raw666 - The police will certainly realize what happened. What doesn't change the fact that at least temporarily it remains blinded. And that's what the Paranormal Liberation Front was hoping to achieve in Hosu.
PLPanda - HA, that's a good one.
The Archivist of Nyx - I have no idea where the line of thought is going :v And yes, Tenya is lost to the chaos gremlin. My plans for Suto are a bit different, but let's just say that there just as hilarious :v
Detrametal - He would. Just wait for the shit he pulls after Kamino Ward... Eraserhead at this point becomes an anthropomorphic personification of Being Done.
(***)
Gran Torino is having a really bad day. He helped eliminate or restrain several noumus, brought a lot of people to safety, but when he returned to the train (still downed, the hell are those idiots doing) he discovered that his interns were gone.
By now, the attack on Hosu was over. The casualties have been high, and he just now heard that the police headquarters were attacked by the QLF, but the attack was repelled. Still, his interns were missing and that was a bad thing considering just how much mayhem Midoriya was capable of.
He was about to try to phone his grandson when All Might suddenly phoned him.
Well, that can't mean anything good, right?
He accepts the call.
"Gran Torino." He hears All Might's voice. It's more tired than anything else. "What orders did you give to Izuku, exactly?"
What?
"I told him that I authorize them for combat, if it's absolutely necessary." Gran Torino replies, clearly taken off-guard. How is All Might even aware that they were in Hosu? Unless… oh no.
"You had one job, sensei." All Might is now even more tired. "Just one job. Eraserhead told you to never let them out of your sight, at least for as long as there is any way to creatively redefine your orders. So why did you do it?"
Oh no no no no no no. No one died, that much is certain, as All Might would be acting… much more differently. So Midoriya had to do something crazy.
"What happened?" Gran Torino asks. Please let it not be something super crazy. Please.
"Izuku's definition of 'absolutely necessary' apparently includes traveling through half of the city while it's under large scale villain attack, interrupting an almost successful assasination attempt on Endeavor, and engaging two double S rank villains in combat. Before apprehending one and escaping the other." All Might says and Gran Torino feels himself going slackjawed. "Your interns defeated and arrested Eclipse, sensei."
"I'm going to kill your son, Yagi." Gran Torino says after a good ten seconds of silence.
"There is a queue for that, and you aren't the first one in line." All Might replies. The recording of his voice would probably make paint dry instantly. "Aizawa seems to be selling the tickets. We're going to need your statement to figure out how to deal with this mess from the legal side." He sighs and the phone call ends.
Gran Torino yells at the clouds, freaking out some passersby.
(***)
The situation is a bit of a nightmare, really. Kids are naturally hyped - frankly speaking, Yagi isn't surprised, they fought against two extremely dangerous villains and won, this is a genuine reason to be excited and proud of themselves. He is a bit surprised, in the meantime, by how Bakugou seems to be NOT abrasive towards the rest and actually admits that Eclipse was done in by the team, instead of claiming that he did it.
But the real problem is making sure that the kids don't get an accusation of vigilantism slapped in their face. Gran Torino's orders were very creatively redefined, and that's a plus, just not a very big one. The worst part is that they can probably sink Gran Torino as well if the press goes after them.
Sure, most people would probably side with whoever did Eclipse in, but… developing this degree of bad press early on in their careers would be bad. Almost as much as developing this much of a good press. Way to turn into gloryhounds.
He is looking for an alternative. Though it might be a bit problematic, as it will force him to have a meeting with Endeavor. The man that he now personally hates. And who just went out of surgery.
Frankly speaking, despite being the Number One Hero, he doesn't expect Endeavor to be interested in meeting him. Not in the light of his most recent humiliation (having to be rescued by a few hero students is humiliating to a Number Two Hero, even if he was on the verge of defeating Eclipse earlier). But, somehow, Endeavor is alright with the meeting.
He is lying on the bed, resting. His arm is already back in its place, with some powerful healing quirks (including the Recovery Girl) used to speed up the process. He was probably forbidden from overusing it for a while and required some rehabilitation to return it to its full ability.
Plus, for now, he is resting. Still under observation and clearly exhausted. The fact that he is able to have a talk is a testament to his strength of will and body.
"Endeavor." All Might says and his signature smile vanishes from his face. There is no one but Endeavor in the room, and the Number One Hero isn't in a mood to smile for that man.
"All Might." Endeavor replies. The tone of the voice actually gives All Might a pause. It sounds… defeated, for the lack of a better word. Not what he expected to ever hear from Enji Todoroki. "What do you want from me?"
"We're trying to puzzle out a response to the… events in Hosu." All Might replies. He isn't even touching the part where the police were only now realizing what happened to its information network. This was going to be a nightmare. Everywhere throughout Japan the protected witnesses were evacuated in a hurry and informants told to run. Whatever was going to happen next, the police were blinded. For months if not years. "We're trying to…"
"What do the kids want?" Endeavor asks, his eyes still on the ceiling. All Might is briefly taken aback by this.
"I believe they want at least some recognition for this." All Might replies. "They did achieve something great, even if you weakened Eclipse so much earlier. However…"
"However, you are afraid of the legal side of their deed." Endeavor replies in a voice that's almost emotionless. He acts like Shoto, All Might realizes. And that's odd. "And of the potential revenge spree of the QLF towards them and their families."
That was something that had to be taken into account too, yes. All Might didn't want to think about it, but… pro heroes had their families generally better protected. Not by much, but…
"That'd be correct." All Might replies. Frankly, he is confused by this talk. Too confused to actually be angry at Endeavor, because the man looks like someone who broke. And that's what makes absolutely no sense.
"When they arrived, I believed that the quirk-suppressing attack influenced my opponents as well. " Endeavor announces, no, recites and All Might's eyes widen. "Seeing hero trainees with active quirks arrive, I ordered them to engage the supervillains, thinking that they are almost harmless. However Eclipse knocked me out with her quirk before I could finish relaying my orders, namely the part when they were only supposed to secure an escape route for myself and the, rather than have an all-out brawl. And before I could change the orders, after finding out that the gas didn't influence Eclipse and Overhaul. As a result, the students' battle against the supervillains was a result of my tactical miscalculation, and was perfectly legal for students."
All Might finds himself blinking a few times and briefly having problems with keeping up his hero form because that's literally the last thing he expected to hear. Especially as its' a load of bullshit. Helpful for students (and certainly not for Endeavor's career), but…
"As for the latter concern." Endeavor continues. "Explain the risks to them. If they want, keep their names out of the press. Make it sound like I caught Eclipse, with only some help from some UA hero trainees. Once they graduate, I'll voluntarily step forward and announce the truth, while claiming that it was done to let them study in peace without being afraid of villains targeting them for revenge."
There is a long silence after this. All Might can hear the clock ticking in the background. Some quiet beeps from the machinery making sure that Endeavor is feeling alright.
"What happened to you?" He decides to ask finally.
"The sports festival did." Endeavor replies, his eyes on the ceiling. "On one day the image I took twenty years to build was ruined together with my hopes of ever catching up to you… and my son told me that he wants to be a hero like you. Took me days to process it, but I finally realized that the latter hurt me more than the former." He remains silent for a few long seconds before continuing. "I should have kept pursuing you myself instead of pulling my family into this."
"So, you know?" All Might asks, still surprised by the development.
"That you know about my family and my lifetime obsession?" Endeavor asks. "I figured out that Shoto told Izuku, and considering how you are clearly furious at me for something, it's not easy to add two to two." He pauses for a second. "Or is it about Izuku Midoriya being your son? I pursued you for my whole life, I can recognize an identical quirk. He even acts like you, just smarter and scarier. His mother must be one hell of a woman."
All Might is torn between the desires to yell a denial, point out that genes do not define everything, and admit that Endeavor is spot on. And that's just the second half of his words, because the first one makes All Might consider way more things. And be even more conflicted.
"I've spent my entire life pursuing a goal that I could never achieve." Endeavor says quietly, still facing the ceiling. "I destroyed my own family. And now it turns out that if my son achieves my goal, it will be because he decided to follow your footsteps. Not mine. Meaning that I can no longer become the Number One Hero, even by proxy. Meaning that my whole life and career was a failure."
Two more seconds of silence, before Endeavor continues.
"And now Shoto saved my life together with his friends. Despite me being a Number Two Hero. From villains that he shouldn't have to face while being so young. While all I could do was watch. So I'm not just a failure as a father as already established, but also as a hero." All Might is about to say something, but then Endeavor decides to add something. "I think that I'm going to retire."
"You… what?" Endeavor retiring is a prospect about as likely as Izuku turning to villainy. All Might's mind just refuses to process.
"Do you think that I can keep doing this after what it made me do to my family?" Endeavor asks and All Might finds it hard to answer that question. "I wasn't like you. I didn't do heroics for heroics. They were a tool to achieve my goal. And now I have no goal, and I don't think that I deserve the tools. So what else do I have left?"
All Might is a veteran hero. He has an instinct that sometimes made him act against what Sir Nighteye, Nedzu and Gran Torino considered logical. More often than not, he was proven right. And right now, his instinct tells him to do something stupid.
He walks up to Endeavor's bed. He is a giant towering over him, and for the first time during this talk, the Flame Hero looks at him. Their eyes meet. And then All Might deflates.
"Wh… what?" Endeavor stares at him with an expression of shock and horror on his face. He probably considers the option that he is facing an impostor. Not the oddest reaction to the revelation, all things considered.
All Might pulls up his shirt, just enough to expose the wound. Eliciting a faint gasp of shock.
"A villain attack. Six years ago." Yagi says calmly. "He tore my stomach and lung out. My quirk is breaking up on me ever since. I can only maintain my strength for something close to two hours a day. In a year top I'll be de facto quirkless. My time as a hero is coming to an end. And you are old enough to remember the times before Japan got peaceful. The times before I came to be."
"There'll be chaos." Endeavor is intelligent, despite all his faults. He understands immediately. "Your son. You're training him into your successor."
"No." All Might shakes his head. "All I'm doing is helping him become a hero like me. He wanted that even before we met and before we discovered that we were related. It was his own decision. One that makes me proud of him." Salting the wound is a bad thing to do. But this is the truth. And All Might refuses to lie when something this important is at stake. It always comes to bite you in the ass further down the line.
He looks at Endeavor. His face, unlike the one he shows to the world as All Might, is sad and pained. He is doing his best to not make the world see it, but it's not like wounds of this magnitude ever stop hurting.
"You say you're missing a goal." All Might says. "So I'll give you one. You ruined everything? Well, you survived Hosu. You can still fix what you broke. Both as a father and as a hero. So take your strength of will and determination and use it for something actually fucking constructive for once." To hear the Symbol of Peace use words like that… Endeavor looks mortified by it. "Bring your wife out of the mental hospital or at least apologize on your knees for what you did. Try to actually not be a dick to your kids. More than that, go plus ultra on that and actually become a hero to them like you should have been as their father. And for heroics?"
He leans over the Flame Hero and actually jabs his chest with his boney index finger.
"My career will be over in a year." All Might says, Endeavor remains quiet and shocked. "Then you'll be the Number One Hero. And like I do, you'll have to make the entire country feel safe. Not worried about collateral damage, not conflicted about your goddamn scary facial expression. SAFE. In the wake of a tide of chaos and villainy." He takes a step back, his eyes still locked on Endeavor. "You wanted to unseat me as a Number One Hero? Well, prove to me that you deserve that title. Or at the very least hold the fort until my son grows strong enough. How's that for a redemption story, Endeavor? How's that for a goal to pursue?"
He leaves the room, leaving the speechless Endeavor behind. Three days later he receives a text message from the Number Two Hero. It's just a single word. 'Yes'. But All Might understands that his instincts were spot on once again.
(***)
Izuku, Bakugou, Tenya and Shoto have a long (and private) talk about the offer. In the end, they come to an agreement. They are alright with Endeavor taking the heat for what happened, in exchange for him genuinely admitting who captured Eclipse (they all did, Endeavor included, and the kids are willing to admit that part) once they graduate.
They also demand to not have to hide the truth from their classmates.
Frankly speaking, All Might and the rest of the faculty are slightly conflicted by that last part. Sure, the hero trainees aren't a very talkative group - the Denki's conspiracy theory channel is going to have its every installment reviewed by Nedzu himself to ensure that nothing secret is accidentally revealed, and that was the students' idea. Sure, the kids deserve some actual recognition, even if just from their peers. But it's still a security threat.
What makes the motion pass is the fact that Overhaul (and thus the PLF) already knows the truth. PLF is slowly shaping up to be the worst threat to the heroics world, and who else is going to take the words of some UA students over the Number Two Hero?
1-A Class Chatroom
ClassPresident: I regret to inform you that our internships with Gran Torino have been terminated indefinitely.
GravityGirl: Did he die of old age?
Vampire: Was he arrested for being a meanie?
ClassPresident: Vampire You already know the reason, so stop pretending
Vampire: My quirk is about impersonating others, how am I supposed to stop pretending?!
CreativeSpirit: This is fair.
ClassPresident: Ugh.
ClassPresident: Basically speaking, through a series of complete coincidences and some creative redefinition of orders (or that's how Nedzu and All Might called it) we've ended up being involved in the Hosu attack.
CreativeSpirit: … please define involved.
GravityGirl: Is everyone alright?!
ClassPresident: Yes, the only one wounded was Bakugou and that was because Shoto used his explosion super move from his fight with me at the sport festival (Flashfreeze Heatwave if someone was curious) on him, but it's alright because it was all part of the plan!
GravityGirl: WHAT
Riot: What sort of plan makes you do that?!
AcidParty: ^
BoomBoom: The fucking best one
Riot: What
BoomBoom: It was awesome, and it worked.
BoomBoom: All I have to say on the matter.
BoomBoom: Icyhot has my respect because hitting me with that attack without hesitation was awesome.
GravityGirl: What happened to him?!
ClassPresident: Gran Torino did.
Riot: Okay, this is officially MANLY.
BoomBoom: FUCK YEAH SPIKYHAIR
ClassPresident: Basically speaking we had to improvise because Eclipse grabbed Bakugou hostage, and since he was much more immune to explosions than she was, Thermostat threw his thermal nuke at them.
CreativeSpirit: Eclipse?! As in, the SS- Rank villain?!
BoomBoom: It wasn't improvisation for fuck's sake
BoomBoom: you literally told me to get close to that bitch and then for the icy-hot to blast us both to let me punch her lights out while she was distracted
BoomBoom: it was your plan and not a fucking improvisation, nerd
GravityGirl: Wait, you ATTACKED Eclipse?
BoomBoom: Attacked? I punched that bitch out cold and dragged her into the warpgate with Four Eyes!
CreativeSpirit: You WHAT?
ClassPresident: Yes, basically, we ended up arresting Eclipse but we've given the laurels to Endeavor because he weakened her to like 30-40% of her strength before we got around, and we don't want people to go after us for revenge while we are still studying.
ClassPresident: Endeavor will announce the truth about our involvement once we graduate
CreativeSpirit: So let me reiterate
CreativeSpirit: You attacked an SS-Rank villain that could engage half of our faculty at once and win
CreativeSpirit: She took one of you hostage
CreativeSpirit: So YOUR ANSWER TO THAT WAS TO BLEW UP THE HOSTAGE?
BoomBoom: Fuck yeah
ClassPresident: Okay so this DOES sound a bit bad when you put it like this, but it was all a calculated risk!
BoomBoom: Thermostat do it fucking again if someone takes me hostage, I can take it
Thermostat: Very well.
GravityGirl: What sort of risk calculation makes you engage an SS-Rank villain in combat as a first year hero trainee?!
TurboMan: I'd like to specify that we engaged two SS-Rank villains in combat, since Overhaul was also present at the scene. Me and Midoriya kept him occupied, while Todoroki and Bakugou defeated Eclipse.
GravityGirl: YOU DID WHAT?!
GravityGirl: Why, like, WHY
ZapZap: D:
GaleForce: this is capital letters awesome
Froggy: Just learn how to write them already, Yoarashi.
Thermostat: They were going to kill my father. And we were the only people who could stop that.
Vampire: Ah yes, Zuku saving people. Nothing new.
Mindhack: ^
CreativeSpirit: I'm now going to have a serious talk with you, Midoriya, about risking your life incessantly.
ClassPresident: I begin to regret certain decisions.
BoomBoom: Welcome to the fucking club
Izuku Midoriya Support/Fanclub
GravityGirl: Oh. My. God.
GravityGirl: He did it again.
Vampire: Yes, he did.
Mindhack: We all freaked out when they started popping up from Mieko's warpgate into our living room, right after half-dead Endeavor who was holding his severed arm in his other hand and bleeding on our carpet
Mindhack: Even Aizawa-sensei looked like he wanted to jump from the window or something out of pure exasperation
Mindhack: One hell of an evening
Vampire: Yup!
GravityGirl: Why is Izuku Midoriya like this
Vampire: I want to know myself
Mindhack: Yep
Vampire: Wait, like this, as in heroic, chaotic, cute or hot?
GravityGirl: himichan pls
Vampire: too bold?
GravityGirl: With the last word, a bit.
Vampire: It's objective truth though.
LeadSinger: GravityGirl do you agree or disagree with that statement
GravityGirl: PLEASE DON'T TEASE ME LIKE THAT
GravityGirl: You're all meanies
GravityGirl: I meant both heroic and chaotic
Mindhack: He is like All Might, but with moral alignment changed from lawful good to chaotic good, somewhere near the border with neutral good
GravityGirl: More gamespeak?
Mindhack: I lived for half a year with Tenko Shimura, what did you expect?
GravityGirl: Fair.
Vampire: Also I'm inviting another person!
WarpedPerception enters the chat!
WarpedPerception: Izuku Midoriya has a fanclub?! YAY!
WarpedPerception: Do you have T-Shirts or something?
Vampire: We unfortunately don't, but this might change.
WarpedPerception: Oh ok! Looking forward to that!
GravityGirl: Okay who that?
WarpedPerception: Mieko Eto of class 1-B!
WarpedPerception: Izuku just made me realize my life goal like ten years ahead of my estimations and he is officially the coolest person I ever met.
GravityGirl: Oh.
CreativeSpirit: Life goal?
WarpedPerception: Putting Eclipse behind bars! We have a family history, so to speak.
WarpedPerception: I hoped to be the one to jail her because she avoided that for like twenty years or more now, so I tried to become a hero and suddenly bam, I opened the warpgate and thus helped her be jailed while in the first year of the hero school!
WarpedPerception: I freaked out super hard when I recognized her!
WarpedPerception: Midoriya actually stayed with me and helped me calm down, that was awesome and super nice of him!
CreativeSpirit: Yeah, that sounds like a solid reason to become a fan of someone, yes.
CreativeSpirit: Welcome aboard!
LeadSinger: Wait, oh my god, this is brilliant
CreativeSpirit: What is?
LeadSinger: WarpedPerception is right, what do all major heroes have that Izuku doesn't?
CreativeSpirit: ?
GravityGirl: ?
LeadSinger: MERCHANDISE.
CreativeSpirit: What
LeadSinger: we can start designing his merchandise like years before everyone else, think about this!
LeadSinger: And Yaomomo can make prototypes of things pretty much for the cost of a good meal.
LeadSinger: We can strike gold further down the line
MadScientist: I can totally make an automatic assembly line for things, very efficient and so on
LeadSinger: YES! There is money to be earned in this. Money plus it would (once he gets a bit more known, but just not yet the Top 15 Hero known) probably help make him more popular and so on.
LeadSinger: For now we could just focus on testing what comes to mind, but… wait, I have an idea
LeadSinger: CreativeSpirit How about designing some sort of cards (numbered, of course, in the order of joining) for the members of the fanclub? Think of it like press legitimacies, and so on.
GravityGirl: This is quite odd and you're strangely pumped up
LeadSinger: Uraraka, quick question. How much do you think such a unique collectible will be worth in 30 years, when, for example, Izuku Midoriya will be a Top One Hero? How much will people pay for something that was issued in a single number, and to one of his classmates who will also probably be one of the top heroes?
LeadSinger: And we can have Yaomomo secretly produce two copies per member, so that we can theoretically sell it but still have it just without making people know. We just all have to keep the second copy a secret.
GravityGirl: CreativeSpirit DO IT IMMEDIATELY
LeadSinger: DO IT YAOMOMO
Froggy: Did someone say, MONEY?
CreativeSpirit: I'm officially worried.
CreativeSpirit: Also before we move onto this for real, I have another candidate for the fanclub.
Thermostat has joined the chat!
Thermostat: Oh. What's this?
Mindhack: Any attempt to turn that into an OwO joke will be met with summary execution.
Thermostat: What?
Mindhack: Not important.
Mindhack: Welcome to the fanclub of Izuku Midoriya.
Thermostat: Fanclub?
Mindhack: Basically speaking, we all think that he is a great person, and we want to support him but also talk about his newest exploits, but without him knowing, because he has some serious problems with people praising him.
Mindhack: So knowing about this channel would make him feel weird.
Thermostat: I understand.
Thermostat: And I believe this to be a good place for me to be in.
Mindhack: The Izuku's Hidden Army grows stronger.
CreativeSpirit: Stop making us sound like a cult.
Mindhack: You mean that you aren't worshipping him as a deity?!
Mindhack: I'm fairly certain that at least one of his siblings is an eldritch nightmare, so it makes perfect sense for Izuku Midoriya to be a chaotic good deity of mayhem, heroics and social anxiety.
GravityGirl: Could you stop acting like Aiko Midoriya is an monster
Mindhack: I'm the only one whom she didn't brainwash
Mindhack: Probably due to my quirk
CreativeSpirit: I have no words.
LeadSinger: Also, MERCHANDISE YAOMOMO?
(***)
Look, I'm not saying that Midoriya inherited his for... aggressive pep talk from All Might. But did you ever see All for One or Inko Midoriya do that? Yeah, I thought so.
And no, this is just the start of the journey for Endeavor. It will take him many many chapters to get there. It's not until after Kamino that he actually starts making some true progress, although since he had a headstart, it's happening faster than in canon. Like, a lot faster. Although other circumstances (such as Izuku 'Chaos Gremlin' Midoriya) influence that as well.
The report that the attack on the police was repelled is a mistake. It's rather common for false information to spread right after chaos like that. By the time the chapter ends, the police probably knows how much it lost and scrambles to respond. Although it's hard to respond to the information leak of this magnitude, meaning that the police is practically blinded for the time being.
Paranormal Liberation Front's strategy is continuing as planned, although with more casualties than expected.
[also I lowkey imagine Bakugou to occasionally let himself be taken hostage in combat circumstances just for the Todoroki to blast him and a villain like that again. Does that count as a combo super move? I'm confused]