Chapter 25: One step closer
Deku: GUYS!
Charge Bolt: Please tell me you didn't get in trouble already.
Deku: No!
Deku: At least I think not.
Froppy: Should we be worried?
Dynamight: Let him talk you fucks!
Deku: Thanks Kacchan.
Deku: I can use 14% of my quirk at base state without exploding now!
Cellophane: YOOOOOO!
Chargebolt: Good one dude!
Red Riot: Congrats bro!
Creati: Congratulations.
Deku: Thanks guys! Did someone else have a surprise breakthrough?
Invisible Girl: Yup.
Invisible Girl: Guess what?
Invisible Girl: It worked!
Deku: bunnycheering . jpg
Earphone Jack: What are those two talking about?
Invisible Girl: Surprise!
Invisible Girl: I'll PM you later Deku.
Deku: Okay.
Deku: Anyone else?
Tsukuyomi: We finally discovered the wonders of flight tonight.
Tsukuyomi: Thank you my friend.
Deku: I just gave the idea, you did all the hard work.
Grape Juice: Hey guys, a little off topic but what's the velocity of the planet gravity's pull?
Creati: 9.8 meters per second, but normally it is rounded up to 10.
Grape Juice: Thanks!
Froppy: Again, should we be worried?
Deku: Nah.
Izuku chuckled, doubly so when Minoru sent an image of a smashed grape with the text 'probably'.
After Gran Torino ended their impromptu training session, Izuku had put together a nice dinner. Afterwards, the hero had left the boy to his own devices and called it a day. The young keybearer had gone to the roof for some star gazing when he decided to share the good news on the class group chat. Even though not everyone was online, being almost midnight, it still started some conversations.
He raised his still gauntlet covered hand and sparked an arc of power from One For All, seeing how thicker it was compared to just the start of the day. Gran Torino was right, Izuku already knew how to get stronger, now he just needed to go out there and do it.
In a puff of colorful smoke, Cotton materialized at his side. Izuku looked at his friend and grinned, "So, what do you think buddy?"
The Dream Eater gave a cry-
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Izuku blinked, "That's the spirit!" He laughed, "C'mon." The boy jumped down the roof, Cotton on his trail.
—
Toshinori passed Inko a water bottle, both seated at the stairs of Dagoba Beach. The two had gone on some jogs from time to time, as it helped Toshinori with his recovery and Inko with her stress eating problem. They would just track around the neighborhood and talk about their days, enjoying each other's company, but today there was another thing on the list.
"Will she be fine?" Inko asked worriedly after emptying her water bottle.
Toshinori laughed, "Inko, she's not really fighting anything."
"Even then, what if she falls?"
"Then she'll get back up, just like Izuku taught her."
The person they were talking about was Eri, who stood in the middle of the beach with a wooden sword in hand. Izuku had given her the toy, for that's what it was, before leaving. He made it himself so Eri could practice swordsmanship for the fateful day she too would become a Keyblade Wielder.
The girl tried first to copy her Master, but instantly she felt that it wasn't right. Izuku's stance was made for him to stand tall and press forward, always, but that was not what Eri wanted.
The girl loved her Master, but she wasn't him, Eri was her own person. Standing with her feet closer, the left one in front of the right, her body slightly turned to the side. The sword in her right hand pointing down and away from her body while her left arm was positioned ahead of her, palm down. It looked more like she was getting ready for a dance than a fight, and that was the reason it felt so right.
She took a deep breath, and moved. Eri didn't know what she was doing, only letting her body move her, and it pushed her to a performance. Her swings were wide, the girl spinning and building momentum before finishing in jumps and even flips that were surprising coming from a six year old.
She imagined Izuku, joining her in the spectacle. He did an overhead strike that Eri pirouetted away, she did a thrust that Izuku stepped aside. The Master swung wide causing the Apprentice to jump away, the student slashed low causing the teacher to leap over it.
The Hero dived sword first, his power bursting forward. The Princess felt her Light burning, her horn lighting up with a golden flame. She took a step back, and the Time for it to happen was shortened to zero. Eri took a deep breath, held tight to her power, her Light, her Hope, and moved.
The Time between each swing was shortened into non-existence, she wasn't moving faster, there was just no Time between starting a movement and finishing it. In flashes of gold, her dance progressed in after images.
Even then, the Izuku in her mind was always a step ahead. Her Master was the greatest hero, her hero, so Eri knew that she couldn't hurt him. Izuku would always be there for Eri with a smile on his face.
With a final spin, the Princess brought the show to an end in a burst of golden fractals. Eri huffed, breathless, that was fun.
Claps and cheers made the girl look at Toshinori and Inko, both with wide eyes and wider smiles.
"That was incredible, Young Eri!"
"It was beautiful, sweetie!"
The Princess giggled and bowed to her audience. She could barely wait to show it to Izuku.
—
Eijiro, or as he was called now, Red Riot, felt a groan building up in his throat before he stomped it down. At his side, Tetsutetsu, Realsteel, wasn't as successful.
"Why do we have to clean a street? We came here to learn how to be manly heroes!"
Their mentor, Fourth Kind, a well dressed man with four arms, was about to respond but Red Riot beat him to the punch.
"And that's what he's doing. Izubro cleaned a whole beach of trash because it was the right thing to do. That was manly by itself, but he also helped the community by doing it!" Red Riot picked his trash sack with one hand and Hardened the other, feeling how the elbow high compression sleeves on his arm helped focus and sharpen the effects of his quirk. Using it to stab a can and bring it up, he grinned, "I can't call myself a manly hero if I disappoint my bro like that! Let's clean this whole city!"
His words fired up the spirit of his metallic compatriot, "Yeah! Let's show everyone that we're manly and gentlemanly heroes!"
"That's the spirit bro!"
Fourth Kind huffed, watching the two knuckleheads dash around, picking up all the trash they could find. It seemed that lesson had already been taught, no job was too small for a hero, the act of helping could come in many kinds and a hero should strive to perform all of them!
"Good, by the end of the week, the true valors of a hero will be engraved into your very spirits!"
"Yeah!"
Red Riot chuckled, he couldn't wait to show Izubro how far he could go.
—
Denki, or Chargebolt as of five minutes now (or was it ten? Well, he had suited up a little while ago), was panicking. That wasn't unusual, what was unusual was the fact he was sliding down a power cable.
He had seen the trick in an old video game and after seeing Izuku doing something similar at the sports festival, he decided to try the idea. His mentor gave him the green card and now there he was, zooming down the street over the heads of everything and everyone.
Chargebolt gave another silent thanks to Izuku for his new boots and fingerless gloves that helped him with keeping grounded, channeling electricity, controlling electromagnetic fields and a million other things the blonde had already forgotten. Both articles were black with yellow lightning bolts adorning them. Point is, his friend was awesome, and Chargebolt would show Izuku that all the faith put in him wasn't for nothing the next time they saw each other!
—
Mino-, nope, Grape Juice, stared at the building block maquete of a street in front of him and then back at the calculations on the various pages in his hands.
"This should work."
Mt. Lady hummed, "You sure?"
Grape Juice slowly nodded, "Yeah, with your tips of how to keep an eye on buildings and streets layouts and a little help from this beauty here!" He patted the slingshot on his belt, thanking Izuku again for making it, "I will be pinballing all over the place like a pro!"
The heroine grinned, "Well, only one way to know for sure. Let's go out there and see if you can walk the walk."
Grape Juice almost stared at Mt. Lady's rear, but he slapped himself before he could. His friends were counting on him to get better, a first if Grape Juice was being honest, and he felt that living up to it was much more important now than enjoying the view.
Grape Juice could already imagine Izuku's face when the midget showed he too was going to be an awesome hero!
—
Katsuki, fuck! Dynamight was glaring at himself in the mirror, the turtle neck of his suit concealing the veins popping up on his neck from how much the blonde was gritting his teeth. Was it because of Best Jeanist, who had put Dynamight in jeans and was now doing his hair? No. Was it because he had spent the whole time of the internship until now talking about etiquette and good mannerisms? No. It was because Katsuki had accepted the internship for one reason and one reason only, but now he was chicken out!
Fuck that, and fuck the hairdo too! With a huff, Dynamight's hair exploded back into its usual style, much to Beat Jeanist's annoyance.
"Give up, after I got this trick from Deku there isn't a single power in the universe that can keep my fucking hair down." Dynamight grinned.
"Is that a challenge?" Best Jeanist lifted an eyebrow.
"No, its a fucking fact!" The bomber then decided to suck it up and spill it already, "And that's not why I came here for. I need your help." Dynamight had to almost physically wrestle the word 'help' out of him, but he did it because nothing, not even himself, was going to stop the blonde after he put his heart into something.
That picked the hero's attention, "With what, may I ask?"
"I have the temper of a rabid dog, I know, everyone knows, it's also a fucking fact. If I didn't, my quirk would throw my blood pressure into the ground and I would pass out every five minutes." Dynamight began with the simplest thing first.
"Interesting. So it is actually a defense mechanism against the effects of your quirk." Best Jeanist hummed in contemplation.
"Yeah, sweating nitroglycerin is all fun and smiles until you start having to deal with the constant side effects. The smell of caramel revolts me on a personal level, I have to pop the excess sweat on my hands all the time to not leave chemical waste on everything I touch and if I stay calm for more than five minutes I get lightheaded." He listed off. Turning the chair he had been on around, Dynamight stared Best Jeanist in the eyes, "But that's not a damn excuse. I need to learn how to be pissed but not let that hurt people around me. Not again." He growled out the last part.
His mentor heard it either way. Best Jeanist reevaluated the boy sitting in front of him, "I could say it won't be easy, but I'm sure if it was you would feel insulted. I instead will promise you, by the end of the week, you won't have to fear lashing out on the people you care about ever again."
Dynamight took a deep breath and nodded. The bomber couldn't ask for forgiveness now, not until he was better. But one day, he would show Deku… he would show Izuku the bully he one day was, had stayed in the past his friend forgot.
—
Gran Torino slowly walked down the stairs, cursing his old age. He had used the night before to think, and that was dangerous. The brat under his care was insane, smart and hardworking, a combination that proved along human history to be what someone needed to change the world.
And that was exactly what the boy was doing. Not many saw it, not many understood, but Gran Torino had already seen a brat wet behind the ears doing it before. First announcing to the four winds his ideals, then upholding them right after.
If he was a betting man, Torino would say the next step on the kid's plan would be to start breaking the records, putting his name out there so people would know him. Then they would listen to him, and by the end, they would believe in him.
Then one day, Gran Torino would look out his window and see the dawn of a new age again. The man huffed, he was too old for that shit.
Finally getting to the living room, Gran Torino was greeted by the smell of freshly cooked eggs and bacon, "Thought you would have slept in after our spar."
Izuku chuckled, "Yeah, about that…" He turned, and Gran Torino deadpanned. The boy looked dead on his feet.
"What happened brat?"
"I decided to train a little more before going to bed, I got to fifteen percent by the way, and Cotton and I got a little excited and lost track of time." Izuku shrugged helplessly.
At his side, standing on the table the boy was setting, the Dream Eater in question made a sound that was way too smug.
"Yeah yeah, the last time I checked the score was still three to one for me." Izuku jabbed back, causing the Tama Sheep to give a challenging cry.
Gran Torino cleaned his throat, "Kid, mind telling me why there's a sheep on my table?"
"Oh, that's Cotton. Cotton, meet Gran Torino." Izuku made presentations as if that answered everything.
"Well, hello brat two, now onto more important things…" The man sat down and started eating. Izuku and Cotton traded a glance and a shrug before doing the same.
After breakfast was over, Gran Torino picked his cane, "I'm going to the restroom, when I get back you better be in your suit and ready for round two!"
Izuku gave a salute, "Yes sir!"
Torino chuckled, "Oh, and kid?"
"Yeah?"
The old hero made his senile face again, "Who are you?"
"Why are you doing this?!" Izuku snapped at the back of the Gran Torino, who was walking away while laughing. Cotton gave the boy a headbutt, making Izuku start to move, he needed to suit up.
Grabbing his costume, Izuku rushed to the guest room and started changing when his phone rang. He accepted the call without looking, thinking it would probably be one of his friends. To be fair, he wasn't wrong.
"Hello?"
"Izuku, it's Rei."
"Oh! Hi!"
"Hi to you too. Say, did something happen? I can't talk to Shoto or Enji."
The boy was about to answer when the second name registered, "Wait, why were you trying to talk to Endeavor?!"
There was a second of silence on the line, "Because he's my husband?"
Izuku blinked, "Yeah but- I mean, huh… didn't he hurt you?"
"What?! Who told you that?" The voice carried the woman's shock clearly, something wasn't right.
"Shoto did."
"Oh no."
Izuku finished adjusting his gear and picked up his phone and notebook, he was getting to the end of this story even if it meant a beating from Gran Torino, "Rei, I'm going to make you some questions, then I'm going to punch someone later, if it's Endeavor or Shoto depends solely on your answers."
There was another moment of deadly quiet, "What worries me more is that I can see you doing both." The woman's voice had a resigned type of worry.
"And maybe I will, now get comfy, this will take a while."
By the end of the call, Izuku resolved to punch a Todoroki. Luckily, Gran Torino took longer on the restroom than he expected, so the beating Izuku got from the hero was just the normal kind.
—
Mina, or Pinky, as her first hero name was rejected (dang copyright laws!), was having a blast. Izuku had made her some new shoes that let her skate on basically anything, believe it, she tried. That would by itself be awesome, but he also gave the girl two bracelets that functioned like a hose.
She could build up the pressure and then release her Acid like a jet! It was really cool but not the only thing, she also got grenades! The glass orbs with a pink and yellow metal top piece that worked like a drain let her store, throw and then watch the show.
It was cool, but Izuku could have said Mei helped him with those before she tested them. Now Pinky had to explain why there was a hissing crater on where a bus had been a minute ago.
—
Sugar Man had long accepted he wouldn't be the smartest guy in the room when he used his quirk, but he had also accepted Izuku didn't care about anything telling him no. His friend had made him a very simple thing in theory, a white bracelet that measured the sugar in his blood and gave him some magic mumbo jumbo that worked like insulin, if insulin cleaned all the excess sugar inside his body in a snap. In practice, that thing let him be on top of his game all the time.
Too much sugar? It cleaned him, too little? It gave him more in the form of a serum with the best sugar his body could process without going completely monkey brain.
Sugar Man didn't even have to do anything! The thing worked all by itself, he just needed to restock it from time to time. The heavy built boy decided to make a cake for his friend as thanks, maybe something with apples so Eri could enjoy it too? Yeah, that sounded good. As he debated his next recipe with himself, Sugar Man lifted a heavy steel beam over his head.
—
Uravity gulped down a water bottle, having just taken a break from her last spar. She was learning a lot from Gunhead, but having to balance it with learning how to fly was hard.
Probably not as hard as making her new costume. The girl looked down at the black bodysuit covered in pink plates. Looking like a space knight, Uravity now had an integrated system of dispersion that shot pressurized air, letting the girl fly like astronauts did in space.
It was honestly one thing she had in her bucket list, and while the metal plates were still thin and a little too form fitting for her taste, it let her feel like a spatial explorer every time Uravity used her quirk on herself.
Her mind couldn't help but think of how much it cost, but Uravity shook her head to banish those thoughts. Izuku had made the costume for her, she wouldn't spit on his work by thinking about money, she would just show him the investment would be worth it.
Speaking of him, how was he doing? Uravity had only seen the messages on the group chat that morning. While Izuku had said he could use more of his quirk without exploding, that wasn't exactly a good bar to set.
Maybe she could call him, just to make sure he was fine, no other reason! Yeah, she would do just that. Picking her flip phone from one of the pouches attached to her belt, the girl called her friend.
After only two rings, he picked up, "Hello!"
"Hey!"
"Ocha- wow!" The boy on the other side of the line was cut by a sharp sound before a heavy bang of something hitting the floor.
"You think you can stop brat?!" A gruff voice came from the line, distant but still emitting audible annoyance.
"Who said anything about stopping!" Izuku shouted before the sound of chaos followed, even still, he kept the conversation going, "So Ochaco, everything well on your side?"
The girl blinked, "Uh, yeah. Am I interrupting something?"
"Nope! Blizzard Smash! Nothing at all."
"Okay then. I, huh, just wanted to say congrats for mastering more of your quirk." Uravity decided it was best to cut the conversation short, for her friend's sake.
"Oh, thanks! I'm actually already at seventeen percent! Magic Force: Thunder Smash!" The sound of lightning bolts being flicked at his enemy followed.
That actually surprised Uravity, "Already?! How did you get so far in a day?" Izuku laughed, the girl could almost see his smile, causing her to slightly blush.
"It's just as my mentor here said, I already got the basics down, so I just need to go over them again and again until I'm almost dead!" His bright tone of voice contrasted with his grueling words.
Uravity tried to laugh it off, "Try not to die though." She joked awkwardly.
"That's exactly what he said! Ouch!" The sound of crashing deafened through the line for a second before it fell silent.
"Huh, I have to go. Bye!" She hung up before she could hear her friend get beaten more. The girl sighed, that wasn't how she expected the call to go.
Uravity's mentor, Gunhead, approached, "Done talking to your boyfriend?"
The young girl blushed, "He isn't- we're not, ah!" She covered her face with her hands, causing the brunette to float away.
—
Izuku stumbled out of a crater on the wall, only for the Keyblade Master to be greeted with more attacks from Gran Torino and Cotton. The young hero flared One For All to eighteen percent and met then with his own strike.
That battle would continue for most of the day. Later, they would have to stop and fix all the broken walls.
—
Tenya kept following his mentor, Manual, a hero donning a blue bodysuit with some fish accessories, without paying attention to what the man said. The youngest Iida could only think in one thing, and at each passing glance at alleyways where Tenya could swear he saw glimpses of red, the dark feeling inside him grew.
"Hey." A hand landed on his shoulder, causing Tenya to focus back on the present, on the patrol he should be doing.
"Yes?"
His mentor sighed, "Listen, Tenya, I know that you only chose my agency so you could hunt down Stain." The boy jolted at Manual's words, but the hero didn't give him time to deny it, "Don't try to say you didn't, it's obvious, but please don't throw your life away like that. I know Tensei, he's a good man, don't spit on his legacy by making the same mistake."
Tenya clenched his fists, how could he honor his brother's legacy if the monster that paralyzed him from the waist down was still out there?
—
Izuku barely felt his body falling into his bed, too tired from two days of constant, extreme physical labor and crucible by combat, he only wanted to close his eyes and hibernate for the next month or so.
Unfortunately, life had other plans. Izuku felt the embrace of slumber calling him, only for the pull of One For All to whisk him away from it.
Izuku groaned, blinking his eyes open. He was once more in the Throne Room, as he started to call it, this time the other eight chairs were empty save for one.
"Hi Hikage." Izuku groaned, still feeling tired even while his body was technically sleeping.
"Hello Little Nine, good to see you again." The man waved with his arm with a ripped sleeve, "But I didn't expect it to be so soon."
Izuku tilted his head, "Why that?"
The Vestige laughed, "Well, I only thought you would be ready for my quirk in a month or so." That caused the boy to perk up and the man to laugh, "Yup, you're going to get my quirk now! But do us all a favor and take your time with it, okay? We spent the last two days running around like headless chickens from how much progress you're making."
Izuku blinked, then scratched the back of his head, "Sorry?"
Hikage huffed, "Forget it, I know you're only going to stop when you surpass all of us. But now for the reason we're here…" He got up from his seat and marched to the center of the room. Motioning Izuku over with a hand, he waited for the boy to jump up and rush before him, "My quirk is called Danger Sense, even if it's more like super anxiety."
That caused both of them to laugh, Izuku still pulled his notebook from somewhere and noted it down either way.
Hikage shook his head with an exasperated smile, "What it does is simple, it tells you about something dangerous next to you. Before I got One For All, it only told me of things dangerous to me in my close vicinity, but after I not only could sense it from far away but the types of dangers started to become more distinct." The Vestige then pointed at Izuku, "But with you, the sky's the limit. Not only do you have much more power from One For All to boost it, you have all the magic things going on for you too."
Izuku was already five pages in, "That's amazing! Now not only I can keep a better understanding of threats in a fight but I can detect them before they're an immediate danger and…" From there he started a mumble storm that Higake couldn't hope to follow.
The man flicked Izuku's forehead, "Yes, all that is good, but remember and remember well. Danger Sense is not perfect, if it doesn't detect something as dangerous for some reason, it won't alert you, and the idea is to avoid dangerous things, not throw yourself at them."
Izuku rubbed his forehead with a pout, "First, if something is not dangerous, then it isn't. I wouldn't have as many friends as I do if I didn't give them a chance. Second, heroes face dangers all the time to protect people."
Hikage sighed, "Nine, look it's-"
The key bearer hadn't finished, "And third, why should I be worried when the most dangerous thing at any given time is probably me?"
The Vestige blinked, "What do you mean?"
Izuku gave a wide, joyful and brilliant smile that sent a shiver down Hikage's spine, an impressive feat as he technically didn't have one. Tilting his head to the side, looking even more innocent and making the chill on the air deepen, Izuku finished, "There's an old phrase that say, 'the limits that hold you back are those you let exist', and for my friends, for the people I care about and everyone that ever need a hero…" He closed his eyes while the smile reached blinding levels, "I will go beyond..."
Opening them, two green stars with blue coronas shone back at Hikage, "Plus Ultra."
With those words brimming with power and conviction, Izuku managed to convince Hikage, who was seen as a mad hermit of his time, that he was insane. And that was good, for when he came knocking, Little Nine would knock back harder.
The Fourth laughed while his body was taken by a purple color, "What can I say to that? Go make history Little Nine!" The purple star floated to Izuku's chest and gently melded into him.
The Ninth holder smiled, he was one step closer.
Izuku's eyes shot open with the buzzing on the back of his head. The boy threw himself out of bed just in time to dodge a boot to the face, courtesy of Gran Torino.
The man looked down at him, lifting a slightly impressed eyebrow, "Oh, so you're awake, good. Suit up kid, we're going out."
The boy blinked the last remnants of sleep from his eyes, "Where?"
"To a nice place for you to punch some criminals' faces in."
"Isn't kinda early for that?"
Gran Torino huffed, "Kid, it's past midday already." He threw a thumb over his shoulder to the window, showing the sun had already passed his summit.
"Oh." Izuku kept perfectly still for a second, before shooting to his feet, "Crap! I overslept!" He rushed out of his room.
Gran shook his head, teenagers were all the same at the end of the day.
—
Shigaraki wasn't ready. Stage fright was a bitch and that wasn't when someone was trying to convince a mass murder to work for them.
Kurogiri had localized Stain and was now trying to invite him over. Shigaraki was trying to beat the last of his anxiety down before that, something easier said than done and Vanitas' constant tapping his foot on the floor wasn't helping. The villain knew he was doing it on purpose, but Shigaraki wouldn't have time to get rid of the dust before Stain arrived if he Decayed the brat now.
Before he could decide to speedrun it anyway, a portal opened in the center of the bar. From it, a haggard figure covered head to toe in blades marched out.
Shigaraki straightened himself, it was now or never, "Welcome."
Stain's intense eyes focused on him, "So, you are the leader of this League of Villains?" His rash voice made the question sound like a dismissal.
Shigaraki didn't rise to the bait, he wasn't going to fail this right off the bat, "That's right, and I hope you could join me, if you're willing that is."
The subtle nod from Stain and the way he seemed to now give his full attention to Shigaraki proved he passed the test, "And why would I do that?"
At that moment the recruitment speech he prepared would have been useful, but unfortunately Shigaraki had forgot most of it in his nervousness, so he decided to wing it, "Our goals are similar, you want to destroy the heroes just like I do, we could help each other." At that, Stain shook his head disappointedly, that wasn't a good sign.
"You don't understand, I'm not 'destroying heroes', I'm claiming back what the word 'hero' truly means." Stain's hands clenched on his blades, "This rotten society that venerated false idols, who praise those for their power and not how they use it, who forgot the true valors of a hero!" He snarled fiercely, "I will purge it from its corruption and bring back the real purpose of heroes! No more fakes, no more pathetic imitations, only true heroes like All Might working for a better world!"
Shigaraki tried, he really did, but at the mention of the Symbol of Peace's name, he scoffed. That was a mistake.
Stain was on him in a second, swords ready to cut his head off. Luckily, Vanitas was faster. In a blur, the helmet wearing boy was between the villains, Keyblade blocking Stain's attack.
"Sorry, can't have Handsy here kicking the bucket just yet." He kicked Stain away.
The Hero Killer skidded back, winded but still standing. He glared at Shigaraki, "You don't share my vision, you only want another tool to destroy."
Shigaraki was done with diplomacy, "So what?! I want to destroy what I hate, isn't that the same as you?!"
At that, Stain shook his head, "You lack conviction, a resolve of your own. My time was wasted here." His words caused Shigaraki to bristle, but the Hero Killer paid him no mind.
Vanitas' roll of eyes went unnoticed, he was fed up with that circus, "If that's the case, good riddance." With a snap of fingers, the Darkness heeded his call and enveloped Stain, sending the man back from where he came. Looking back to Shigaraki, the darkling huffed, "Looks like your plan was another bust."
Shigaraki stayed deadly silent for a long second, "Yeah, it was. Let's go for plan B then." The man got up from his barstool, they were on a timer mission now, "Sensei."
The old TV on the bar came alive with an 'audio only' message, "Yes, Shigaraki?"
"How many Nomus do we have?" The young villain had learned from his mistakes, he didn't get a new unit, but that doesn't mean he couldn't get what he wanted.
"We have six acceptable Nomus, I can give you three." The voice simply stated.
That wasn't ideal, Shigaraki needed something more noticeable, something like…
"Vanitas, you said you did a stock run the other day, how many Heartless do we have?"
The boy's smirk was audible in his voice, "Enough to make a city burn."
Shigaraki nodded. Yeah, that would work, that would work nicely, "Get ready. Kurogiri, fetch the Nomus. I need binoculars!" The villain rushed to his room to grab said equipment.
Vanitas huffed, only to get startled by a gloved hand on his shoulder. The cloaked man leaned over him, "He's learning, one of these days he'll be ready. Until then, keep dear Dusty in one piece, would you kindly?"
"Yeah yeah, leave all the work to me as always."
The man chuckled at Vanitas' words, "Like if you won't have fun causing chaos and mayhem. Well, see ya kiddo." With his part said, the figure walked away.
Vanitas shook his head. It didn't matter, as long as he got what he wanted.
—
Gran Torino relaxed on the train seat while Izuku fidgeted with his phone at his side, humming some song the old hero didn't recognize. To be fair, he didn't recognize most of the things the youngsters those days listened to.
"You should pay more attention to your surroundings!" Torino suddenly jabbed at the boy with his walking stick, only for Izuku to grab it without looking away from the screen.
"I am, it's just that we'll pass Hosu in a bit and one of my friends is there. He's in a bad place since the Hero Killer got his brother." Izuku sighed, if only Tenya talked to them.
Gran knew who the nutjob's last victim was, "The youngest Iida. If he's anything like his grandfather, then the boy will only learn to slow down when he crashes, and that won't be pretty." He shook his head, already dreading history repeating itself.
Izuku did a double take, "Wait, you knew Tenya's grandpa? How was he?"
The old man snorted, "The old Ingenium was a speed freak that thought every second below a hundred and twenty was wasted. He liked running from place to place, helping everyone he found and zooming away before they could realize." Gran Torino then let out an exhausted sigh that made him look his age, "He died an ugly death, but that man upheld his ideals until his dying breath. The old Ingenium overclocked his quirk past what was even thought possible, he crossed Tokyo in five minutes flat so he could save a hostage of a terrorist attack."
Remembering the blaze of glory his old friend finished his life with always brought a melancholic smile to Gran Torino, "His Engine was in his back, the heat liquefied his insides, but the crazy bastard did it. No one else died that day, and he passed with a smile on his face." He gave a sad laugh, "I still remember his last words, 'I raced death, and I won'. I made sure to mark those words on his grave."
Izuku put a hand on Gran Torino's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. That snapped the old hero of his trip down memory lane and back to the present. The first thing he noticed was that the boy was crying.
"Get yourself together kid." Gran huffed.
Izuku gave a wet smile while trying to dry his eyes, "Sorry, it's just that… losing a friend hurts, doesn't matter how much time passes." He put a hand over his chest and grasped it tightly, "But hurting is part of caring, proof that you won't forget. And someday, you'll see each other again."
The old man had to look away to not show the kid the tears building at the corner of his eyes. Nana would've really loved the brat.
Izuku was going to say something else, but a sharp stab on his mind threw him into high alert. The young hero didn't think, he moved. Lighting up nineteen percent of his quirk, he blitzed down the train, grabbed the passengers on the line of fire and jumped away.
A second later, the wall of the cart burst. From it, a large hand held a hero down by the head. A large head with an exposed brain entered right after, only to earn a high-speed kick from Gran Torino.
"Get down!" Izuku shouted to everyone in the train, but also to Gran Torino. His mentor realized his intent and made way. Izuku winded his fist back, "Smash!" He punched with all the power he achieved, throwing the Nomu that had invaded the train back violently. What greeted him was a dreadful sight.
Hosu was burning.
Done! Lots of things happened as everyone is improving, and now we will have fun!
This chapter got the Silverbits/Beribits approval as a quality product so consume at will, but with moderation.
Join the discord, it's one of the main reasons I'm focusing so much on this fic along with KH4 reveal (hype all around).
discord . gg / stAGY4V