to the world and all of the heroes need to work together to defeat them. This sounds just like a Marvel movie," thought Joshua.
Joshua pulls his phone out of his utility belt and looks at the time.
"It's 7:42 already. I have to be at the Todoroki household by eight. I gotta get going," thought Joshua.
Joshua takes a remote out of his utility belt and clicks the button on it. He then jumps off the rooftop and lands on the seat of his motorcycle. He groans because his stunt hurt more than he thought it would.
"That hurt more than it should have. Next time, I'll just walk down the stairs," said Joshua.
Joshua grabs the handlebar and drives off in the direction of the Todoroki household at top speed. He zooms through the city streets until he's a few blocks away from the Todoroki household. He dips into an alley and takes his Shadowstriker suit off. He places it in a bag and places it on his motorcycle. He grabs the same remote and clicks the same button. The motorcycle zooms out of the alleyway. Joshua walks out of the alley and walks towards the Todoroki household. He walks for a minute until he sees Shoto, Endeavor, Bakugo, and Izuku standing outside of the Todoroki household. He walks up to them.
"What took you so long? We've been waiting for you for twenty minutes," said Endeavor.
"Something came up at the last second. I still got here on time though," said Joshua.
"Let's not argue tonight. We're here to eat my sister's food. Let's just pretend to like each other for one night," said Shoto.
"Fine," said Joshua.
Endeavor walks up to the door and knocks on it. The door is quickly opened by a white-haired girl with small patches of red hair.
"Thank you so much for coming even though you were so busy! Nice to meet you! I'm Shoto's older sister, Fuyumi. I'm sorry that I invited you guys at the last minute. I know that it was a selfish request, " said Fuyumi.
"You don't have to apologize. I never get invited to dinner," said Izuku.
"Yeah. Losers don't get invited by girls to have dinner," said Bakugo.
Joshua elbows Bakugo.
"What the hell was that for?" asked Bakugo.
"Be respectful. We are her guests, so keep the smart remarks to a minimum," said Joshua.
"Whatever," said Bakugo.
"Come on in," said Fuyumi.
The group walks inside the house.
"Is Natsu here too?" asked Shoto.
"Yeah. We wanted to meet and talk to your friends as a family," said Fuyumi.
The group walks into the dining room. They see Natsu sitting, waiting for them.
"You guys must be Shoto's friends. My name's Natsu and I'm Shoto's big brother. It's nice to meet you all," said Natsu.
"It's nice to meet you too," said Izuku.
"Sit down guys. I will bring dinner out in a few minutes," said Fuyumi.
Five minutes pass and everybody starts to eat.
"There's no need to eat anything that you don't like. I won't be offended," said Fuyumi.
"This food is so delicious. The flavor has really soaked into this Tatsuta-age, but the coating is still crunchy and the delicate marinade dances on the tongue," said Izuku.
"Stop overanalyzing your food! You're making my food taste bad!" exclaimed Bakugo.
"Of course it's good. Big sis has been cooking ever since the maid blew her back out and retired," said Natsu.
"Don't give me all of the credit. You helped cook too. We alternated," said Fuyumi.
"I always wonder about that. I always overseasoned mines, so Endeavor may have not allowed it," said Natsu.
The tension in the room rises and can be cut with a knife. Fuyumi butts in to lower the tension.
"What kind of food do you eat at school, Shoto?" asked Fuyumi.
"Well, I usually eat at-," said Shoto.
Before Shoto can finish speaking, Natsu stands up.
"I came as I promised. That should be good enough," said Natsu.
"Natsu!" exclaimed Fuyumi.
Natsu walks towards the door.
"I just can't do this. I'm sorry, " said Natsu.
Natsu opens the door and walks through it.
"This just got awkward," thought Joshua.
Forty minutes pass. The rest of the meal is completed in silence. They wash the dishes and now sit back at the dining room table.
"I know that this is a personal question, but Shoto, what is the opinion that you have on your father?" asked Joshua.
Shoto puts his head down.
"I never had a good relationship with my father. He only saw me as a tool that he could use to achieve goals that he could never. He abused my mother physically and mentally. Even though he didn't give me this scar, his terrible actions are the reason that this scar even exists," said Shoto.
"I'm going to assume that you don't like him that much. Isn't he supposedly going through a metamorphosis and changing?" said Joshua.
"He's not a complete piece of garbage anymore. He's acknowledging me and Natsu and Fuyumi. I guess that's a good start," said Shoto.
"What about you, Fuyumi? Do you like your father?" asked Joshua.
"I wouldn't say that I hate him, but he used to act like I didn't exist because I wasn't strong. I love him of course, but I don't like him as much as a regular girl should like her father," said Fuyumi.
"What about Natsu? He left during the meal. Why did he do that?" asked Joshua.
"Toya is the reason," said Fuyumi.
"Who's Toya?" asked Joshua.
"Toya was our brother. Natsu and Toya used to always play together and get along. It supposedly happened when mother was admitted to the hospital. Natsu believes that Endeavor killed him," said Fuyumi.
"I wouldn't blame him. Endeavor seems like a six-foot-tall piece of scum. He may be trying to redeem himself now, but he can't outrun the past," said Joshua.
Endeavor opens the door, ending the conversation.
"It's time that I got you guys back to school," said Endeavor.
The group stands up and walks towards the door. Endeavor opens it and they walk outside.
"Thank you for inviting us to dinner," said Izuku.
"You're welcome. I'm sorry that dinner had to end that way. Next time, let's talk about school," said Fuyumi.
"I would love to eat your cooking again," said Joshua.
Fuyumi grabs Joshua's and Izuku's hands.
"Thank you for being Shoto's friends," said Fuyumi.
"You're welcome," said Joshua.
Fuyumi releases their hands. They walk to Endeavor's car and enter it. Before Endeavor enters his car, he turns his head and looks at Fuyumi.
"Thanks for the meal, Fuyumi," said Endeavor.
Fuyumi doesn't respond and just smiles. Endeavor enters his vehicle.
"You boys need to get stronger. You guys are really strong for your age, but you need to gain more strength to do what I do. From now on, I want you guys to work two weekdays as well if your schedule allows it," said Endeavor.
"I don't think that we can leave yet," said Joshua.
"Why is that?" asked Endeavor.
Joshua opens the door and runs up the street. Endeavor opens the door.
"What the hell are you doing!" exclaimed Endeavor.
"Natsu's in trouble!" exclaimed Joshua.
Endeavor looks up the street and sees Natsu captured by a villain.
"Stay here! I'm springing into action!" exclaimed Endeavor.
Endeavor rushes out of the car and chases Joshua.
"Maybe we should just stay here and listen to-," said Izuku.
"Screw that! I'm helping!" exclaimed Bakugo.
Bakugo opens the door and charges towards the villain.
"At least Shoto won't leave-" said Izuku.
Izuku stops speaking when he sees that Shoto has also exited the vehicle.
"Why can't my job ever be easy?" asked Izuku.
Izuku exits the car and activates forty percent of One For All. He zooms towards the villain.
The villain turns his head and sees Joshua running towards him.
"Who are you?" asked the villain.
"I'm going to be the hero that takes you down! Let Natsu go!" exclaimed Joshua.
"I won't let him go until Endeavor kills me!" exclaimed the villain.
"That won't happen, so prepare to be defeated!" exclaimed Joshua.
Joshua pulls out his motorcycle's remote and clicks the button. The villain hears something and turns around to see Joshua's motorcycle flying towards him. The motorcycle hits him in the face and he flies backward. Joshua runs and grabs Natsu before he hits the ground.
"Natsu, are you ok?" asked Joshua.
"I'm fine. Thanks," said Joshua.
As the villain flies back, Shoto runs up and creates an iceberg by flicking his wrist. Bakugo jumps and launches a giant explosion at the trapped villain. The explosion destroys the iceberg and causes the villain to fly back. Izuku appears behind the villain and kicks him in the back of the head. The villain flies in the opposite direction towards Endeavor.
"Yes! Now, you can kill me!" exclaimed the villain.
"Shut up!" exclaimed Endeavor.
Endeavor punches him in the face, knocking him out. Joshua and Natsu walk up to Endeavor. Endeavor hugs them both.
"Why are you hugging me? Stop it," said Joshua.
"I'm glad that you guys are safe," said Endeavor.
"I'm alright, Endeavor," said Natsu.
"I promise I won't leave ever again," said Endeavor.
"This is a really weird position to be in to hear this. Can you let us go?" said Natsu.
"Of course. Sorry," said Endeavor.
Endeavor stops hugging the two boys.
"I'm glad that you guys are alright," said Endeavor.
"That villain was pretty weak, so we weren't in any danger," said Joshua.
"I'll call the cops to lock the villain up," said Endeavor.
Joshua walks past Endeavor and walks towards Shoto.
"Did my father just hug you and Natsu?" asked Shoto.
Joshua smiles.
"Maybe he is going through a metamorphosis," said Joshua.