"Alright, everyone. Before we start off, I'm going to bring someone else in who needs to see this." Sandra declared.
Suddenly, a portal opened and out fell a figure that was familiar to everyone, but especially to Todoroki. "Father." He said.
The new Number One hero stood up and turned to his son and his classmates. "Shoto... And the rest of your class. All Might and your teachers as well. What is happening here?" He asked, looking to his Pro Hero peers.
"We've been summoned here by the Empress of the Universe," Aizawa began, pointing the the celestial, who waved, "To observe the family members of our students we've never been informed about before. Possibly even some of our family members as well." He explained.
"Yes. We learned Young Bakugo has a rather foul-mouthed sister who lives and works in the city of Roanupur, which seems to be a paradise for Quirkless criminals." All Might added.
"And we learned that your Quirk marriage didn't start with Mom. And you had a secret love child." Todoroki said.
"More than A secret love child." Sandra said quietly in the background.
"But you abandoned her because she only had an Ice Quirk." Todoroki said angrily.
Endeavor was shocked at this, thinking back long and hard, before it came back to him. "It was so many years ago... I had completely forgotten about it." He said in horror, before looking to Sandra. "And where is she now? Is she alive? Is she okay?" He asked.
"Sit down and all will be revealed." The host said. Everyone quickly hurried to their seats and the screen came to life.
Esdeath was on all fours, holding herself over a young man sitting on the ground, late at night. "So- um, Miss Esdeath, you didn't grow up in the capital, did you?" The young man asked her.
"Whoa! This feels like something we aren't meant to see!" Uraraka cried out, covering her eyes.
"Why can't I be in that guy's spot?!" Mineta complained, earning a glare from Todoroki. Endeavor was also not pleased, but felt as though he had no real right to say anything in defense of the honor of a daughter he abandoned.
"So, what exactly is going on here?" All Might asked, hoping to move past this uncomfortable moment.
"Due to an enemy's power, Tatsumi and Esdeath have been sent to this strange island in the middle of nowhere, so Tatsumi was hoping to use this time to learn more about her and convince her to join the Revolutionary Army to fight against the corrupt Empire and the Prime Minister, who is the heart of all the corruption, directly influencing the child Emperor... Oh! And he's also Esdeath's guardian." Sandra explained.
"Whoa. That's a rough position to be in." Kaminari said.
"While I applaud him for trying to convince her to join the right side, it feels rather underhanded to try and manipulate her into telling her personal things about herself for his own gain." Iida said.
"They're in a war. It's not like with heroes and villains. You have to do whatever you can to give your side the advantage." Aizawa told him.
"Also, considering he's an assassin, this is a lot better than the alternatives." The celestial told them.
"That's right. I was actually born in a far off country known as Japan. My father had hoped I'd be a worthy successor with power over his fire and my mother's ice, but I only obtained ice. After that, he left and my mother gave me away in an adoption. I was passed around to a few different homes and orphanages until I wound up in one close to the Northern border of the Empire." She explained.
Endeavor looked down as he heard his estranged daughter recount her past. "I can'tbelieve I allowed myself to be so callous to abandon a child like that..." The new number one lamented.
"It's definitely inexcusable, but you're a different person now than you were before. All you can do is to keep trying to be better." Midnight told him.
"Is there a way we could go to this Empire and try to convince her to come home with us?" Todoroki asked, hoping to be able to save this new sister of his from a life of war and corruption.
"That wouldn't be advisable. Other than the fact this Empire is clearly hostile, attempting to take over all neighboring colonies, Esdeath is a general in this army, so I'd have to assume she's a dedicated follower. And that's without mentioning ant possible animosity she might hold towards Endeavor, which is quite possible, since she still holds that memory from so early in her life." Yaoyorozu said sadly, holding Todoroki's hand.
"I don't suppose you heard of the Partas clan?" She asked him.
"I haven't." He confirmed.
An image of of three bandit-like men with a bow, spear and axe were shown high above a group of monstrous beasts. "They were a hunting clan that specialized in killing Danger Beasts, though they were not above raiding nearby settlements where they could. They attacked our orphanage and slaughtered most of the caretakers and orphans. They likely would've killed me, too, but I defended myself with my ice powers." Esdeath explained as she remembered the tribe killing all those around her, as well as herself launching icicles into the heads of those coming to attack her.
Everyone was horrified to see these bandits killing not only the adult caretakers, but also the children. "How could they?!" Hagakure asked, almost not believing what she was seeing... And wishing she couldn't.
"Really wish I could give these guys some tinnitus right now." Present Mic growled.
"Get the hell away from the kids, you extras!" Bakugo snapped.
But then, they were absolutely floored when they saw this less then ten-year-old Esdeath fighting back and even winning. "Holy crap! She's just a kid, but she took out at least a half dozen of them!" Jiro said in astonishment.
"To take a life so young... it seems as though fate always planned to have the life of a killer thrust upon her." Tokoyami said.
"I don't think there's any way fate saw THIS coming. Besides, that was self-defense. If we gave REVY a pass for it, I think we can give a LITTLE KID a pass." Asui defended.
And, of course, Midoriya couldn't help but go full analysis mode. "Her ice ability seems to be more potent than Todoroki's. She can actually make individual projectiles instead of one large blast of ice, which gives her better precision l. She can also make them our of thin air around herself instead of just from her hand like Todoroki, making her attacks less predictable and giving her more angles to attack from. She must be freezing the water already Present in the air instead of creating the ice herself..." He mumbled while writing information down in his notebook he pulled out from who-knows-where.
"He SERIOUSLY needs counseling about this." Aizawa said, the other pros nodding in agreement.
Then, a man stood over her as she was down on her knees. "This impressed their chief, who took me in as his own. The people who had taken me in changed my name more than once, but he gave me the one I'll carry for the rest of my life: Esdeath." She told him as the man picked her up under his arm and took her with them.
"So you just kidnap her after killing all her friends?! SO not manly!" Kirishima said angrily.
"It's better than killing her, too. Even if she got some of them, I doubt she could take on the whole party." Ashido reasoned.
"I'm more concerned that the dude literally put DEATH in her name!" Sero said.
"They fight giant monsters and kill people. Pretty clear they're not right in the head." Ojiro pointed out.
A flash forward showed a slightly older Esdeath chasing a group of blue raptor-like creatures on a cliff above them, landing on one and slicing its throat.
"Whoa! Is that a dinosaur?!" Sato asked in disbelief.
"It WAS." Shoji said, too shocked by what he witnessed to say much else.
"No! That poor animal!" Koda wept.
"Whoa. She must be pretty fast to run those things down." Kaminari said.
"It appears to be of similar size to a Utahraptor, who were believed to be able to run between 15 to 20 and 25 to 30 miles per hour. To keep pace with them would require Olympic Athlete levels of speed without a Quirk that specifically enhances speed or agility." Iida, surprisingly, analyzed in place of Midoriya.
"Speed, icy powers and a wit as sharp as her blade. Todoroki, mon ami, your sister is quite impressive." Aoyama told the half-and-half user.
She would then drag it back to an encampment on a sled. "Father. I caught my prey!" She called out to a middle-aged man in the center of the camp.
"Ah! Well done! You're a good little hunter for your age... but I think your old man's got you beat." He told her, looking to the body of a huge green dragon-like creature beside them, which Esdeath marveled at.
Many in the audience who had a drink now did a spit take as they saw the beast Esdeath's "father" had brought down. "Holy crap! That think looks like it's the size of Ryukyu's dragon form!" Kirishima shouted in disbelief.
"We were about to begin the butchering process. Are you ready?" He asked.
"Mm-hmm!" She said eagerly.
The man then drew a knife from a sheath. "I went ahead and weakened it and it's tied down so it can't hurt us. But let's be quick just in case, okay?" He asked, to which she nodded.
"it's still alive?! At least put it out of its misery!" Koda pleaded.
"No wonder everyone makes her out to be a monster! She was raised like this! Torturing an animal like this is often the first sign of a serial killer!" Yaoyorozu snapped.
"There's a fine line between hunters and animal torturers. And they've more than crossed it." All Might said angrily
The creature then roared in pain as they began to cut into it, much to Esdeath's irritation. "It hurts my ears when they scream like that!" She complained, covering her ears.
"Yeah, I can't do much for the pain, but the eggs are more valuable if the beast is still alive." The man said as he pulled a glowing green star-shaped egg from the beast. "You see, it used to survive by devouring our people. Not anymore, this time the predator loses. The hunter may have been strong, but in this case the hunted ended up being just a little bit stronger in the end. It's what it deserves for being weaker than me." He told her.
"That's a terrible philosophy to live life by!" Midoriya said in horror.
"That reminds me way too much of the kind of world Himiko Toga wants to create." Uraraka said in concern.
"These people are a danger to anyone they might ever encounter." Aizawa said darkly.
"And they're raising my sister to be just like them." Todoroki said in concern.
"Hate to dampen the mood even worse, but Sandra said this was your older sister, but she looks younger than us here. So that means this was several years ago, meaning they aren't raise-ING your sister like this, they HAVE raised her like them. So it will likely be harder for her to be turned away from this way of thinking." Tokoyami pointed out.
"Esdeath, carve out the eyes and the crest." He instructed.
"Mm-hmm! I'll do my best father!" She agreed, having taken the knife and went to work on the eyes.
All the while, her father observed her. (She never hesitates to kill a target, even if it's weak or trying to run away. She's a natural hunter. But that being said...) He thought, narrowing his eyes as she held the gouged out eye on the knife. (I can't help but wonder if she's missing something. I can only hope it won't be a problem.) He thought as he looked down at her.
"If that psychopath thinks she's missing something, it's probably a good thing!" Bakugo said.
"And that's coming from Bakugo! If even he thinks you're a psycho, there's no doubt you are." Mineta said quietly, shocked at even Bakugo thought someone could be too violent.
"He's raising her for a harsh life in the tundra, but that doesn't mean he has to make her into a monster. AR this rate, she'll be as much of a beast as the creatures they hunt." Aizawa declared.
Some time then passed as a blizzard hit the encampment. "Eat or be eaten. That's the kind of wonderful lifestyle in which I was raised. It was just us and the Danger Beasts. The way both sides desperately fought for their lives was so much fun." Esdeath narrated as her younger self looked over a fight between bugs.
"Her idea of a 'wonderful lifestyle' leaves A LOT to be desired!" Kaminari declared, thoroughly creeper out.
"This might be the only time someone would've been better off raised by Endeavor." Hagakure whispered to the other girls, who reluctantly nodded.
"And oh, goodie! Now she thinks it's fight to torture and kill animals! What a great job these people did raising her!" Present Mic said sarcastically with anger in his voice.
"Oh, an insect war?" Her father asked.
"Yeah." She confirmed.
"Seems to me like the fighting already over. Look over there, the enemy soldiers have dragged the queen out of the fortress and they're getting ready to lynch her." Her father gave a play-by-play.
"That's what happens to the weak, right?" Esdeath asked, appearing to be rather gloomy.
"But it shouldn't be! People should be there for the weak! Just like I should have been there for you!" Endeavor shouted as if he was trying to reach his estranged daughter with his words.
"Yeah! That's what separates human from monsters! We look out for each other!" Sero cheered.
"Yeah, but we are like ants because when we work together, we're unstoppable!" Ashido added.
"Yes, Esdeath. This situation is exactly the same as it was when your mother was eaten by the Danger Beast. Make no mistake, this is how the world works." He told her as they observed the slaughtered queen. "It may be sad, but your mother died because she was weak." He declared.
"How can he stand there and say that to a little girl who lost the closest thing she had to a mother?! You should never have been allowed to take the role of her father in the first place!" Midnight snapped.
"That's just telling her to be completely apathetic towards anything that died and not value and appreciate the life around her. That makes her dangerous." Ojiro said angrily.
"I can't imagine going through life thinking like that. And I don't want to." Asui added.
(The strong survive; the weak become prey.) Esdeath mentally ingrained this lesson.
Some time later, the young Esdeath was dragging a massive bird back to camp. "Camping in the mountain these past few days paid off! I caught this guy all by myself! Father is gonna be so proud of me!" She declared happily.
"Not again!" Koda cried out.
"I can't believe she not only took that huge bird down, but she's dragging it all the way home on her own! It's gotta weigh a ton!" Sato said in amazement.
"But at least she killed it first. So, at the very least, she doesn't enjoy torturing things." Shoji said.
Meanwhile, towards the back of the room,, Sandra's forehead lit up with the form of a bearded man dressed as Shakespeare, reading from a scroll. "That one didn't age quite so well..." The man said awkwardly.
However, instead of a proud father, she returned to a destroyed encampment.
Everyone was shocked at this "Oh, no..." Yaoyorozu gasped, putting her hands to her mouth.
"They were terrible people, but they didn't deserve THIS." Midoriya said.
"And even worse, she's experiencing serious trauma for the second time at a young age, similar to the first time, when her friends and caretakers at the orphanage were killed. Besides the fact that's way too much trauma for anyone, let alone someone so young, this is going to make it almost impossible for her to get close to people in the future out of fear that something terrible will happen to them if she warms up to them and becomes happy and let's her guard down." Mineta said. He then noticed everyone was quiet and looked to see them staring at him in shock. "What?! I can be more than a Perv! I AM one of the top students in class, you know!" He complained.
Esdeath was in shock at this. "What... happened?" She asked herself as she observed the carnage. However, she would soon find a dying survivor.. "What's going on?" She asked.
"The Northern tribe just came from across the border and started attacking our people. The chief took charge and killed a few dozen of the bastards, but then they ganged up on him all at once and he couldn't hold them off." He weakly informed her, much to her shock.
She would then find her father impaled with multiple spears. "Father!" She cried out with a sob.
Many had to look away at this, a few vomit buckets even appearing to catch the contents as some students emptied their stomachs at the gore. "They didn't leave any other survivors. So Esdeath is all on her own now. That couldn't have been easy." Jiro said sympathetically.
"He may have forced her into this life, but she still loved him. He was still her father in the way that mattered. The poor mademoiselle." Aoyama said sadly.
However, despite his grievous situation, he seemed at peace with what was happening. "Es... Death... it's like I've told you... We were defeated because we weren't strong enough. This was our fate... Never let yourself be of the weak, Esdeath... Never become the prey..." He gave her one final piece of advice, before departing from the world.
"Still not a great philosophy to teach a child, but he is giving her the right message in his final moments. She'll be on her own now, so she'll have to be strong in order to survive in this harsh world full of monsters like what we saw her father bring down." All Might said.
"If he had to get one thing in her life right, it's good that it's that. Like I told you students, the world's not always fair. You have to be ready for she was. In fact, she had to be more ready, because this place is clearly less forgiving than Japan." Aizawa said.
"So, if nothing else, these videos are great for finding places to cross off a list of vacation spots..." Sero said, trying to lighten the mood. It did not work.
Esdeath was now sat up on her knees, overlooking the night sky. "I continued to hunt Danger Beasts on my own, but eventually I ran out of prey, so I went to the Capital. There, Minister Honest found me and took me in, offering me shelter, food and safety if I became an Imperial Officer. So somewhere along the line, I switched from preying on monsters to targeting humans. And, well... That's my story." She finished her tale.
"So, he asked a teenager to join the army?" Present Mic asked with a frown.
"Yes, a teenager who could shoot icicles in a largely Quirkless kingdom, who is also capable of hunting the most dangerous Beasts they know of." Sandra interjected. "Teenager or not, you've gotta have respect for raw talent. Imagine if Eri could do this to All Might." She said, showing them a clip of a hulking green monster ragdolling a man dressed in black, green and gold. "Pretty sure you'd want to make them a hero ASAP." The celestial said.
"Well, that is pretty much what happened with Hawks, so she's got a point." Midnight admitted.
"I'm more concerned that he only offered her food and shelter if she joined." Aizawa said.
"I DID tell you he's incredibly corrupt, right?" Their host questioned.
"I can't believe it... All that happened to her... Because of me." Endeavor said, heavy with guilt.
"At the very least, we know she's still alive. That's good. Right?" Asui asked.
"Yes, but that look on life she received from her bandit father is rather troubling." All Might said.
"And it's not like we can exactly go to this strange, hostile country, force her to come back with us and try to make her normal again." Kaminari added.
"Even if we could get there and found her, would we even be able to handle her if she was hostile? Her Quirk already seemed powerful when we saw it in use, but you said she got something that made it even stronger?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"I did, indeed. Observe." Sandra said, playing the next clip.
inside the halls of the palace, Esdeath and Minister Honest stood in front of a room filled with a vast array of weapons. "Hm... I've offered a variety of weapons, but your affinity seems poor with all of them." The Minister said as Esdeath picked up and observed a large single-handed axe.
"Holy crap! That axe is the size of Mineta!" Ashido shrieked.
"And I'm guessing all of those are these Teigu things you mentioned?" Midoriya asked.
"Yes. Also called Imperial Arms, they were made using ancient sorcery from parts of immensely powerful Danger Beasts and are basically magic. One is a belt that gives you lion ears, a tail and claws, as well as an incredible healing factor, that axe in particular is like a boomerang and splits in two and there's a katana that delivers a deadly poisonous curse that kills you in seconds if it cuts you." The celestial told them.
"Whoa. I'm glad those aren't anywhere near here, then. I'd hate to imagine the League of Villains getting those." Asui said, imagining Toga with the sword and shivering.
"Well, I am impressed with how enormous this axe is... but nothing's caught my eye." She said in disappointment. She said, before looking up at a giant golden urn sealed behind a gate. "Is that an Imperial Arms in that urn over there?" She asked.
"Yes, the Demon's Extract. The blood of an S-Class Danger Beast from the far North." The Minister explained.
"A blood-type weapon?" She asked.
"The legends say if you drink the extract and it resonates properly, you'll be able to obtain the Danger Beast's ability to manipulate ice." The Minister said, walking up beside her.
"Eww!" All the girls cried out at once while the guys and teachers simply cringed.
"Drinking blood?! That's nasty!" Kirishima yelled.
"Just to be able to have ice powers? No thanks." Bakugo said.
"I can already do that." She said, creating an ice Spike in her hand.
"Yes, but the ability of the Danger Beast far surpasses yours. Legends say it could freeze over an entire continent." He elaborated.
"What?" Everyone shouted in disbelief.
"Well, the user would have to stockpile some power for that, so it takes more than what they usually have, but yes. It CAN be done." Sandra confirmed.
"I take it back, give me that damn jug!" Bakugo shouted.
"Kacchan!" Both Jiro and Midoriya scolded him together.
This gained her interest. "That power would be incredible. And I already have an affinity for ice. It seems like the perfect fit." She said.
"Perhaps, but every warrior to attempt to do so his mind in the process." The Minister warned her.
"Oh. Well that's good news for Bakugo. He's already crazy." Kaminari teased, to which Bakugo growled. "Just kidding! Just kidding!" He pleaded.
"Still, no amount of power is worth risking your sanity over." Iida said.
"That all sounds rather fascinating, doesn't it?" She asked, approaching the urn, much to his shock.
Everyone was shocked at her response. "Okay, she's crazy." Everyone said at once, minus the two Todorokis, who were too concerned for their family member to respond.
"You're not going to drink that! You may have a dangerous reputation, but that doesn't mean it'll bond to you." He advised against the action.
"I feel So drawn to it... As if it's beckoning me to drink..." Esdeath told him.
The Ministered scratched his beard as he pondered this. "That's a good sign. Perhaps the Extract is right for you." He reconsidered his original stance.
Maybe"Well, he sure got over his concerns quick." Jiro said, glaring along with everyone else, it being perfectly clear that he doesn't care about Esdeath's wellbeing.
"He's willing to let her lose her mind for power..." Endeavor said, seeing a horrible reflection of himself in the Minister. "What have I done?" He asked himself.
"Maybe." She said as she reached out for it, the gate opening on its own. "For some reason, I feel certain I was made for this. I honed my intuition out in the wild. If I'm wrong, I deserve to die." She said, removing the top from the urn, watching the icy mist pour out.
"No one DESERVES to die, least of all you." Todoroki told his onscreen sister.
"Her 'father's' teachings all these years have clearly taken their toll if she still thinks this way." Midnight said.
"Do you think it's possible for them to be undone?" Yaoyorozu asks.
The celestial pondered this question. "Anythingis possible, I suppose. She is most certainlya psychopathlike Revy, but for everyonesaying how beyond saving she is, she'snot a TOTAL monster. She'smourned for her fallen men instead of condemningthem as weak, she tried ice cream and her first thought was to bring some to the rest of her men and she even consoles her grieving comrades." She said, showing Esdeath holding a younger girl close. "Make no mistake, as of where she is right now, she's a bad person. It will take A LOT, but I don't believe she's beyond saving." Sandra told them.
"We'll do everything we can to help her." Todoroki said.
"And We'll all be here to support you. All of you." Tokoyami told him and Endeavor.
"it should only take a sip to know for sure." Minister Honest said.
"No reason not to drink the whole thing. I bet that'll make me even stronger. " Esdeath decided, picking up the quite sizeable urn and starting to drink from it.
(I guess it can't drive you insane if you already are.) The man thought as she chugged the entire urn.
"No way! She's chugging that whole thing!?" Uraraka said in disbelief.
"Wow, she must be fun at parties." Present Mic said, trying to make a joke. This earned him a punch from both Aizawa and Endeavor.
Esdeath finished the drink and let our a sigh of satisfaction. "My, that tasted so..." She began, before gasping as something pulsed within her, causing her to drop the urn.
Esdeath fell to her knees, clutching her head as countless demonic voices rang out in her head. (Kill! Steal! Murder! Destroy! Humiliate! Break! Slaughter!) The voices demanded of her.
Many in the class were shocked and disturbed when they saw what Esdeath was enduring. "She had to hear those voices saying all that messed up stuff?! That must be torture." Koda said, looking worriedly at Esdeath.
"I know she chose this, but still, can she EVER catch a break?! No one should have to go through ANY of this, let alone ALL of it!" Sato shouted.
Esdeath began to laugh madly at this, hunkering over even more. "The urge to destroy is overwhelming! Now I understand why everyone else went crazy... but I will NOT!" She declared, dark energy pouring out of her. "This is nothing! I won't be bested by a mere goblet of blood!" She insisted, now back on her feet. "I will always be on top. I will always be victorious! No matter what gets in my way! And I will answer to No one but myself! She declared as a symbol formed on her chest.
"She did it... She actually mastered the voices and didn't go insane." Iida said.
"Or, at least we'd better hope she mastered them and isn't constantly hearing them." Jiro corrected.
"And that mark on her chest... It seems like it fits perfectly somehow. Like it was always supposed to be there." Ojiro added.
The energy subsided and she turned back towards her handler. "I'm feeling truly delightful now, Minister. The power's surging through my entire body." She said, flexing her grip.
"You seem to have already merged." The Minister said, surprised, but pleased. "To the birth of the world's most powerful warrior... Esdeath!" He declared, raising a glass of wine.
"If she can truly freeze over a continent, then I think that statement might actually be true." Shoji said in awe.
"I'm not willing to find out." Bakugo said.
"With any luck, we'll never have to find out." Mineta whimpered.
A/N: Jeez, these keep running on way longer than I mean for them to. And I thought these scenes were relatively short! Once again, I had to split this in two. Next time, they'll be given a small showcase of some of Esdeath's powers, so hopefully you are all excited for that! Please let me know your thoughts in the reviews.
