Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia
Chapter 162:
In the middle of Musutafu, two boys walked next to each other down the sidewalk away from U.A.'s gates where they met up. Midoriya Izuku had planned to go to the train station after school to start on a long trip to Yutapu City, but the person he was going to meet there had been leaning up against the wall of a building practically across the street from U.A.'s gates. As the two of them walked farther from the school they used to go to together, Midoriya was questioning his friend on his quick arrival when he had told Zach that he was going to meet him in Yutapu. "…so you didn't get out early at all?" Zach shook his head as that was how he just responded to Midoriya when he figured Zach had found a way to do that.
Midoriya frowned a bit more at Zach's casual head shake with a smile like he was fine with what he knew Midoriya was implying here. "Then you flew here?" Midoriya asked. "Using your Quirk?"
"That's right," Zach replied. He smiled at a pair of businessmen in suits across the street who looked over interestedly as they thought they recognized the boys, and the two opened their eyes much wider as they realized they were right about that. Zach looked back to Midoriya, "Taking the train would've taken hours. I didn't want to do that, plus you couldn't talk for long if you had gotten there then had to head back to make it home in time for your pass. Since I knew you wouldn't fly yourself-"
"Because it's illegal, Zach," Midoriya stopped. He stared firmly at Zach who looked back at him and smiled even more at Midoriya's upset look. "I'm serious. This isn't good. I'll have to-"
"Someone died at Musutafu General, just an hour and a half ago," Zach interrupted. Midoriya froze with his mouth open ready to continue his upset talk at Zach, but his eyes went wide instead at Zach's counter. Zach looked at him and said in a steady voice while still smiling, "To get there fast enough, I had to fly. I was close enough to reach her. Using my Quirk in that emergency situation was justified then, am I wrong?"
Midoriya started walking again as Zach continued forward. Midoriya sped-walked a few steps so he was back on his darker-haired friend's side, then he said in a low, but hesitant voice, "You saved this woman's life, just so you could, save time?"
Zach dropped his smile into flat lips, though he rose it gain as there were people ahead of him heading his direction. "I know, it's not a great reason. It's justification for using my Quirk though." Zach spoke quickly as Midoriya was opening his mouth next to him, "And don't give me any more shit about it. I just felt my brain hemorrhage and died a few minutes ago, and that lady's back to life. Just leave it at that. Okay?" Zach looked to his side while still smiling, but despite his expression looking totally carefree and happy, the tone he just used showed the expression was solely for everyone else nearby and not for Midoriya himself.
Midoriya smiled a small smile himself to try and do the same as he saw a couple of people pull out phones, but he knew he was not as good as Zach at being that convincing when he wasn't feeling like smiling. "Sure," Midoriya said after giving that unenthusiastic smile. He looked back forward and the two of them got silent for a moment. To only bring someone back for that reason though- or maybe that's just what he's telling me! Except, some people are getting upset that he isn't bringing back more people dying all the time around Japan. This case could work to show he's trying to listen to them? He's trying to listen to their demands, and gradually more people will wind up accepting the amount of people he's able to save? Is that what he's doing?
You don't have to think so deep into this one, Midoriya, Zach thought as he continued forward himself on Deku's right closer to the street. I was just checking through the message boards of people all asking me to show up and save someone. This one wasn't too far back, so I could still save her. It worked out well. Saving a few shows that I really am trying, while getting so few indicates it's still difficult to save everyone. Maybe I did have ulterior motives! …Though, earlier I really was just thinking about getting myself a reason to fly here.
"Sorry, for what I was just saying," Midoriya started. Zach looked to his side at his friend walking with him. He was glad Midoriya had suggested this, as since their private talk in the woods after Bakugo, Todoroki, and Midoriya confronted him together, he had been hoping things would normalize a bit with his old friend. Zach nodded but was going to say it was fine. He knew Midoriya was referring to how he almost said he was going to 'have to' do something about Zach using his Quirk unprovoked. "But you always say things in such a… I don't know. Vague way? You act almost intentionally mysterious sometimes."
"I don't try to," Zach said. "In fact, I've been trying to be more open about everything lately." Midoriya frowned at him with a skeptical look as he said it, which made Zach lower his smile a little and hum himself. Little over a week ago he was suspicious enough of me to track me out into a national park with Todoroki and Bakugo. Ready for who knows what they were thinking was waiting for them. "The old me never would have told you guys what I was thinking about the other day in the forest," Zach reminded.
"About having to pretend to be Zach Sazaki?" Midoriya asked, his voice getting softer.
"Yeah," Zach responded. "It's been a bit better since I said it aloud. I had to admit it to myself in that moment too, and now it's a lot clearer when I'm purposely doing it and when I really don't have to."
"But you still are?" Midoriya questioned. "Doing it?"
"Sometimes," Zach replied, only a brief hesitation there before he said it. Fight day was tough. The more incidents I appear at though "randomly," the easier it is to just be myself. All of myself. Zach's eyes widened a bit at that thought, then he hummed in a more thoughtful way retrospectively.
Midoriya just frowned deeper though at Zach's response right there. He could see his friend looked thoughtful afterwards like he was still thinking hard about it and trying to deal with his problems, but everything in their conversation so far rubbed Midoriya the wrong way. How Zach had gotten there, his reason for using his Quirk, how he was still deceiving, and the fact that he was admitting to it like it was something he was trying to get over and not something he was actively doing to his friends and people around him. The way we think is too different, Midoriya thought while shifting his eyes to the corners and looking at the boy on his right of equal height to him. Their eyes were almost on-line with each other, and Zach shifted his to the corners of his vision too to meet Midoriya's gaze.
"What is it?" Zach asked.
"Nothing," Midoriya said.
Zach rolled his eyes and looked back straight ahead. "What?" Midoriya asked after he saw that look.
"Well here you are, calling me vague and mysterious," Zach began. "But I'm answering your questions, while you're pretending like there's 'nothing' bothering you?" Zach asked it in the most skeptical voice like there was so clearly something bothering Midoriya. "You know, I'd think after years of lying to people you'd be a little better at it by now." Midoriya's expression saddened at Zach's comment which made the black-haired teen sweatdrop that what he said actually got to Deku. "Sorry," Zach said, making Midoriya raise his eyes in surprise at the genuinely apologetic tone in that voice. "Know that's tough on you," he said, and Midoriya frowned so much deeper as Zach said that to him in almost a pitying way that Midoriya had to deal with this burden.
The way he flipped like that! He just, spoke what he thought I wanted to hear the most! He went from genuine which was what he was joking about to, to countering to make me feel better about lying! Is that actually… wrong of him? He saw that I was upset and apologized, and I think that's him what? Messing with me?! Midoiya ground his teeth but then rose a half-baked smile at some high school passerbys who were surprised to see the two nearing them.
"Lifebringer! Can we get a picture?!" A couple of first year girls from a public high school called out at him.
"Deku too!"
"Sure," Zach responded cheerfully. He walked towards the three, and he motioned towards them with his head when he looked back at the hesitating Deku. Guess this doesn't happen for him as often. He sure is recognized though, but I guess my celebrity status takes it to the next level. And since other people have posted selfies of them with me online, people know that if they ask I'll be willing to take one with them.
The two eighteen year olds continued through Musutafu towards a less crowded section of the city. They headed into a residential area near a college, where there were lots of restaurants but not many high-rises, and the two of them stuck out less because the people in the area were really not expecting to see them. Zach's black hair was spiked as usual, and Midoriya's curly dark green hair stuck out a bit too, but neither of them any more than some of the strange people with mutant-type Quirks or flashy bodies who normally walked around. "…That? I feel like the news took what I was saying the wrong way. I don't have anything against Nikko. I really don't. But it's like if I'm not praising the guy, everyone thinks I hate him because how could I not love him for getting me out?"
"I, understand that," Midoriya said, as the way Zach explained it made a lot of sense to him. "But, you know he didn't have to just pardon you?" Zach looked at Midoriya confusedly wondering what he meant by that. Midoriya continued in a serious way, "He could have kept his campaign promises, but still just put you on the spot and made you talk about what you did for the thirteen months you were gone before pardoning you. He let you off easy, and you didn't have to tell anyone anything."
"I wouldn't have gone for it," Zach said. Midoriya frowned, but Zach shrugged and added, "If they had told me to do that as a condition for being released early, I would have just stayed in prison for the extra years."
"Would you have?" Midoriya asked. His voice had a hint of a stern tone in it, though he was trying to hide it and not sound accusatory like he thought Zach knew he was going to get out in the exact amount of time he did.
"I told you why I went to Tartaros," Zach replied. "And until I got shot on my way out, I still really thought All For One was coming for Death. Keeping it locked up down there was better in my mind, and it was an excuse to keep myself secluded down there longer."
"So you would rather still be down there than up here?" Midoriya questioned, his voice starting to sound like an interrogation.
"I thought so, when I was still down there," Zach answered. He lifted his gaze up to the sky and smiled a bit brighter, "But I'm glad I got out. I got over the complex I had: not being able to see anyone and giving myself all these reasons for why I wouldn't. Making all these friends at Shiketsu, making up with you guys while too much time hasn't already passed… though, I think the amount of time that passed was actually the weirdest possible." Midoriya grimaced himself at what Zach just said, and Zach elaborated despite Midoriya's expression making it seem like he got it. "It wasn't enough time for everyone to get over it, nor for some people to stop thinking of me as a friend or classmate, and issues people had with me that probably would have died down over time still lingered and were swept back up by my return."
"You think their feelings would have just gone away after a certain amount of time?" Midoriya asked harshly. "Our feelings?"
"After 6 years?" Zach wondered back at him. "How much did they change in just the year I was gone?" Zach asked. Midoriya's expression got less harsh as Zach did not back down and was responding with logic instead of emotion. "I'm sure everyone changed a lot over the year I was gone, and some more while I was in Tartaros. I changed too. If the last time I had seen everyone was when I was 16 though, and the next time was when I was 23, I'm sure it would have been a lot different than meeting up again when I was eighteen. It would have been 'long term' for everyone. Instead, I'm at this point where I don't know who's had enough time to really settle with themselves how they felt, and who feels like it had been long-term already and had gotten over it, and who felt like it was no time at all and were willing to welcome me back as their friend with open arms!"
Midoriya stayed quiet for a few seconds. He thought about his classmates who had been watching on their phones or on tv when Zach got out of Tartaros. He thought about the others who had been there when he was shot, and the ones who he knew had gone to see Zach earlier than he did in more personal trips to his place and in friendly visits instead of what this was turning out to be. Why didn't he let me come to Yutapu? Does he not want me knowing where his place is? Does he know that I'm working with Lemillion then?! But… since he knew Lemillion was following him the whole time, he knows Lemillion knows where he lives. Then did he really come all this way just so we could… talk for longer? Is that it?
"You don't have to think about everything so hard," Zach said. That just made Midoriya frown deeper that Zach thought he was, but Zach continued, "How are things with you? How were classes at U.A. today? What you do for practical training? Do you think you guys stand a chance against us in the coming joint training?" Zach bounced his eyebrows once while asking that question, hoping he could get some banter going back and forth or even just a better reaction than he had been getting. Midoriya just kept frowning though, wondering why it was Zach was trying to push the conversation onto Midoriya and what he had been up to. You said you wanted to be friends, Zach thought, trying hard to keep his smile, though he was getting tired of this more by the second. But you're so suspicious of every little thing-
"I'm, cautious around you," Midoriya said. He turned his head and looked at Zach seriously, but with a look of apology in his eyes too at what he just said. The way he said it was like he could not turn it off and was sorry about it, but he was still accusatory at the same time because of that caution he just mentioned.
Zach got a slightly more serious look on his face too, but at the same time he relaxed in a big way. Finally. This is all I want, Midoriya. He kept that serious look while asking, "Why?"
"Because," Midoriya began. They were on a residential road now and there was barely anyone else on the street besides them, and no one within earshot. He looked to his side at Zach as they kept walking, and he said in a stern voice, "You did what Stain did." Zach curled the corners of his lips down, while Midoriya continued, "You knew what he had done, but you went and did the same thing anyway."
"That's not true," Zach disagreed.
"You tried taking things into your own hands," Midoriya said. He said it firmly in a voice that revealed his true beliefs to Zach and why his friend was cautious of him and so against all he had done. Midoriya stared at Zach sternly and continued, "To change society and fix things outside the law." Midoriya paused for a second and he narrowed his eyebrows down at the bridge of his nose. "Even in those cities where the crime rate went down, what Stain did wasn't right. You understand that, right?" Midoriya questioned him.
"I do," Zach replied. "I understand that, because Stain decided to purge heroes. What he did was wrong."
Midoriya's voice got lower and darker, his face intense as he said, "Purging villains is wrong too."
Zach just nodded in agreement with that statement, "You're right." His eyes shifted to his side at his former classmate who tried to keep that intense look despite Zach's agreement. "But that's not what I was doing." Midoriya continued to glare at him, but Zach looked harsher back at him and continued, "You don't know what I was doing, so don't say-"
"You hear of the villain Faith?" Midoriya asked. He looked at Zach questioningly when he asked, and Zach nodded his head while searching Midoriya's expression though he did not see what he was searching for in it. Midoriya managed to keep from letting on what he already knew because what he was bringing up was not about what he had heard from Lemillion recently. Instead, he continued after Zach's nod, "You know how we fought him?" Midoriya asked, his tone showing he suspected Zach already did but was just checking. Another nod.
"When I faced him," Midoriya said. His eyes got colder and he looked into Zach's with a frustrated and passionate look in them. "He taunted me about what 'real' heroes were while telling me how I wasn't. In that chaos, in what was like a war-zone with flames all around and more villains than heroes, Faith used your name to rally the villains." Zach's hands clenched instantly into tight fists at his sides as he and Midoriya stopped near an awkward intersection showing poor city planning for this part of Musutafu. "He used you as an example to get the villains of the Stain Cult to think of me as not a hero and attack me. Because I was 'too afraid' of going around and stopping everyone without a license. 'And of course you would be terrified of stepping out and being more like him, because it got everyone he cared about killed. His friends, his family, and his mother.'"
Zach did not get upset at what Midoriya just said to him. His eyes grew wide instead though, as the way Midoriya was quoting it sounded like Faith had been threatening Midoriya's mother. Before he had time to wonder if he was just jumping to conclusions because of something else he already knew, Midoriya continued quicker, "It sounded like Faith was threatening my mom there, like he knew Phinx and Lee would come for her." Zach's eyes went from wide to narrowed in an instant. His expression turned harsh, and cold, and as it happened Midoriya snapped quicker, "I already know you know them, because of the horrified way the two of them reacted to hearing your name."
Zach stared at Midoriya in surprise. He stared at him in confusion, and hesitation at the intense and frustrated way Midoriya was staring back at him. "When Wonderlass was killed," Midoriya began softly after a few seconds' pause. "I yelled out your name," Midoriya continued. "But you didn't come."
Zach bowed his head a bit and his front spikes shadowed over the tops of his eyes. Midoriya continued with his own head bowing a bit, "The two of them were so terrified when I shouted for you to come, but they had no reason to be. You didn't show. And if it was my mom who died…" Midoriya's face scrunched up as he was finally able to say this for the first time. "And you weren't there- but even it being Wonderlass I still can't-"
"Who should I save?"
Zach asked the question to interrupt Midoriya. His former classmate stared at him still angrily but also in a somewhat confused way at Zach's counter right there. Zach looked him seriously back in the eyes though, and he posed this question, "If I was currently saving someone else when Wonderlass was killed, a hero I barely knew… If I was saving an innocent person at the time why was her life more important?"
Midoriya opened his mouth, but he hesitated. You weren't at the time…
Zach continued too quickly, "You don't know if I was doing that at the time." Midoriya's mouth closed, and Zach went on before he could recuperate and think of countering, "But you think I should have been there to save Wonderlass because you cared about Wonderlass." The way Zach said it flipped the situation onto Midoriya where he now realized he was the one being put on blast for being selfish and in the wrong here. He opened his mouth again to make a new counter, but Zach continued, "And yeah, I knew Phinx and Lee. They were a couple of murderous fucks who I should have killed the first times I met them."
The cold, dark way in which Zach just said that made Midoriya completely freeze up with his eyes growing huge. Zach's expression was dark after saying it, but he added, "I didn't though." He said it firmly and while staring into Midoriya's eyes. Then his dark, stern look faltered. His face filled with more hesitation instead, and he scrunched up his face a bit while asking, "Was it wrong of me not to kill them?" He asked it in a skeptical tone, but the face he made right before it made that skeptical feeling feel not as such. Midoriya was shocked by the question itself and the scenario Zach was putting out before him. Zach went on darkly, "If when I brought them to prison and threatened to kill them if they ever broke out, because I was afraid that with their skill sets they would be able to, I shouldn't have just killed them right then and there? It would have saved Wonderlass' life right? Maybe some others' too?"
Midoriya shook his head and Zach finally stopped. "No," Midoriya answered. "It wouldn't have been right."
"I. Agree," Zach said. He shook his head and then continued, "And that's why I put them in jail, and that's why even though they broke out and killed good people, I would still do it that way again. Because I didn't know how it would turn out, and there are other people I got sent to prison who never did break out, and who maybe will rehabilitate in there after a while. They can still have their second chances."
People he "got sent to prison?" He's not even trying to hide the fact! … Midoriya grimaced and started walking right as Zach looked to be turning to get on the move again. He grimaced like that because he knew the tangent he was starting to go on in his head about Zach's illegal activities over that year was his easy escape from admitting the things right about what Zach had just told him. We don't disagree on those points. Everything he said, it's all… it's the right thing to do. The frustration of being unable to push this on Zach anymore though, when for so long he had been angry about Wonderlass' death and what 'could have been' had Zach been there or done things differently, didn't make much sense to him anymore and just frustrated Deku more.
"What you were doing out there though," Midoriya started back up. "It was still wrong."
Zach nodded his head slowly on Midoriya's side. "We don't disagree there." Midoriya shifted his gaze to the side and wondered what Zach meant by that. As he did, Zach did not turn back to meet his gaze though. Faith used my name. That mother fucker. I already punished him. I couldn't have made it any worse, but still! I killed Stain for that same thing. Other people using his name to do monstrous things. FAITH using his name to do horrible things, while Faith was using my name at the same time. But it was still… it has to be different. "But, Midoriya," Zach continued after agreeing that what he had been doing was wrong. "The fear I'm sure those men showed you that day was because of the threat I made if they ever broke out of prison."
Midoriya looked at Zach with a look wondering what he meant by that. Zach continued, "When you called my name, they feared that I would carry out the terrible things I said I would do to them if they escaped and I saw their faces again." Midoriya stopped, and Zach turned towards him and leaned forward with a dark look over his whole face. "And I can't even remember what that threat was," Zach hissed. "But it was something so fucked up that I'm not surprised their reactions have stuck with you this long." After all, my own comrades gave me strange looks for the rest of the day after that. They didn't have that kid die in their arms though. Killing Phinx would have been easy for me. Maybe I should have. Did I want to? I wanted to. If I did though, I could have. I could have justified it for countless reasons and no one would have questioned me. I guess, I never wanted to kill… any of them.
The two boys had stopped walking and Midoriya realized his heart was racing and his body tensed up as if he was about to get in a fight. He tried telling himself that wasn't right, but his face scrunched up instead and he ground his teeth in frustration. "Why are you so, why do you try and be scary all the time?" Midoriya chastised. He glared at Zach while asking, making Zach hesitate and pull his own head back as he realized what he just said had been unnecessarily intimidating.
Why am I doing that? Zach thought, and he gained a partially apologetic look while turning away from his friend. "I don't know," Zach muttered. He started walking, and Midoriya hesitated himself for a moment as it was his turn to feel apologetic for what he just said. That moment was fleeting though.
"You don't know?" Midoriya repeated back to Zach while walking up to his side again. He frowned as Zach started smiling, and Deku did not care that he was not since the two of them were on a side road without any other passerbys. "I'm not just talking about right there. Why did you act that way towards the villains you fought too?" Midoriya asked. Zach lowered his smile a bit, as it was hard to keep it when there was no pressing reason to like someone watching them. "The two of them weren't just afraid," Midoriya continued in a quieter voice. He thought about the looks on those two mercenaries' faces, and he said, "They were nearly unconscious but they lifted their heads… and the pure terror on their faces exceeded anything-"
"Good," Zach said. He didn't turn back to Midoriya as he said it, despite his friend spinning towards him with a surprised look at that response.
"'Good?'" Midoriya asked in almost a sickened tone if Zach was serious about that.
"Yeah, that tells me that doing that to them really worked. And other guys who weren't as hardcore as those two, who still might have been able to break out of prison, will now second guess themselves and miss out on opportunities to escape." Zach said it in a calm, calculated voice while Midoriya's face was more full of emotion. Zach turned to him and said in that monotone voice, "As terrifying as I was to them when I captured them, if that prevents them from killing prison guards and escaping then it was worth it. If it saved a single person then… then it was all worth it." Zach's eyes darkened, as faces flashed through his head with expressions full of terror over them.
"That's wrong, Zach," Midoriya said. Zach turned his head to the side, and Midoriya continued in a firm voice, "You could use that same argument for just killing every villain you ever catch." Zach lowered the corners of his lips and looked away at Midoriya's point. "They wouldn't be able to hurt anyone ever again. Right?" Midoriya looked to his side and said in a softer voice while keeping eye contact with Zach, "You can't make assumptions for the far future to justify bad decisions in the present. Even if it's not to the same degree…" Midoriya did not continue, but he was alluding back to Stain again and despite holding off on it himself, Zach thought of it this time without that last push and just lowered his eyes to the sidewalk.
"But what you were doing as… when you were being a vigilante," Midoriya said. He didn't finish 'as Death,' instead keeping the conversation on track as he knew Zach would just counter him and derail what he was trying to get across. "Bringing that much fear into the world. You were fighting villains with villains' tactics. Weren't you?" Zach started shaking his head, but Midoriya countered that shake, "Using fear as a tactic is what villains do. It's a tactic they use-"
"It's a tactic of war," Zach growled. He grit his teeth after the words left his lips, but he continued walking without missing a beat even as Midoriya felt himself miss a step and almost fall off the sidewalk as his foot came halfway off of the curb. The fact that he did that despite having been walking in a straight line told him that he had unconsciously stepped to the right. His head spun back as Zach continued while getting farther in front of him, "You might not believe me, Midoriya, but I learned what I learned on the battlefield."
"You weren't at war," Midoriya jogged up to Zach's side and got in front of him to look back in his eyes. Zach kept walking and Midoriya had to side-back walk as they moved on, "You were fighting villains illegally-"
"Don't tell me it wasn't war," Zach said. His voice was dark and he gave Midoriya a cold look that had his old friend ease back at the look in his eyes. "You weren't there. You didn't see that world and the things I went through, so don't tell me what it was I went through over there."
"In Terra?" Midoriya asked. "Arcasia?" He lifted his tone higher and scrunched up his face in disbelief, not going to lean back any farther due to the way Zach was trying to guilt-trip him here.
Zach was not trying that though. He just glared harder at Midoriya and replied, "Yeah. In Terra. I fought there against forces that wanted nothing more than to kill me and my friends, kill their families, raid their villages and rape their wives and daughters. Enslave them," Zach emphasized it and bit down hard as he did, turning his head partially to the side and grinding his teeth harder. Midoriya's face eased back again, and it got more and more unsure as Zach faking all this was getting harder and harder to believe.
Zach's fists balled and he said in a lower voice, "The people I fought with were ready to kill, and the ones I was fighting against were definitely going to kill us, but I held people back and tried to fight in a way without just killing everyone. In that world at war, I was the one making sure both sides didn't just massacre each other. We could have, it could have come down to that, if I had gotten any softer than I did. If I had tried to take the high ground any higher than what I did, we all would have been killed." Midoriya opened his mouth, and Zach snapped, "My comrades died, because of enemies they thought were surrendering or who they thought they had knocked out, jumping up and stabbing them or killing them using their Quirks." Zach leaned his head towards Midoriya's and spoke darker, "I kept everyone from just killing their enemies, but in order to prevent those men and women we took down from coming back and killing us, I put the fear of Death in them."
"Zach," Midoriya started.
Zach looked where Midoriya was looking, and he grit his teeth so much harder while feeling rage bubbling inside him. Even in Terra. EVEN with it being the war in Arcasia, it's still so fucking vivid! Zach clenched his eyes shut and rose his head back. He lifted his head to look away from his shaking fists that had darkness spilling out the cracks between his fingers, and he took in a deep breath while those dark wisps faded away.
"Death is partially connected to my emotions," Zach said which had Midoriya snap his eyes back up to see Zach's open again and looking at him in a calm way. He started walking forwards again and continued as Midoriya stared at his back, "I learned that while I was in Arcasia too. My teacher, who also had Death, he told me about it. And when my Death got strong enough that it started to happen more frequently, Fraisha helped me get it under control. She was in my army before we even joined the Allied Forces against the Queen. And she stayed with me through that to the point where I became a general myself, coming with me all the way to the Queen's capital."
Is any of that real?! Midoriya kept staring at Zach's back with his eyes huge at how all this fact was mixed in with fiction. His Quirk being connected to his emotions makes sense, because I don't think he was trying to make those wisps come out a second ago. But, anything else? Getting it under control, makes sense, but Fraisha was his friend in Terra? His teacher also had Death and taught him- I don't understand, Zach. It's all nonsense to me. He started walking after Zach as his darker-haired friend looked over his shoulder back to him. He got close to Zach, and then he sped up and got right back on Zach's side as he had been hesitating to do so. But even if I don't think you're telling me the truth. Even if what you say, isn't what you really did, there are things I can still say. Things you will still tell me and things that I can convince you of!
"You're right, and I'm sorry," Midoriya started. Zach looked at him confusedly at how Midoriya just started. "I don't know what you went through. But whatever it was, Zach," Midoriya looked to his side into Zach's eyes as they headed down another road in a residential area without many people. There were some middle schoolers ahead of them who must've just gotten out of school, but they were heading the same direction and did not notice the famous heroes back behind them. Deku continued in a low but strong voice after a pause, "You aren't at war now. You're trying to be a hero, aren't you?"
"War and being a hero aren't mutually exclusive," Zach responded without delay. Midoriya meant for his question to create a pause where Zach would think of that and realize… or something. Zach countered him though and continued like he was the one informing Midoriya, "Actually, they share a lot of similar aspects. In war, Midoriya, my ultimate goal was to defeat my enemies without fighting." Midoriya froze when he opened his mouth, as he wanted to get back to talking about not war. How Zach just described it was not what Midoriya thought he would say though, and he got a quizzical look on his face which had Zach lift a small grin. "The greatest victory is one where I never have to fight. Because without fighting there's the least amount of risk to my soldiers and to innocent people who might get caught up in the violence."
That's just being a hero- Midoriya wanted to say it aloud, but he also felt like saying so would just make Zach confirm to him how similar they were which Midoriya did not accept.
"In order to make it so I don't have to fight though, I need fewer enemies and my enemies to be weaker than I am so that they surrender easier." Zach held up a hand while saying it, then he rose up his other palm and added, "And I want them to fear me because if they fear me, they'll surrender quicker and tell me what I want to know without me even needing to interrogate them-"
Midoriya cut him off before he could continue with that, "Heroes shouldn't be feared."
"You think villains didn't fear All Might?" Zach countered right back. Midoriya said what he thought firmly at him, but Zach responded just as firmly and locked eyes with Midoriya who hesitated after the question. "They were kept in the shadows for so long because of his existence, because they feared him. Striking fear into my enemies was a good tactic in war too, because it helped me in the most basic aspects of warfare. Even when you are weak you have to appear strong. They must think you are there even when you aren't. Crimes won't happen if they fear that I might be there; lingering near a town the monsters might try and raid and conquer."
Midoriya's nose scrunched up and he furled his lips at the logic in what Zach was saying. He had been getting upset about it because it felt like Zach was talking about the Army of Death though, but then Zach mentioned monsters again and raiding towns, and his heart churned with uncertain emotions wondering if he could accept any of this if it was all based off fantasy. Zach went on even as Midoriya was clearly having trouble absorbing everything, "It's all the same, Midoriya. In war, every action I took was a deception. And I won that war in which I was the underdog by far. And when I lost, it was because my enemies didn't believe in the ploys and false information I tried to get to them. They didn't fall for my strategies and they expected my maneuvers. They had to think I was there when I wasn't, but they also had to think I wasn't there when I was. That way I could get right up to them without them knowing and catch them off guard. Rush them fast and hard before they can get their bearings. Make them afraid and unable to organize a counterattack or defense. And you know where I learned all these strategies?"
Zach had spoked rapidly towards the end through his last five or six sentences. Midoriya was looking at him intensely and listening to what he was saying, (whether or not he could believe it all being put on the back-burner for later). He hesitated after Zach asked the question because it seemed like Zach wanted him to answer. Then he responded in a question, asking, "Your experience-"
Zach started shaking his head before Midoriya was finished which had him close his mouth. Then Zach replied, "Camino Ward." Midoriya's eyes opened wide while Zach continued to stare straight into them. "That's right. I was in the villains' lair, and Edgeshot came to the door and pretended to be the pizza guy. All Might busted down the wall, and Kamui Woods wrapped them up before they could react. Gran Torino and Edgeshot knocked out Dabi and Kurogiri. They rushed the villains fast, and the villains were afraid as their worst enemy was suddenly there in front of them and overwhelming them with his power."
The green-haired teen Zach was talking to closed his mouth for a second and then opened it to say something, but Zach continued first when he was about to counter that that type of fear was not the same as what Zach did. Zach could see him about to do that though, and he said, "They didn't let the villains know they were there until the trap was ready and set, and going. Even knocking on the door first I didn't understand, for so long, but I think Edgeshot did it as part of the fear factor. He knocked, scaring the villains who weren't expecting anyone, but by saying that he was the pizza guy they all started to feel that relief that it was not a hero. And then bam! The walls cave in and that fear reemerges ten-fold because they had a moment of hope and relief that nothing bad was going to happen, and they treasured that freedom and the idea that they were not going to risk going to jail tonight. And then…"
Zach looked into Midoriya's eyes deeper as Midoriya reacted with his eyes growing a little wider and his breath hitching. Zach nodded his head at what he saw, and he commented, "So Lemillion was recording everything I said."
Midoriya's eyes that had twitched before, shot open as wide as they could get in an immediate panic and flip of the stream his thoughts were on. Zach grinned and he laughed at the way Midoriya completely froze up right there. "You need to work on your own art of deception," Zach said, while Midoriya was getting angrier now as he realized what had just happened. "I just described to you the same tactic I used on Rancor and those guys, scaring them and then giving them the relief before intensifying their fear so much more." Zach kept smiling despite Midoriya's upset look, and he said, "I doubt Lemillion would've worded it like that, so it makes sense it would be a recorder."
"That's not alright," Midoriya said. He was frowning at Zach and clearly upset, his fists still clenched but more of a defeated and embarrassed look on his face that somehow his expression had given Zach all that information. He had been kept up late at nights mulling over whether or not he should tell Zach himself, and now the choice to do so was taken out of his hands. As much as he thought it would make him feel bad if Zach had found out without Midoriya telling him that he was working with Lemillion to come after him, he didn't feel guilty when Zach just manipulated their conversation to figure it out from his own expressions.
Midoriya glared at his former classmate who got a bit of a hesitant look on his face and looked ready to apologize too, but Midoriya's lip trembled for a moment as his mind worked faster and his heart raced. Unless… Midoriya thought, watching Zach carefully while his friend leaned back in a hesitant way at the way Midoriya was looking at him now. He knew, already? Or maybe he didn't know, but when he just found out he could have kept it a secret he didn't know and just pretended! He could have used the fact that he knew, to give me wrong information or- or maybe, he knew that if I told him, I'd be betraying Lemillion. And without telling him, I was going to keep feeling guilty that this was in part an interrogation even if neither of us want it to be?! Is that what he thought- in that single second after I reacted where he knew I was working with Lemillion?! He could have, already had contingencies! If I or Bakugo was… yeah, that makes more sense.
"I really wasn't trying to get it out of you," Zach started while trying to read what Midoriya was thinking based off his changing reactions. "I really did mean what I was saying about fear, but what I was talking about does relate directly to tactics I use now. You just gave it away right there though, and I didn't want to pretend like I hadn't figured it out by not admitting that you gave it away."
He… could have known, that's what I was thinking, Midoriya stopped looking as harsh and just lowered his look a bit. His eyes shifted to the floor, But, I get the feeling he isn't lying. Midoriya frowned but this time at himself for not being a good deceiver. "Deceiving people is wrong," Midoriya said, as if defending himself for the mistake he just made.
"Does your secret still tear you up inside?" Zach wondered.
Midoriya looked to his side at Zach in surprise, then he frowned even deeper while looking back forward. "You lie too! Deku, what about your lies about All Might?" "…And I pretended I was fine with what you 'told me,' but I'm not!" "…Because, because I liked you, Deku. I liked you a lot, because of how earnest you were. How trustworthy… But you lie. You lie when you tell me that Kaminari was just, saying it because your Quirks were similar. I noticed how close you and All Might were a long time ago so you can't just pretend…" Midoriya rose his gaze with a pained look on his face, and he replied softly, "It does."
"You, you get mad at Zach for his lies despite being a total hypocrite! Despite the fact that you lie to all of us, to me, straight to my face." Midoriya turned to his side at Zach and he bit down while pursing his top lip in. I lost my chance with Uraraka. A ruined chance of a relationship with her, that I've tried to push from my mind. Long gone now…
"You have to accept that you're deceiving people though," Zach said. He said it softly and looked at Midoriya with a sympathetic look as he knew how earnest his friend was. "If All Might's really your role model, then think about how All Might's been telling everyone for decades that he's a natural-born hero. Lying to billions. The entire world." Zach stared seriously at Midoriya while his friend got an even more upset look on his face which showed Zach he had not thought too hard about that, most likely because he did not want to. "Midoriya, if you're going to go with that, then you have to decide soon too."
Deku lifted his head in surprise. He turned to Zach confusedly too, and Zach said to him, "A great hero can't lie." He said it and Midoriya's surprised look turned shocked that Zach would say or even think that. "You're not allowed to," Zach continued, "but if you never get caught in the lie then it doesn't matter because the ends would justify it if people really were encouraged by the idea that Deku was natural born- like All Might thinks they were for him."
"They were," Midoriya said. All Might always said so. That, his symbol couldn't be tarnished. He was right about that!
"What All Might did was great," Zach said. "Don't get me wrong. But had it been discovered then it would have been much worse than people finding out what the truth was, because people would have also found out that All Might had been lying to them. Their greatest hero." Midoriya's face got dark lines over the top of it and a look of dread at the aspect of that. "So if you think you won't be able to keep it a secret forever," Zach continued when he saw that look covering Midoriya's face. "Then you've gotta come out and admit that All Might gave you the Quirk. Or that he passed it on to you." Midoriya's eyes grew huge at that suggestion and he stared at Zach in disbelief as he had never even humored the idea of breaking All Might's trust and telling the secret to the world.
Zach saw that disbelief but continued to stare just as intensely at Deku. "All Might kept that secret for decades," Zach said in a serious tone. "All Might isn't married. He doesn't have kids. I wonder if it's because All Might felt he had to keep that secret from them all." Zach paused to let Midoriya just think about that as it was clear he hadn't before, and this was something that greatly affected Midoriya's life more than it did his own. His voice got softer and he finished, "You have to make hard choices. There might only be two bad options, but you still have to make the choice. You don't have to make all the choices All Might did though. You don't always have to listen to his advice."
Midoriya stared straight ahead for a couple seconds with a frozen, dreading, stunned look. Finally he spun to his side to say something to Zach, but Zach was looking ahead again with a thoughtful look of his own but nowhere near as intense as Midoriya's was now. Saying something to Zach right now, countering about how great All Might was and how listening to his advice has always been right… it didn't seem as important as what it was he had to think about right now. His brow furled and his eyes narrowed, and Zach caught it in his peripheral vision and nodded to himself at the sight.
All Might was an amazing hero, but maybe he was more okay with lying for the greater good than Deku ever will be. Zach rose his eyes towards the sky for a moment, In that aspect alone, we're more similar. But that aspect is also the one thing that puts All Might more on my level, which is the opposite direction as heroes. He also didn't take in Eziano, thinking bigger picture than Deku would have. At least, that's what Midoriya says…
Zach rose the left corner of his lips farther from Midoriya, a growing smile at what he just thought while keeping his friend in his peripheral. Maybe Deku really won't be able to handle lying like that though, because he's even more of the picture of what a hero should be like, at least to me.
"If the art of deception isn't for you, I get it," Zach told him after the moment of silence passed. Midoriya looked back at him, still thinking hard about it but trying to hold the conversation and leave those kinds of deep life-altering thoughts for a different time. "Because I don't think you would do well in war either," Zach explained. He turned and smiled at his friend though, "But you can be a great hero without being deceiving." Midoriya got confused again, and Zach said in a common sense way while lifting up a palm again, "War and being a hero aren't mutually exclusive, but they're still very different things and require very different types of people. No offense Midoriya, but you never would have cut it as a soldier."
Midoriya let out a heavy exhale one step away from being a sigh. "No offense taken," he responded. Because I don't want to be a soldier. Not being able to be one, isn't something that bothers me. What bothers me more was that you were able to become one. "Hey Zach," Midoriya began. He looked to his friend and gave him a serious look, "Now that you know I'm part of the investigation against you… what are you going to do?"
Zach scratched the back of his head, and he replied slowly, "Nothing?" He rose an eyebrow and looked at Midoriya funny, then he laughed at the serious way in which Midoriya frowned back at him. "You and Lemillion can spend your weekends trying to prove that I'm Death, but you're going to fail because, and don't forget it this time- I'm not Death."
"Zach," Midoriya said, shaking his head. "I know you are-"
"Gah," Zach tilted his head back and let out an exasperated noise though while still smiling. "Well, whatever," he said with a shrug as he knew there was no point in trying to convince Midoriya otherwise. The more I talk about not being Death, the more… actually, he's already fully convinced. I don't think he could be any more than "fully." Zach rolled out his shoulders and he continued to smile in a carefree way as they were nearing an intersection onto a slightly more crowded road where the two of them would have to keep more professional appearances. "Did you hear about what the real Death was up to last night?" Zach wondered.
Because Lemillion immediately went to your house and staked it out to make sure you weren't going to sneak back in, yes. He said you left your house in the morning seemingly oblivious to what had happened. It was before news came out of everything going on, but you had to know beforehand didn't you? Midoriya found it hard to answer Zach's question when he felt like the way Zach worded it at the start of the conversation was so fake. "I heard," Midoriya finally responded though. "Death was reported to show up on that oil rig hostage situation."
"Only it wasn't really an oil rig," Zach replied.
Midoriya nodded. "Weapons designed to amplify Quirk powers. The research going on there could be considered part of a program to increase the strength of support equipment for heroes."
"I'm sure that's what the Chinese and Americans are going to argue," Zach added. "But the fact that it was disguised as an oil rig actually takes that option away from them. It throws conspiracy into the mix, and the extent to which they were forging those weapons also exceeded UN agreed-upon codes. Suneater said the weapons found there were more powerful than most banned firearms."
Midoriya agreed, and he spoke in a lower voice while thinking of the press conference they each watched earlier, "Have you seen many places like that, in your experience?"
"Yeah," Zach replied. There was no delay in his response, and Midoriya frowned deeper at the answer he did not want to hear for a lot of reasons. The fact that Zach would say it so plainly though, meant that there were enough that even just in the time he said he was on their world, he had seen multiple of these places. I knew about that place too, Midoriya, Zach thought. He smiled and gave Midoriya a look to get him to do the same as they headed onto the main street with lots of people on it who had yet to notice them but likely would soon. Midoriya looked at him and smiled back after a second, though softer than Zach's. I knew it was illegal, Zach thought while turning back forward, the person next to him clueless as to what he was thinking about. But I wasn't going to get involved in something just over the line like that. Checking "research labs" meant I was searching for human test subjects. A place like that working with adapting Quirks to weapons and still doing so humanely and with volunteers, paid employees, it was far better than most conspiracies go…
"I was surprised Amajiki-senpai was the one speaking through the press conference," Midoriya mentioned. Zach looked back at him, and Midoriya asked, "Have you ever met him? Suneater?"
"I don't think so," Zach replied.
"Well, he's not the best at public speaking," Midoriya said, though hesitating for a moment as he wondered if Zach was lying about that. He was a member of the ADTF with Lemillion for a little- "And with Endeavor there on the scene too, I thought Endeavor would be the one taking charge of dealing with the press."
"I think Endeavor only showed up there because of Death," Zach responded.
He offered it up and Midoriya nodded after a moment in reluctant agreement. The new Death, Midoriya corrected though he kept it inside for now.
Zach continued, "But since Endeavor is there, he's not going to go easy just because it's the U.S. and China he's dealing with. I'm sure he had something to do with how quickly the response team is getting moving."
"Maybe," Midoriya said. "But it's also because of the crisis itself," Midoriya countered. Endeavor's personality shouldn't have much to do with the speed at which other countries react. "The lab's workers got held hostage by villains, and those villains could have stole those weapons, reinforcing UN rules against countries creating such places. Don't you think?" Deku asked, and he smiled a little more at Zach's strong nod of agreement back.
"Plus, those weapons were surely funded by those countries' citizens who didn't know something like that was going on," Zach added. "So there's domestic outrage, and the international community is upset at the U.S. and China. Star-Spangled Man and Yue Fei are heading the investigation into which parties of their governments were responsible for keeping this place from the public and making it a conspiracy…"
Midoriya stared at Zach in surprise. Did that information just come out? I didn't see-
"…Since some people wonder if the heroes on the response teams were in on it too, they're being kept out of the investigation. The heroes on those teams, however, have worked with the investigators so far and admitted that the orders they received during the initial stages of the response seemed strange-" Zach hesitated for a moment at Midoriya's confused and slowly more accusatory look. "They're moving fast. It's a big conspiracy, and they're keeping everyone updated so as to ensure the public that the conspiracy won't go unchecked." Midoriya lost his accusatory look, as the way Zach said that made it sound like there really had been another press conference more recently that he missed… and it wasn't Zach receiving information from some sketchy source.
"I'm sure they'll find out who in those governments were responsible for establishing that lab with the kind of research going on there," Midoriya said. "Those weapons can't be allowed out into the world."
"Agreed," Zach said. He scratched the side of his head and mentioned in a quieter voice as a couple people looked towards him on the opposite side of the road, "Apparently a couple of the villains tried using the super weapons towards the end of the fight when they got cornered in a central room." Midoriya hadn't heard about this and glanced to his friend wondering about it, and he grimaced for a moment as Zach finished, "But the weapons were experimental prototypes and blew up in the villains' faces killing them, and nearly a couple of my recent alumni from Shiketsu." Zach took the hand from the side of his head off and waved it, "Hey there!"
Midoriya wanted to continue talking about that, but he had to turn and saw a group of people all heading towards them looking excited at who just returned to Musutafu. As much as everyone was mainly focused on Zach though, what he and Zach had been talking about earlier returned to Midoriya's mind. It dug its way back in there and he felt the nerves well inside him that someone was going to ask him about his Quirk, about where he got it… If All Might could do it then I- not that I'm thinking I can do anything he can! But- but don't I have to? I do! I think…
On the roof of U.A.'s main building, All Might stood in front of a man he had met on this roof a couple of times in the past year. Hawks faced All Might with his hands down in his pockets and a serious expression that made for an eerie chill only intensified by how cold it actually was up on that roof. All Might ignored that chill though despite his skinny frail body not being as good at handling rough environments as he once could. "I was surprised you contacted me again," All Might said at the man in front of him who was hesitating from saying what he came to talk about.
Hawks had his eyes lifted up to the rolling light gray clouds above them. His eyes narrowed at them, but he took in a deep breath through his nose, Every storm isn't them. "I considered not doing so for a while," Hawks replied as he looked back down to make eye contact with the former number 1 hero. "But there was something I needed to talk to you, specifically, about." Hawks paused, then he continued on this time without waiting for All Might to inquire about it. "It's about Sazaki. Not my current investigation into him, but, that thing I told you about a while back."
All Might nodded his head seriously back at Hawks. His eyes were steady and his lips flat, and Hawks could see he was ready to hear about this despite him also looking like he dreaded the information he was about to hear. "I'll have to report what I found to Lemillion too, but I came to you first thing since getting back in-country." Hawks rose a hand out of his pocket and rubbed the back of his head for a moment, and All Might felt more uneasy by the fact that Hawks was having trouble finding a way to start talking about this… whatever this was.
"Did you discover what caused that rumor of Sazaki's bounty being turned in?" All Might asked. Hawks rubbed the back of his head again slower, and All Might said in a lower voice, "You said you confirmed-"
"I did," Hawks said. He interrupted All Might and lowered his arm back down to his side. He stared into All Might's eyes with a truthful gaze and said, "The guys I was talking to had no reason to lie, and they were contacts with a lot of good information. I tried to find the place they sent him, tried to find the bounty hunters, but it was always dead ends before I could get anything of value. Until this time," Hawks finished in a way that made All Might's eyes widen for a moment, though he returned to normal a second later as this was what he was hoping for anyway.
Despite hoping for this information, All Might also felt wary based on the expression on Hawks' face. "And?"
"You're not going to like it," Hawks said. He did not say it like he was offering All Might the choice of not hearing it. He was just warning the older hero beforehand of what he was about to say here. Hawks took in a deep breath and then began quietly, his eyes quickly scanning over the roof of U.A. before he spoke, "I finally tracked down the source who gave out the wrong information long ago. It's the reason why I've been abroad for the past couple weeks. The source led me to the bounty hunters-"
"The ones who caught Sazaki?" All Might interrupted.
"The very same," Hawks replied. "They were pretty tough, but nothing he shouldn't have been able to handle. I don't know how they managed to capture him, but the rumor about the bounty was true. I had thought it was fake for a while since Tsukuyomi and Deku assured me that their pal Sazaki was Death. I discovered where the holes in the story were though. I figured out why it is, Sazaki could be here and also… Anyway, I was wrong. I found the bounty hunters in a well-hidden hideout in central Africa." Hawks did not want to bring up how he had doubted Zach Sazaki's reappearance the whole time and thought it might be some sort of fake, so he just left that part of his explanation out.
Africa? If Sazaki was Death, then he would have been there often, All Might told himself. But with Death out bringing people back to life still, I am not as sure as Young Midoriya that Sazaki truly was that man. Acting as a vigilante would mean there were no borders for him to act in, and there was a lot of chaos… All Might's eyes started opening wide as Hawks continued his next couple of sentences.
"When I found them, I doubted they would tell me about the people they handed Sazaki off to. There was a small chance that I'd find evidence," (of Sazaki really being dead), "but I doubted I would be able to find out anyway. But those bounty hunters told me the truth. They were scared," Hawks said that in a lower voice which was what made All Might start to sweat even in the cold. How Hawks continued did not help with that cold sweat any though, "They told me why they had gone into hiding and stopped collecting bounties for the last year. They sold Sazaki off to Umbuju, and a week later they heard what had happened and…"
"Umbuju?" All Might asked softly.
"A Nigerian," Hawks replied. "I looked into that too. I followed the breadcrumbs as far as I could, and I fell down that metaphorical rabbit hole only to bite off," Hawks hesitated. More than I was ready for, he finished in his own head. He looked at All Might though and saw the blond older man in front of him did want more of an explanation. "Umbuju," Hawks began. "He paid for Sazaki alive. I tracked down that name, and I came to a mostly redacted file on the hero network, though it showed Umbuju as deceased."
Did Sazaki kill him? All Might thought darkly. And if so… what caused him to do so?
"I had to go to Nigeria myself, and get some Nigerian heroes to tell me in person exactly what happened the day they found The Pit." Hawks paused again while All Might got an even more confused look on his face. "It was the place Sazaki was brought to," Hawks explained. "They learned about it after they showed up, but they kept what the place was from public eye. The villains they found there were arrested and all have life sentences in a Nigerian villain prison, though many of the villains were dead when they got there. There are still some reports of 'missing' Nigerian businessmen, and mysterious disappearances of various west African gang leaders and cadres. They were all there at the time of the breakout."
"What was this place?" All Might wondered. "Some sort of villain camp? Did they torture Sazaki there?"
"All Might," Hawks started.
"You can tell me, Hawks. What was the purpose of taking Sazaki there. Was his escape-"
"All Might," Hawks repeated it, and this time All Might fell silent at the tone in Hawks' voice. It fully unnerved the former top hero who did not like how the always calm and relaxed Hawks was looking. Hawks shook his head once at All Might, "They didn't want information or anything. The Pit, it wasn't that kind of place," Hawks bowed his head a bit, tssking and shifting his eyes away at the thought of telling this kind man about what he was hesitating so much on already. "Heroes wouldn't have hid something like that. They wouldn't have lied about it to everyone, but it was something that… they didn't want people to know about. They didn't want to give other villains ideas, or any of their civilians to realize what they had been allowing to happen in their own borders."
"Give it to me straight," All Might said, mustering up a strong look after realizing he had gotten unnerved by Hawks' voice there, which he suspected was why Hawks kept beating around the bush.
"The heroes described it, as a modern day Colosseum," Hawks said. He looked into All Might's eyes for recognition, and he shook his head as he didn't expect much from that explanation alone. "The prisoners were forced to fight in an arena. Villains and rich, evil bastards, would show up and gamble on the matches." All Might stared at Hawks hesitantly, his face slow to change as the initial disbelief at such a thing was being replaced by shock and then anger. The anger subsided though, as Hawks said in a dark voice, "When the Nigerian heroes arrived, a large number of the villains in charge of The Pit or just there to watch the fights were dead. None of the prisoners were there. The gladiators forced to fight and kill each other, like Sazaki must have been." Hawks got lower there and then said in a darker voice, "Forced into The Pit, to be a gladiator to fight to the death with other prisoners."
"Sazaki wouldn't have done that," All Might said. Hawks snapped out of his darker look for a moment. He rose his head in surprise, and he was more surprised to see how certain All Might looked after saying that. Unlike the time when Tsukuyomi and Deku told him Sazaki was Death though, a single look did not make him change his mind this time. There's too much evidence, Hawks thought, regrettably. All Might saw that look and shook his head at Hawks' response, "He couldn't have-"
"The prisoners," Hawks began slowly. "They were, forced to wear collars, that would have killed them if they refused…" All Might grit his teeth, and he closed his eyes trying to tell himself it couldn't be. With his eyes closed though, he just saw an image of Sazaki with red marks all over his neck. Could that have been a collar- "…or, if they used their Quirks."
All Might opened back up his eyes as Hawks added that last bit. "Huh? Wait- I, I don't understand," All Might said. "Why wouldn't they be able to use their Quirks?"
"The fighting was hand-to-hand combat," Hawks responded. His expression was just as dark, and All Might's confusion went away with an even more disturbed look forming on it. "Or with melee weapons, I heard," Hawks added. "The prisoners came from all walks of life, some not guilty of anything at all, and they were forced to fight to the death for the amusement of those villains. Our own Lifebringer…" Hawks shook his head, and he regained a composed look but still felt himself getting upset just thinking about the kid who had fought him, and had left him in someone's care on a beach after beating him.
"The place was fucked up, but almost as bad were the unredacted reports of what the villains who said anything told about what had happened to the place," Hawks said. All Might stared at Hawks with wider eyes that all that cruelty might be matched. Hawks did not look as upset this time, though his face was still dark as he said, "The gladiators broke free, with the help of the Army of Death. I think maybe Death's army came for their captured leader, or maybe Sazaki was just another prisoner of The Pit when they came." All Might stared at Hawks with his eyes huge, but Hawks gave him a look showing he should save that shock for a few more seconds. Hawks' face turned to the side and he looked off the roof of the U.A. building, to the West in the direction of Yutapu City. "One thing was agreed on by the villains who told me the truth though."
Hawks shifted his gaze back to meet All Might's, and he said in a low tone, "When the gladiators rose up, Lifebringer led the revolt. By that time he was already known by another name there though, one he lived up to during the uprising. They called him… The Champion of The Pit."
A/N Hope you enjoyed. Zach and Deku hang out and talk philosophies, while Hawks and All Might discuss The Pit. Thanks for reading! Leave a review below telling me what you think, questions, predictions, etc!
DarkJokes chapter 161 . Jun 13
The army of death is finally back and even got a tracker placed on them. Raijin and league of villains is back as well. This is really setting up to be some epic arc. Can't wait for the day the world knows zach is Death and he makes a badass statement.
I feel like the league is really ignorant. They are still out here messing with Zach when even Raijin with his quirk was still played by Zach in the end. Honestly if Zach wanted to be a villain he'd probably be the better successor for all for one. Like his minds so messed up and he can come up with such clever ways to fool one day we would see him as a villain or have different ideals to the rest of the superheroes and see an epic fight between the AOD and heroes. You know they should really make a small country for those not accepted by the world cause of their quirk. Where the AOD is the ruler but not in the traditional way. Like everyone happy and there are no crimes that would be awesome
A whole lot happening all over the place. The people close to Zach are suspicious, the AoD are moving and now being tracked, the LoV are back and blackmailing into power... Whole lot coming, and glad you're excited for it. Raijin's had his first loss, and now he knows he can lose. We'll see if he's learned from it and if he can keep up with our boy Zach... at some point. Nice predictions and comments, and thanks for the review!
yasideen1 chapter 161 . Jun 13
I know this probably ain't on your mind but does one of your alternate endings involve time travel, or could you consider a spinoff that does?
Not on my mind at all, or considering a spinoff- this story's still got a lot left! XD Trying to go faster but I can't think that far ahead.
lolmyster42 chapter 161 . 16h ago
Man, every time I read about Rebel I can't help but picture that one hacker guy from the first Transformers movie. The one living in his grandma's house that the FBI breaks into, followed by him screaming and clumsily running through a glass door. That guy.
Great chapter as always.
Glad you liked the chapter! And lol I pictured the scene of him getting rushed by the FBI in my head as I read this review. Rebel's always a fun character to write, as he never really adapted into the whole war atmosphere and is kind of an asshole. Thanks for the laugh, and hope you enjoyed the new chapter!