13 November 2165,
The Scale HQ,
Shinigawa City,
Tokyo
Tokyo was one of the most populous cities in Japan. Even after the massive loss of life during the Japanese Collapse, Tokyo had survived. It had withstood the wars that sprung up in the 21st century. It had survived the ages when cannons regned superior to now, when men with supernatural abilities decided who lived and who died, when Tokyo was Edo.
Therefore, it made sense that many organizations - both legal and illegal - had their headquarters in the crown jewel of Japan. It was this, that made Tokyo a well protected city. Anybody who wanted to attack Tokyo had to contend with the various organizations that had declared it their home.
Two kilometres east of the All Might Hero Agency stood the headquarters of The Scale. From the outside, it stood in the middle of a burned out industrial district, a husk of its former self. It was the first industrial district that was completely converted for military production during the First Dark Age.
As a result, when Tokyo became the bastion of resistance against the Japanese Tyrant, Hayashi Tsuneo, it was burned down completely. It was rebuilt once again before being destroyed by the American Villain Coalition. Although some suspect that it was a show of force, many presume the area to be the site of a battle, the damage being coincidental not purposeful.
Each time it was rebuilt, only to be destroyed once again. The last time it was destroyed was between The Symbol of Peace and a Villain that only the powerful speak of and the strong fear.
In one of the many abandoned warehouses that no one bothered to rebuild, stood the headquarters of The Scale - or its more popular counterpart - Zandaka Insurance.
It was a one story building that led to an underground complex that spanned the entire district. It housed personnel that numbered into the thousands. They were experts in multiple fields. From technology to biology to psychology. It was where talents were combined and miracles were created.
In one room, a tall, pink skinned man sent an audio message along with an encrypted file.
In Mustafu, one man received an audio message along with a file that he had requested.
Mase sipped his coffee as he clicked on the audio message and used one of his softwares to decrypt the file. Seeing how movies displayed hacking never failed to amuse Mase. Encrypted files weren't something you could brute force manually. Maybe when computers were still using cathode ray tube monitors, but definitely not anymore. Each encryption had a key. As technology advanced, so did the difficulty. From 32 digits to 64 to 128 and so on. Nowadays, many files had encryption keys that would require a billion attempts to guess.
Mase pushed his amusement to the side and listened to the message.
"I've upheld my end of the deal. I hope that I never meet you again."
Mase snorted as the short message ended. He had needed information that was above his authorization. So Mase did what he did best. He manipulated people until he got what he needed. In hindsight, it was ridiculously easy.
There had been an A Rank Agent, Takamota Ashido, whose sister had been raped and killed. Although it was set up to look like a suicide, the perpetrator had obviously been an amatuer. Nevertheless, the case eventually was classified as a cold case, all the leads slowly ending up being useless.
It had taken Mase only a week with The Scale's power to find out the culprit. He used his authorization as a recruiter and masked his needs for information as looking for potential recruits. He looked among vigilantes, villains and even some of the more depraved cults before finally hitting the jackpot.
It was an up and coming villain with a very interesting quirk. It essentially allowed him to hijack their brains upon contact. Through some careful digging and not-so-careful threats, he unearthed the man's file. Onago Shinsou, Quirk : Brainjack, currently married to Mihiko Shinsou. If the medical reports were anything to go by, she was probably abused. Hell, she might even be permanently brainjacked. It certainly made for a sordid tale of woe and sadness, a tale that Mase had no interest in.
After this, all Mase had to do was make Takamota accidentally stumble upon this information. And, like everybody who desired revenge, Takamota found him and burned him and his house down.
If not justice, then the situation at least provided some entertainment.
Finally having leverage on Takamota, he immediately asked him for a file that he needed. Takamota had resisted in the beginning, but having clear evidence of him burning a person with acid and then a house had given him no leeway. Takamota acquiesced and in return used his contacts to retrieve it. It had certainly been a surprise to Mase that he had required an S Rank authorization to see just the background file of Inko Midoriya.
Mase had initially wanted to bug the houses. Every member of The Scale with authorization above C could request surveillance. Asa recruiter, he had an easier time. He could always say that he had a potential recruit. In a way, that excuse was the equivalent of get-out-of-jail-free card. However, when he requested an authorization, he had received an interesting but confusing puzzle.
The report had said the Midoriya household was already under surveillance.
When he had read that, Mase had thought that somehow, The Scale already knew. It had taken him a few deep breaths and logical thinking to throw that idea out of the window. If they did know what had happened, then he wouldn't be alive. If they knew the power the child wielded, he would be thrown out of the picture as soon as possible.
Regardless of whatever the reason, he had to know the Midoriya background. Thus, the manipulation and the charade. In the end, he had destroyed a family, blackmailed another for one file.
A ding resounded from his laptop, drawing his attention to it. The file had finished decrypting. Just as he was about to open the file, the sound of an incoming call filled his flat.
He clicked his tongue and got up from his computer chair. His flat wasn't exactly luxurious, nor was it spartan in nature. It had the necessities, a desk, chair, couch, TV, etc. However, the pride and joy of his life - the All Might collectibles - took up space on the mantle below the TV.
He recognised the number and eagerly attended the call. It was one of the distributors that sold collectibles. After helping him out of a protection racket that demanded more money each time they visited. In exchange for a few calls and well placed negotiations, Mase had received the gratitude of one of the premium All Might vendors.
"Mase, my boy!" Kirohara Minori said, nearly shouting.
Mase winced. The man had always been boisterous and loud, even at the age of 60.
"Hello Uncle. How are you doing today?" Mase asked. In truth he couldn't care less, but for a conversation, there were certain rules to be followed. The foremost one being that in order to conduct a conversation, you needed two people. If Mase insulted everybody he spoke to, which he was very likely to if he spoke his mind, then it would be slightly hard to conduct a conversation with himself.
"I'm good as always. I called to let you know your figurine is finally ready! Do you want me to wrap it for your son?"
Mase blinked.
"I...have a son?" Mase asked unsurely, thinking that he had merely misheard.
"Well, who else are you gifting them to? You asked for a specialised All Might themed notebook."
"How did you go from there to a son?" Mase asked, his mind still plagued with confusion.
Kirohara laughed once before replying.
"You did ask me if I had any recommendations for presents to give to a kid."
"I still don't see how you drew the conclusion that I have a kid."
"You gave away one of your vintage All Might collectibles and asked me for a replacement."
"I might've given it away to someone else."
"Oh please. You wouldn't give it away unless it was family. You hissed - hissed!- at one of my customers because he looked at one of the collectibles."
"And I'm telling you, that I had already called dibs on it! I thought he was going to ask for it. It was a perfectly reasonable reaction."
"Well aside from that, you did ask if I had a child."
"So? I just wanted to know my supplier better." Mase retorted quickly. For some reason, giving out this information made him feel...vulnerable.
Kirohara snorted before replying, "And it only took you three years. You have social skills like my grandson. And he doesn't even speak."
Mase didn't say anything. He knew that the old man hated three things. Someone talking smack about All Might, someone talking smack about his collectibles, or nobody talking at all. Silence was anathema to him.
"All right! Frankie from the bookstore knows me. We get together every weekend. He told me how you've been buying books towards philosophy and you asked him repeatedly if someone around the age of 10 could read it."
Mase simply sighed.
"This was wonderful." He thought sardonically. Their only link was him. He had saved both of them from trouble. And as for the books...well he wanted to give Izuku something that challenged him.
Frank 'Frankie' Cordova, was an immigrant who had tried to gain a foothold in the Japanese book industry. Descending from the Cordova family, he had gained huge success in Italy, successfully turning their black money into legal money that effectively served as white money. They branched off into the America's, Britain and were once again successful. Although they didn't hold a monopoly anywhere, they still held a sizable hold on the market.
It was when he entered Japan that disaster struck. The Cordova Family had made enemies out of a local gang in Mustafu. Although they were nowhere close to the power the Italian crime family held, their reputation within Mustafu was too great. So the place which was supposed to serve as a springboard to Italian influence into Japan became a hard fought war.
It wasn't until one of the Yakuza's that prided themselves on 'honour',(something that Mase just couldn't understand. What made perfectly sensible people act so irrationally at times?) interfered and allowed them some breathing room. Mase took note of the situation and with some string pulling, managed to gain the favour of one of the most powerful families within Europe. The previous quarter had seen Frankie's business finally going up.
It was something that sent a thrill up Mase's spine. Manipulating things, completely unseen, until the moment when they realize that they've made a massive mistake...it was something that could only be described as euphoric.
Even if Mase Hotako was only a B Rank Recruiter, his connections made him the overlord of Mustafu. It wouldn't be an overestimation to say that Mase was somehow connected to everyone in Mustafu.
"Except UA." Mase thought bitterly.
It was still a sore spot for him. He knew everything that happened in Mustafu except UA. It was like a black hole, not giving out anything and not letting anything in its vicinity leave. It's staff were fiercely loyal. He would've suspected Nezu to have a brainwash quirk, something along the lines of indoctrination, if it wasn't for his staff's own, independent networks. And no matter how much he worked, no matter how many people were in his debt, the moment they were truly accepted into UA, they stopped being his.
And it truly and completely angered him.
Mase shook his head vigorously. Now was not the time to indulge in emotions.
"Yes. Well done. You have successfully found out that I buy gifts for a child. And before you ask, no, he is not my child. Just someone who I'm looking out for." Mase told Kirohara.
There was a long pause before Kirohara spoke. And for once, he didn't speak in his loud, filled-with-enthusiasm voice that made Mase feel like downing an aspirin or two. No, this time, it was much softer.
Mase had heard this voice before. It was when he talked to his son. THis, more than anything, made him listen much more carefully.
"Well whoever it is...they're a good influence on you. You're not as snappy and you even make jokes. You almost gave me a heart attack when you chuckled at one of the customers when they asked whether you were my son. Usually you say something so utterly sarcastic that it makes them question their own intellect."
Mase didn't say anything. After a moment of silence which Kirohara didn't break, Mase spoke up.
"Use one of the better wrapping papers." Mase said simply before hanging up.
But rather than quickly go back to his computer like he usually did, he leaned back in his chair.
He couldn't deny that he actually liked teaching Izuku. He was bright, inquisitive and very eager to learn. He also didn't come with the rose-tinted glasses that every toddler came with. The one which made them all believe that Hero's were the knights in shining armour and Villain's were the worst of humanity.
No. He knew that the world was not white or black, but shades of grey. Some were darker, some were lighter, but none were completely good or completely bad.
He couldn't deny the fact that he felt a warm feeling spread in his chest whenever Izuku answered a question correctly and looked at him for confirmation. He was still occasionally floored by the fact that somebody actually looked up to him. The people that knew him either hated him or knew better than to fully trust him.
He couldn't deny the fact that whenever he saw one of the bruises on Izuku;s body, saw him rush to cover it, it filled him with complete rage. Rage that he only associated with UA. And yet he never acted on it.
"Fucking hypocrite." He spoke out loud in his flat. He knew that he cared for Izuku. He knew that Izuku looked up to him. And he knew that he wanted to go further, become the person that Izuku looked up to.
He groaned in frustration even as he put his fingers behind his head. He knew that he wasn't a good person. Hell, he was probably more of a Villain than the ones he knew of. Yet, he couldn't help but yearn for the kind of connection he had once.
Like he had with his son.
He huffed, got up and began pacing around his room.
He stopped and then nodded his head once.
"Okay." He thought to himself.
"I want to have a relationship with him. I can still do that and complete my mission."
"Or you can just forget the mission."
He stilled with that thought. It was...possible.
He could forget the mission and help Izuku grow. He could forget the fact that this child could dictate the future and just...help him have the life he couldn't.
A loud ping disrupted the silence of his apartment. He looked at the monitor, only to realise that it had finished decrypting the file long ago.
He cracked his neck and opened the file.
And as he read the more his surprise grew.
The Scale
Central Archives
Classification - S Rank and above
Name : Inko Midoriya
Maiden Name: Unknown
Aliases : [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED].
Occupation : Part time nurse, part time analyst, former leader of Drifters[1].
Rank : Personally unaffiliated with The Scale, connection through spouse[2].
Quirk : Unknown (Name is wiped from all known information centres.)
Type : Her Quirk is exceedingly powerful-
"Wait. Powerful?" Mase thought to himself. Inko herself had said her Quirk only allowed her to attract small things. She had explained how her Quirk was so weak that they hadn't bothered naming it.
"And the Drifters?" Mase realised that there were more pieces to this puzzle. He continued reading.
"And why the hell are her names redacted? This information is only for S Rank." Usually when information is redacted in a report, it means that though the report can be accessed by the person, the redacted potion was above their rank.
In the entirety of Scale, there were probably only 250 people with S Rank authorization, excluding those above. Though this may seem a lot, in an organization with a 1000 people in one city, with said organization having multiple branches across the world, 250 was miniscule in comparison.
Type : Her Quirk is exceedingly powerful and is often compared to Telekinesis, though this is an incorrect observation. She can push and pullon objects - organic and inorganic- which allow her to propel herself or other substances. Current weight limit is unknown though the last report showcases her capacity to be above 10 tons.
Mase couldn't comprehend this report. He couldn't match the person with such a powerful Quirk to the meek, housewife who's entire life revolved around a 5 year old kid.
Effects : As mentioned before, she can push and pull on any substance. Although unconfirmed, sources suggest she can use her Quirk on substances within a human body. This explains her moniker of [REDACTED], as opposed to the previous explanation which attributed the name to the visible glow of her Quirk. The ability also helps explain her subsequent rise of fame.
Mase read the report once again. And again. And again. His hand trembled ever so slightly as he realised what it meant. She could push and pull blood. And the way the report was worded...it meant she had. He took a deep breath as he realised that he was swimming in shark infested waters. He took a long sip of his coffee and resumed reading.
Advantages : Extremely powerful combat professional with rich experience in high stress situations. High potential for rescue missions. Experienced in stealth. Experienced in HVT missions.
Mase had read enough reports to know that when the report said 'experienced', it referred to a veteran. All reports were made by a team of rotating professionals whose works were checked by an artificial system. It guaranteed that all reports meant what they said, meaning there was no room for exaggerations. He racked his mind for the definition of HVT before figuring it out.
HVT referred to 'High Value Targets'. It was the polite term for assassination.
All Mase could do was take a long sip of coffee, wish it was alcohol, and continue reading.
Disadvantages : Her Quirk has no known weakness. However, she has extremely strong familial connections. Using family members for leverage may be beneficial but can also backfire as the subject may become enraged and lose rational thinking.
Mase nodded as he read it. Izuku was her entire life. He had often wondered why a woman such as her - well educated and in the eyes of many, attractive - took part time jobs. Eventually he had come to the realisation that the jobs allowed her to meet her son, however he had still found it puzzling.
There were always jobs which were full-time and gave a bit of leeway. Reading this report finally solved the puzzle.
She desired to remain unnoticed.
All he had to do is figure out why.
Service Record : Though unaffiliated with The Scale, performed
- three HVT's and two extractions-
in exchange for anonymity and for removal from every known database. Central Archives contain the last known full fledged report. Background history removed upon completion of further missions
(one combat situation and one HVT)
Ah. So she had struck a deal with The Scale and done their dirty work in order to literally and figuratively become a ghost. Her information was removed from every centre. And after completing two more missions, her history had been removed from Scale itself.
Mase bet that there was an information cache somewhere that contained the background. They might have removed it from the Archives, but that didn't mean it wasn't in some unassuming, small time server elsewhere.
After finishing the report, he was about to close when he realised there were still footnotes. And one of them lead to another file.
[1]Drifters : A vigilante organisation that was formed around 2150. Although many classify it as a defunct villain organisation, most of the members have gone into hiding. It struck at those responsible for the Tragedy of Tokyo, and due to the deaths of many esteemed politicians (who were later found to be guilty), it was classified as a villain organisation. Although they killed those who were 'guilty' their methods were especially gruesome.
One of the victims (Hasegawa Yoshiaki) was forced to donate his entire wealth to orphanages after which he was killed. Although the exact method is unknown, his death was caused due to loss of blood through every possible surface, including the minute pores found in human skin. Forensic reports state that the man was still alive and 'died while experiencing excruciating pain'.
First Responder, Uniformed Officer Tsukauchi describes it as "what nightmares are made up of". Around 2158 the organization abruptly went into hiding, although the reason is still unknown. The leader, Inko Midoriya married around the same time to Hisashi Midoriya who changed his name from Hisashi Akane.
On July 15, 2159, Izuku Midoriya was born. Shortly after, The Scale was approached by Inko Midoriya. She performed missions in exchange for anonymity (missions mentioned above).
Mase thought about this for a while. He had never heard of the name 'Drifters', but he had certainly heard of the incident. For a while, everybody connected to the Tragedy lived in fear. For some, the fear was well founded for death hounded after them.
Mase processed these new findings.
Inko Midoriya was somebody with a powerful Quirk and had the experience to use it.
For some reason, she and The Drifters had gone underground. If it had been only Inko, Mase could've attributed it to Izuku's birth. But for the whole organization to disappear?
There was a puzzle piece missing that Mase had to find.
He tried to take another sip from the mug, only to find air. He held onto the mug, even if it was just to find some warmth.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Did he have to change anything in his plan? He took a minute to think about it before deciding the answer was a negative. She hadn't suspected anything yet.
She didn't know what he intended to do.
Mase groaned out loud as he realised that his entire conundrum had started because even he didn't know what he intended to do. He was still torn between saving his life by using the kid or by saving his life by not telling anyone about the kid and forming an honest relationship.
"Well," He thought to himself, "when you put it like that, there isn't really a choice is there?"
"Looks like we're going with Plan B." He said out loud. He couldn't help but feel he was making a mistake. Getting attached to his target was already considered unprofessional. And this? This was way too close for comfort.
Another loud ping disrupted the silence. He looked back at the monitor in confusion, not sure why or what caused the computer to send out a reminder.
There was a blue, hyperlinked footnote. He clicked on it and was sent to another file.
[2]The Scale
Central Archives
Clasification - S Rank and above
Name : Hisashi Midoriya, formerly known as Hisashi Akane
There was an entire file about her husband? Mase tried to recollect what he had learnt from Inko's file.
Mase blinked as he realised two things.
One, it had mentioned that she was connected to The Scale through her husband.
Two, the file was heavily redacted. Hell, it wouldn't have been an understatement to say the entire file was just black lines.
Occupation : Former SS Rank Agent (Strategist) [Current Occ. - Unknown]
Mase just groaned in frustration.
Of course. Of course the father would be an SS Rank Agent. And an Agent with a Strategist specialty to boot.
S Rank was where the wheat was separated from the chaff. Above that were only three ranks. S+, SS and SSS. The entire system went from D to A and then S. Till A Rank, all were either Agents, Recruiters or in some other profession. In simple words, they were categorised in simple groups.
To be placed in S Rank, you had to be all rounded. From intelligence to even Quirk versatility. There were multiple rubrics that one had to score well to be placed in S Rank. To be even higher, one had to be extremely proficient in one facet of their class. In the Recruiting profession, there were three such classes.
Subversion, Persuasion and Connection.
The distinctions were based on how you recruited. The first one would mean the recruiter was proficient in bringing people into Scale through illegal means. It could mean from somewhere as small as using an Income Tax raid to intimidate or eliminating the target's family to bring them into the fold.
Persuasion required a hands on approach. These were also known as the SIlver Tongues or the Golden Tongues or some other moniker. They were able to use their power over words to recruit. Mase had gone against one. By the end, he had been left with his head spinning and thoroughly bamboozled.
The last class was what Mase was an example of. By fostering relationships with people, they were able to recruit people. It was a mixture of the other two and incredibly rare. Thus a recruiter of the third class was extremely valuable. Understandable, due to its value, it was extremely hard to become one.
Mase had no doubt he would have become an S Rank recruiter. However, to become one, he would have to report his sources. Something which he abhorred. Thus, he wallowed in his supposed mediocrity.
Similarly, Agents were divided into three. There were probably more distinctions within these main three, but these were all he knew of.
Field, Analytic and Strategist.
It was fairly simple to grasp. Field referred to those with powerful abilities to do the grunt work like assassinations, combat etc. Analytic was similar to Field in the sense they did the grunt work. However they rarely did the work themselves. They might be capable of it, but they preferred to move their pieces to do it. And like the case with the recruiters, Strategist was an incredibly valuable and extremely hard distinction to obtain.
Mase shook his head as he read the rest of the file. Maybe read was too strong of a term, seeing as he gazed at what was just a page filled with redacted lines. Soon he reached the end of the file which surprisingly had a few unredacted sentences.
Note : Extremely dangerous and to be reported at once. He has been deemed as a threat and any unreported contact will be dealt with extreme prejudice.
Mase was taken aback at the note. Had he missed something while skimming through the file? He looked back up and saw a name he had given up on finding.
The empty coffee mug burst under the pressure. The shards bit into his skin, drawing copious amounts of blood. But Mase didn't care. His breath started coming in short bursts before he laughed.
He read the name again, feeling the euphoric joy. After 3 years, the entire reason for him joining The Scale had been found. The only person whose blood he wanted to personally spill.
The only person who he wanted to destroy utterly and completely.
He read the line again, being drawn into his memories and for once not resisting the pull. He would need to call upon his anger soon enough.
o - 0 - o - 0 - o - 0 - o
Mase choked on the smoke that rolled through his apartment.
How had this happened?
He had been enjoying dinner with his family when the building had shook before collapsing into itself. He let out a choked sob as he saw the bloodied face of his mother, the steel rod going straight through her. He struggled to his feet, the bone clearly sticking out of his left leg. But he couldn't care for the pain.
He had to find his children. Ide, the mischievous brat. Endo, the ever kind girl who would always love his story time. And Asato, his wife of four years. He had to find them.
Slowly but surely, he dragged his disabled leg as he went beyond the body of his mother. Tears rolled down his eyes as he remembered all the times his mother had made onigiri for him.
"It's tradition, Mase. Plus, it's worth it to see you smile." She had said just hours ago, when he had seen her working on her own birthday. He had hugged her tightly even as she had laughed. Even though he was a grown man, he would always be his mamma's little boy.
Now, as he trudged further through the wasteland of melted metal and raging fires, he realised that he would never listen to her tell him about his father, the thin, wiry blond named Toshinori. He had lived for those stories. His mother had told him that they had parted on mutual terms in America before coming back to Japan. He hadn't known Mase had even existed.
And yet, he always believed his mother when she said that if 'Toshi' - as she fondly called him - had known about him, he would have showered him with love.
He shook the memories aside and kept walking, letting out a hiss of pain with every step. He was breathing through the gap in his teeth, the pain not leaving him and not taking him either. He saw the dinner table soon, the same dinner table where just two hours ago he, his wife, his mother and two children were having dinner. He squinted his eyes and - and...and.
No.
NO.
NO NO NO NO NO NO.
He rushed forward, leg be damned, towards the table and the heap of bodies. He scrambled over the melted remains of a chair and gagged at the smell.
He vomited as he looked at what had remained of his family. There wasn't even anything that was complete. His beautiful wife, now left with only a torso to show what had once been. His children - god. It was too gruesome. He vomited once again.
His leg soon gave way and he crawled towards what remained. He let out a howl of pain.
What had they done to deserve this?
What had his family ever done?
WHY?
He felt the temperature increase. He closed his eyes, content to die with them. The temperature increased, yet the fires remained the same.
He opened his eyes again, wondering what was causing the rise.
As if the heavens themselves were answering the question, the far wall crumbled to show three figures. One of them was on the ground, blood seeping from his leg. The other had flames all around him, wreathing him in fire.
The Flame Hero : Endeavor.
He shot a huge burst of hellfire, blanketing the third person and an area of 10 feet around him. The flames went on for ten seconds, Endeavor not letting up at all. Only afterwards, after Endeavor stopped his Quirk, panting due to exertion, was Mase able to see the aftermath.
Melted steel, cement and concrete littered the epicentre.
The man was unharmed. He brushed his shoulders, his green eyes gleaming unnatural bright. Mase had once seen a documentary on how the earliest glow-in-the-dark objects were actually radioactive material. He remembered being enraptured by their soft glow.
The man's eyes seemed to be producing that same radioactive green, the soft glow that promised kindness and extreme danger.
He walked forward, his foot sinking into the molten rubble in front of him. The man's brow tightened ever so slightly, as if it were only a pin and not a molten slag he was walking through.
Mase thought he had an invulnerability Quirk, but was proven wrong when he saw the man's foot...melt. It was a gruesome thing to watch. First the skin peeled off, bubbling to show the muscle underneath. Soon it too was town away to show the bone. And yet the man continued.
Endeavor and the other person seemed to watch in disgusted fascination. The other man slowly spoke to him.
"W-What the fuck are you?"
The man flashed him a broad grin, making the speaker flinch at the bloodthirsty grin. It seemed like a normal smile, the curve of the lips, the teeth, everything was perfectly ordinary, yet something screamed that the smile was incorrect in a fundamental way.
"Why, didn't you hear Endeavor? It seems that I'm a 'monster'." The man said, making air quotes on the last word and giving an exasperated sigh towards the Flame Hero, continuing his slow pace towards the duo even as his feet melted.
"What, except a monster, decides to level an entire residential building?" Endeavor growled.
That was when Mase understood. This person was responsible for his loss. He was responsible for all these deaths.
The man's eyes narrowed even as he spoke, "What, except a monster, raises children to beat their own rival."
And though Endeavor made no obvious reaction, even through the distance and the smoke, Mase could see the Hero's posture tighten and fists curl ever so slightly.
Suddenly the man stopped. Mase soon realised why. It was because he couldn't move anymore. His feet had been burned away, including the bones. He was standing on two stumps. Mase would've vomited if there had been anything left in his stomach.
The second person seemed to take this as an opportunity and before Endeavor could stop him, shot off what seemed to be a bolt of light at him. It went straight through the person's head, a two inch hole visible on his forehead.
He sagged in relief while Endeavor tensed up and readied his hands. Suddenly the second person was grasped by two hands. He looked up to see the person he had killed look back at him with that same grin. This time Mase was sure his eyes were emitting light, glowing so brightly they cast a green look.
The two inch hole in his forehead seemed to be knitting itself back. His legs began to grow again. The man tried to shoot the light once again, only for it to be absorbed this time.
"Looks like you don't train your rookies well Endeavor." He said.
And before Endeavor could reply, the man squeezed his hands and the man's head...exploded.
Endeavor looked in horrified silence even as the man calmly brushed bits of bone and brain matter off him, blood spattered over his face.
The Flame Hero finally responded, his knuckles white.
"You sick, sick fucking monster." He growled out. And yet, the Hero waited.
The man rolled his shoulders before responding.
"Even monsters have names Endeavor."
Endeavor fired off a short spout of flames only for it to be absorbed.
"My name is…"
Alias : Lazarus