Truth
Mako was off to a pretty good day, having woken up early he had decided to do a flight over to the United States and grab some takeout for his lunch today from a place in New York that his father had gotten food from on multiple occasions. Not only that, but when he flew out today, he noticed the crowd of people outside their apartment building had decreased significantly to maybe a dozen people. So when he walked into class with a smile on his face, his friends all noticed his more cheerful demeanor, "Hey Mako, you look really happy with yourself." Uraraka noticed as he took a seat.
He gave her a pleased smile, "I am Uraraka, I got my favorite lunch today, I'm not late for class for a change, Izuku helped me get caught up last night, and there's hardly anyone outside my building yelling at me anymore." he listed off happily as Mina walked by him.
"Hey great to hear!" she chimed in.
Sato leaned over his desk, "What's the food?" he asked curiously.
"It's just this spaghetti from this Italian place in New York. The sauce is amazing." he praised, looking over at Izuku, "Izuku knows what I mean."
The green haired boy's mind wandered to the times he had been invited over for dinner at the Metuki household, "Yeah….it's wonderful." he said sadly, reminding himself that with his training for his quirk he wasn't allowed to go off his diet for ten months of hell. He still stuck to it, thinking that until he could use his quirk safely that it wasn't safe to change his diet and workout routine. But still….that shawarma from Iran was amazing. he thought, his mouth watering at the memory.
Mina whined, "Aww man! Your so lucky! You can go get the best takeout in the world!" she complained.
Uraraka had a little drool come out the corner of her mouth, "The best Mochi in the world…." she whispered to herself.
"The freshest ingredients in the world." Sato said under his breath.
Looking around his fellow students, he saw that his bragging had accidently cased a discussion about everyone's preferred dish, Lunch Rush's cooking was phenomenal, but there was just something about specialty food that could beat it. "You know if you guys want, we could make a list and I could fly out and grab everyone lunch one day." he offered.
Mina beamed at the idea, "Aw yeah! That sounds awesome! We could have a big lunch party!" she exclaimed.
Mako smiled and nodded, "Sure, just pick a day, find the food you want and then tell me where to get it from." he offered.
Uraraka looked uncomfortable as she wiggled in her seat, "Um….do you have any recommendations Mako?" she asked. The teen was confused until he recalled Uraraka's financial situation, she probably didn't have a ton of food that was exotic or foreign.
"Y-yeah! I got a couple for people who can't decide anything." he offered.
Iida cupped his chin, "While this sounds nice, we would have to individually find out the cost of our food, plus the local tax to add to it so we could all compensate you accordingly." he said, Mako raising a brow.
"What? No, Iida my treat. I get paid by the GDA, I got a ton of money right now that I don't know what to do with." he offered. While a good chunk of his earnings from Cecil went to his mother for their savings, Mako himself had been making sure to save up his own cash for when he wanted something.
The youngest Iida son seemed taken aback and bowed, "That is to generous Mako! Please allow me to pay for my own meal!" he asked forcefully, Mako opened his mouth but Iida already pulled out his phone, "Let me see, my favorite Beef stew place is in Kamino ward and-" he began before stopping himself. n his screen there was a notification of a breaking news bulletin. "Um….Mako? Did you get called in today?" he asked.
Mako raised a brow, "What? No….why?" he asked.
"Well there's a video about you online." he said, holding up his phone. Mako blinked as he pulled out his own phone, going to UTube he typed in his name and saw that trending was video called, 'Invincibles' Debut'.
"The hell?" Mako asked as Izuku and Uraraka looked over each of his shoulders as he tapped the video.
"Okay son…I've decided to tell you the truth. It's time I tell you where you really come from."
Mako's stomach dropped at the sound of his father's voice from the video, it showed him an his dad at the USJ. The sound of the voice garnered the rest of the class's attention as they all pulled out their won phones and watched the video, except for Izuku who was looking at his best friend in worry. "How the-Cecil told me that they had this footage but…." he trailed off.
The door opened, with Aizawa wrapped in bandages stopping at the doorway, "Mako." the teen looked up from his phone and walked over in a slight stupor of disbelief. "Mako, we just got a call from-" he looked at the rest of his class and his gaze lowered, "-Cecil….told us that the footage of you from the USJ was leaked." he said, the color draining from his face.
"M-My mom! She's at home, if people see this then-" he said in a panic.
"Go. You have permission." he said, Mako nodded as he rushed to grab his bag from his desk, looking over at Izuku, he saw the worried look behind the nod of support his friend gave him. Leaving the room with their teacher, the rest of the students continued to watch the video as Omni Man explained his mission.
"It was messy work, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. It wasn't long before I was leading my own division. It didn't matter if it took hundreds of hours or years, no civilization in our sight went unconquered."
Jiro stared at her phone in disbelief, "He…..he's so…he's so fricking casual about this?!" she barked out.
Kaminari swallowed thickly, "They…..they've been doing this for that long….I thought….I was hoping that they were just starting and…." he trailed off uneasily.
Mina covered her mouth in horror, she looked over at Kirishima who had watched this unfold firsthand, she had asked him about it before but when he calmed up about it she didn't press the issue, but hearing it herself? She could understand why.
Nolan looked up to his son from his thoughts, "And now it's time for you to join me, and help me prepare Earth for the takeover of the Viltrumite Empire."
Tsu croaked uneasily, "Did he really expect Mako to just go along with all of this? Without question?" she asked.
"You….you can't be….you…." Mako whimpered out as tears leaked from his eyes, sliding down his face. "This doesn't make any sense! You-you love me! You love mom! I know you do!" he pleaded as he pointed at his father, who in turn seemed taken aback by the denial.
The entirety of the class felt their hearts break a little at Mako's denial, while all of them knew of Omni Man before this, Mako knew him as his father. And hearing him saying these things must have been ever more shocking for him, Iida however noticed Nolan's reaction to his son's outburst. "Did you all notice that as well? The way he reacted?" he asked.
Todoroki looked back through the footage, and saw the way Nolan seemed to recoil at his son's words. "He's right." he said as the video continued.
"Stop." Nolan said firmly, "Listen to me. Do you have any idea how long we live? The older we get, the slower we age, Viltrumite DNA is pure that you yourself are nearly full blooded. It's why you don't have a quirk, if I had an offspring with any species with similar evolution to myself they would be similar as well." he explained.
Mineta grimaced, "Dude that's…..seriously messed up." he said, causing Mina to give him a bizarre look which he noticed, "Hey if he thinks Mako's mom is hot that's one thing but if he's doing it just to do it? That's wrong." he defended.
The girls of the class looked at him blankly until Momo spoke, "…..you know what, technically his heart is in the right place."
"It's just not looking the right way. Kero." Tsu added.
"You can't live among these frail things, you'll live for THOUSANDS of years." Mako felt a numb feeling take over him. "Everyone you know, will be long dead, and you won't even look thirty." Nolan said, casting a look over his shoulder to where Izuku was.
The class felt their stomachs drop at the news, save for those who already knew, "N-No way…." Tooru said in shock. She looked over to Izuku, "Why….why hasn't he said anything?" she asked.
The friend of Mako looked conflicted until Kirishima spoke up, "I mean…..that's a really big bomb to drop on us…..I mean I haven't really thought about it so….." he admitted, rubbing the back of his head as he looked over at Izuku. The green haired teen recalled how Mako seemed to be unsure himself of how to even deal with that fact, he was of the same mind but he couldn't even begin to imagine what that would be like.
"I think…..I think he's trying to deal with it in his own way." he answered as best as he could. He looked over to Iida and Uraraka, the two closest friends Mako had besides himself, Ochako seemed to be shocked while Iida was taking the news rather well.
Mako shook his head, "But-but mom-:" he began.
"I do care about your mother Mako but…she's…well…..she's more like a pet."
The class was dead silent until Ochako spoke, "….that bitch."
"Uraraka!" Iida exclaimed.
Mina gave her class president a SEETHING look, "NO! She's right! That's beyond wrong!" she said, clenching her fist hard. "If I ever this guy's stupid face I'll melt it off!" she growled out as acid dripped from her hands.
Iida's hand chopped at her, "Asido! I find Omni Man's words repugnant as you do but that's no excuse to drip acid onto the floor!" he berated, Mina looked down and saw the acid she had produced sizzling on the floor. She stepped on it with her resistant shoe and rubbed it out, "Thank you." Iida said gratefully.
Mako sneered, "NO! I'm not going to CALM DOWN! This is nuts! What did you think was going to happen? That I'm going to enslave my friends for a bunch of aliens that I've never met?! This is my life!" he said, his hands pressing against his chest, "These are my people!" he said, extending them out on either side.
Nolan gave his son a even look, "We have a responsibility to our people-"
"I don't give a damn about Viltrum! I don't care if I live a million years! This is my home, and I won't let you destroy it!" he yelled at his father with a spiteful finger pointing at him.
His father frowned, "Son you don't know what your saying. I can't LET you interfere."
Silence hung in the air between the father and son, the threat clear as day while Mako wiped his tears away on his sleeve before looking back at his father with a determined glare, "I know exactly what I'm saying." he replied as his hands clenched into fists.
Nolan's hands also clenched, a resigned look crossing his face, "So be it."
Tooru's sleeve rose up, "Hell yeah Mako!" she cheered.
Jiro stared at the screen in disbelief, "Dude…..Mako is pretty hardcore." she admitted.
Kaminari nodded before stopping, "Wait isn't this around the time-" he began before the video showed Omni Man land the first blow against his son and sent him over their heads at the USJ. "-that….happened…." he trailed off as everyone winced from the sudden attack.
The class all watched as Mako was knocked through the upper floors of a building, the teen quickly moving to steady it while another hero arrived to try and restabilize it so the people inside could escape. Uraraka let out a short breath of relief, "Thank goodness." she said.
Before Nolan flew behind him and grabbed the back of his head and crushing it, "No!" Mako cried out in horror as the people who where watching through the glass screamed. Nolan looked at his son with disappointment, "You killed him!" he growled out before zooming forward and uppercutting his father, his father barely moving back from the attack.
The entire class let out a gasp at how quickly Omni Man had….dispensed of the hero, thankfully the camera had blurred the imagery somewhat so they wouldn't see the gory details, however Momo still paled at the sight, "He….he just…."
Mako followed up with another punch that his father caught at the wrist, "Now or in fifty years? What's the difference Mako?" he asked his son coldly.
Mako swung his foot up into his dad's head, "He would have had a life!" he shouted as he flew back, Nolan flew after him with his fist reeled back and punching Mako down through the building he had just stopped, hitting each floor with a shockwave that destabilized each floor which caved in on itself until the entire building collapsed in on itself.
Jiro covered her mouth, "Oh my god…" she muttered at the sight of the destruction.
Tokoyami's eyes narrowed at the screen, "He's nothing but a destructive cur, drawing innocent people's lives into this madness." he growled out.
Kirishima ran a hand back through his hair, they had seen what transpired at the USJ, and that was bad enough, but this? This made his entire body ridged with hardening. Izuku meanwhile was shaking as he listened to the man who was close to his own family. "Goddamn Bastard…" Katsuki growled out for the first time.
Iida's eyes were hidden behind his glasses, "How can anyone…..be so callous towards ending life?" he asked.
Momo was speechless, her mind racing as she thought of what else Mako could possibly have done as it showed him emerge from the rubble and loose his lunch over the death around him, not that any of them could blame him. "Mako…." she said sadly.
Mako looked up in in grief, "H-How could you…."
"That was your fault. Your own stubbornness against the inevitable killed these people Mako." he said, gesturing with his bloodied hand to the destroyed building around them, the concrete stained with blood that leaked from the cracks from those who had been crushed. "Listen to what I'm saying son, these people are not our own! If one punch from us can do this? If hundreds can lose their lives? Thousands even? How aren't they beneath us?" he asked his son.
"Oh my god he's such a jerk!" Tooru exclaimed in disbelief.
Aoyama looked down at the screen with shaking hands, the destruction and death making his stomach begin to ache.
Mako shook his head, "How can you…..how can you even say these things?! What about mom?!" he asked.
Nolan shook his head, "Your mother means nothing to me." he said coldly.
The fire re-ignited in his son's eyes, "LAIR!" he declared before taking forth and punching his father back through the air. Mako continued the assault, strike after strike crossing his father's head before driving his fist as hard as he could into his dad's gut, making Nolan briefly keel forward before kneeing his son in the chin.
"No! For the first time in you're life!? I'm telling you the truth!" he declared as he grabbed his son by the ankle and threw him across the sky and flew after him.
Izuku needed to sit down as the class reeled from what they had seen, they knew about the devastation that followed from the battle from Mako and his father, but they didn't know….well they didn't know what to expect from actual footage. Never mind how Mako had all but been used as a weapon to kill people. "Deku? Are you….ok?" he looked over to Ochako, the brunette giving him a concerned look.
He inhaled a shaky breath, "I just…..Mako never told me how…." he said.
She nodded, "Yeah….hearing about it is shockn' but…..seeing it on the other hand is…." she trailed off as she glanced down at her phone.
Across the room, Todoroki was, for lack of a better term, frozen stiff in place from what he had seen. After Mako's father revealed his intentions to the world, he admitted he felt something of a kinship to the other student. But their issues were very different, and seeing these events unfold in detail before him made him reminisce of his own relationship with his father over the years. Just like me…..he was made to serve his father's will…..and he still rebuked him. he thought deeply as the video showed him crash onto I-Island.
Two of Shoji's arms had shifted into eyes as they watched the screen In his other hands while his head looked around the room, "Izuku." he began, making the green haired teen look at him, "Did Mako ever tell you how the fight ended?" he asked. Izuku was silent as he recalled what brief talks he and his best friend had in regard to the battle, he never got into detail, all he knew was that at the end of the fight, Nolan left Earth. He shook his head, "Then if this is how the fight is going…..how did Mako win?" he asked.
Iida cupped his chin in thought, "Do you suppose…..Viltrumites have some sort of weakness that Mako exploited?" he guessed.
Momo shook her head, "I don't think so, I think if they did, they might make that public knowledge." she replied.
Kirishima shook his head, "I don't know, I mean Mako told us about all those people who were staking out his house for the past few weeks, if they told everyone how to hurt him….they'd probably try something." he reasoned.
Mina frowned, "That's not fair…..I mean look at him, does this look like he's working with his dad?" she asked as she looked down at the video showing Omni Man punch his son across the ocean. Each blow making her wince, "Why didn't he tell us about this?" she asked.
Tsu croaked, "It's probably really hard for him to talk about 'Kero', I mean this is his dad he had to fight, and he was saying all these horrible things as well…..could any of us open up about this?" she asked. The rest of her classmates looked amongst one another and met each other with silence, they had only known each other just a few weeks now, Mako being open as he was about what happened didn't seem so surprising when taking that into account.
Catching up to his son once again, the next strike was angled downward, sending Mako careening down into the side of a mountain, the seismic force causing an avalanche of snow to pass over his son which Nolan watches from above.
He waited until the snow finally stopped shifting and was at a rest before flying down and saw a patch of red in the snow, his son barely covered by the snow as he reached down and hoisted him up by his arm. Blood poled out from his son's swollen and beaten face, "Had enough yet?" he asked.
Mako's one eye opened, the other one swollen shut, "I….I'll stop…you." he defiantly replied, making Nolan sneer.
Kirishima grinned in spite of Mako's injuries, "Damn Mako is just so manly!" he exclaimed.
Mineta however was the opposite, "Why doesn't he just say, 'Ok I'll help you' and just work against him?" he asked.
The entire class fell silent. "Did…..did Mineta just ask a logical question?" Sero asked in disbelief.
Tsu blinked, "…..a broken clock is right twice a day." she reasoned.
"Hey!" Mineta exclaimed before everyone returned to the video.
"I'm ready when you are!" he said before punching him into another mountain, Mako groaned in pain as he turned over onto his back, Nolan landing at his feet and looking down upon his son. "You're doing this all for nothing! We'll share our technology with them! We'll bring them into a new age and up to speed with the rest of the universe! Being part of the empire will make earth better then it once was!" he explained further.
Mako looked up at him before siting up, "And what….Ngh….what if they resist?" he asked as blood dripped down onto his suit.
Nolan's brow creased, "Then we deal with them! But that's why we're here! To keep them from resisting! So they can be a part of something bigger, or die!" he stated as his son finally stood back up onto his feet.
Taking a second to breath, he locked eyes with his father before speaking, "I will…not….let you….enslave these people…..it's not right dad."
Uraraka clenched her fist, "How can he not see how wrong it is?! I mean do they not teach 'Treat others how you want to be treated' in space?" she asked.
Iida grimly shook his head, "It's a completely different culture then what we're used to Uraraka, compassion doesn't seem to be something they instill in their culture." he read from Omni Man's behavior.
Tokoyami nodded, "Indeed, if they value strength above all else, then compassion would be something they view as weakness, feeling for your foes might make them believe that they could make mistakes." he reasoned coldly before shaking his head at the notion. "But thankfully it seems Mako was instilled with such values."
Kaminari grimaced, "I don't even want to think of how Mako would be if just his father was the one who raised him." he added. Mineta nodding in agreement.
Nolan's fist struck, splattering more of Mako's blood on the ground as anger took over Nolan, "WHY!? WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME DO THIS? WHAT DOES THIS WORLD EVEN HAVE TO OFFER YOU?!" he yelled in frustration before punching down onto his son. Pinning his son down with a knee to his chest, he beat him in the face again. "Fine! What's seventeen more years?!" WHAM! "I Can always start again!" WHAM! "Have another offspring!" he declared before punching down again, again, and again, each hit splattering more of his son's blood over himself.
Jiro nearly dropped her phone, "…..he didn't just say that." she starkly said as she looked around the room, "Tell me I didn't just hear that." she asked with rising disgust.
Izuku was shaking as he watched his friend's face become a punching bag, each blow spilling more and more blood onto the snow. They….they took him into surgery….I heard what was wrong but….I never imagined how he…..he thought sadly as tears begin to fill the corner of his eyes.
Bakugo growled, "ASSHOLE YOU'RE THE ONE DOING THIS HE'S NOT MAKING YOU DO ANYTHING!" he roared in annoyance. "STOP BLAMING OTHER PEOPLE FOR BEING A PIECE OF SHIT!" he yelled. When he noticed everyone looking at him with a blank expression, his anger directed at them. "WHAT ARE YOU MORONS ALL LOOKING AT?!"
"Nothing!" Mina exclaimed.
"You were shouting." Todoroki said bluntly.
Izuku however didn't so much as look up from his screen.
Nolan looked down at his son in utter bafflement, "FOR GOD'S SKAKE,THINK MAKO, THINK!" he said, tapping the sides of his head with his bloody fingers, "You'll outlive every fragile, insignificant being on this planet! You'll live to see the end of this civilization! You'll watch as the world crumbles to dust and blows away! EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING YOU KNOW WILL BE GONE!" he exclaimed in utter disbelief at his son's actions.
Uraraka swallowed, "That doesn't make him better then anyone else." she said defiantly.
Mina looked down sadly at her screen, "But still…that really does suck for him…..I mean….I always thought that would be cool but then you realize no one else sticks around that long." she said sadly, thinking of all the people she had met over her life and who she was friendly with passing away before her eyes.
"WHAT WILL YOU HAVE AFER FIVE HUNDRED YEARS?!" his father demanded.
Mako looked up at his father, "….you dad….I'd still….have you….." he choked out.
Once again, the class fell silent from the video of their friend's confrontation, the girls of the class giving Mako on their screen's sympathetic looks, "Dude…..Mako…." Jiro whispered.
"Even after all of that….." Mina said, her heart clenching at her friend's words.
Todoroki watched on in disbelief, He…..he still cares about him…..how? he asked himself. The next few seconds he watched as Omni Man's face went through a range of emotions, shock, disbelief, anger, and then finally…grief. "Wait…is he-?" he asked out loud.
"Mako did it…he reached him." Izuku said in awe as his friend's father looked down at his hands coated in his son's blood. A second later he took off into the sky, and video ending with Mako beaten and bloody in the side of a mountain while his father…..flew away. Class 1-A was left in disbelief, Izuku remembered how Cecil had told him and All Might that Nolan had just left, but he had assumed it was under different circumstances, that maybe he was done bothering with Mako's fight against him, and that he simply left out of pity.
"He…..he's just gone…..like that?" Kaminari asked.
Momo nodded uneasily, "It….it appears so." she said, "What Mako said must have really affected him." she assumed.
"I mean he didn't win the fight but as long as he's gone is that so bad?" Mineta asked.
Tsu croaked nervously, "But still Mako…..he looked really hurt." she said, recalling seeing some of his teeth knocked out of his mouth during the battle.
Katsuki gritted his teeth, "That bastard…." he growled out before turning to Izuku, "Deku! You're that moron's friend! Where is he?" he barked at him.
Izuku fumbled with his phone at the sound of his name and quickly opened up his messages and typed out a message asking where Mako was before sending it. Just as the door once again opened to Aizawa, the entire class turned to him, "….I hope you all have a good reason that none of you are in your seats." he said, his eyes turning red and his hair standing up as the class quickly rushed to their respective seats.
Mako arrived back home within a minute of leaving the school grounds, "Mom!" he exclaimed as he opened the door from the balcony to the living room, where his mother was sitting on the couch and nearly threw the papers in her hands up into the air.
"God! Mako! What? Wait, what are you doing here?" she asked as her son flew across the room to her with a worry upon seeing her son's frightened expression.
He shook his head, "I-the video, of me and dad? It got leaked online and I thought that….you'd see it and…." he trailed off as he let himself catch his breath. Kali's eyes dropped sadly, "And well….I don't know if people will try something with it out there so…" he trailed off as he rubbed the back of his head.
His mother sighed, looking up at her son she gave him a small smile as her hand reached up into his and gave it a squeeze, "Honey, it is incredibly sweet that your worried about me. But I'm fine." she assured him; her son didn't seem the least bit convinced. "Cecil already showed it to me….I watched it a few times actually back at the GDA while you were recovering…..when I tried convincing myself that it wasn't real." she admitted, Mako's stomach dropping upon hearing that. She gently pulled him down so he was sitting beside her, "But I'm ok now…well, I don't think I'll be able to watch it without crying again but…..I'm not going to break down because of it." she said, nodding to herself and showing Mako a smile.
His shoulders relaxed at her honesty, "Your sure?" he asked, she nodded again, making him let out the breath he had been holding since U.A. "Ok."
Kali tilted her head slightly, "Are you ok?" she asked him back.
He turned to her and offered a small smile, but the genuine concern in his mother's eyes made it disappear, "I just…I never really talked about it to anyone and now EVERYONE knows what happened and…..everything he said…" his hands clenched at his pants while they rested on his knees. "Its….god it's….."
"Embarrassing?" Kali provided.
He looked down at his hands, "Is it stupid that I think that?" he asked.
Kali shook her head, "Not at all…Mako I only just yesterday told Inko that your father thought of me as a Pet. That's not even close to all the horrible things he said." she admitted. Mako winced as he remembered the look on his dad's face when he told him that, the mere sentence alone made his blood boil. "This was our family Mako…..and it takes a while for people in situations like this to feel comfortable talking about it…..and now? Everyone knows and you're not ready for it." she explained understandingly.
He let go of his pants as he let out a shaky breath, "Mako, maybe you should talk with your teacher again? You said it made you feel better last time." his mom suggested.
He turned his had to face her, he thought of her suggestion, talking with Midnight really did help him last time. And having someone to talk to really did help. And at least now she could have a better understanding of what happened without him having to go into details, "…..yeah, I think I will." he agreed before his phone rang.
Pulling it out, he saw a message from Izuku.
Izuku:[ Hey you ok?]
Mako: [Yeah I'm fine just shocked by all this. Gonna stay with my mom for a bit, make sure she's safe]
Izuku: [Ok, I'm here if you need me]
Mako smiled in appreciation at the message, looking back at his mom he sighed, "I'll head back to school in a few, ask Midnight if she can see me after. I just want to make sure nobody tries anything." he said.
His mother rolled her eyes, "Oh Mako please, Cecil has a whole team of security watching out for me, I'll be fine. You get back to school." she said, poking him in the forehead with her finger. Rubbing the spot where she poked him, she smiled sweetly at him, "But thank you for being concerned honey." she added. Mako smiled back before standing up, grabbing his bag which he had dropped on the ground before leaving the way he came and taking off into the air and flying back to U.A.
Mako second guessed his decision to return to class when Mina basically leapt at him with a bone crushing hug…..well it would be for someone else, but not Mako. "Oh your poor sweet boy are you alright?!" she asked as soon as he walked into English class before the teacher arrived. Mako's confusion didn't last long as he quickly realized that her reaction must have been from seeing the entirety of his fight with his dad…..as well as the rest of the class from the collection of concerned and worried expressions he saw. He opened his mouth to speak but Mina quickly detached from him, "Your dad is a jerk!" she quickly added before her eyes widened, "I mean! He's….uh….well…"
"A sexist, Darwinist, imperialist?" he bluntly answered, giving her a slightly amused smile. "It's ok Mina, I get what you mean." he said, the pinkette letting out a breath as Iida approached him and bowed himself so his entire upper body was parallel to the floor, "Dude….what?" he asked.
"Mako! Please forgive us, we should have asked if you were comfortable with us observing your fight with your father, but instead our curiosity got the better of us all and we watched without considering your feelings." he said apologetically.
Mako couldn't help but smile, Well this is certainly a step up from everyone being afraid of me. he thought as he waved his friend off, "Iida, it's fine. It was on the internet and it's probably going to be playing non-stop on all the news stations until the festival. You guys would have seen it eventually." he said understandingly. "Besides I'd probably do the same if the shoe was on the other foot." he admitted.
Uraraka didn't look entirely convinced, "Your sure?" she asked.
He nodded again, "I'm sure." he confirmed, making her let out a breath as he looked to Izuku, his best friend's expression seemed to mirror that of his own from the day that video took place. "Izuku?" he asked, making his friend's hundred-yard state refocus onto him, "You…..ok?" he asked unsurely. His friend was quietly collecting himself but nodded nevertheless, which Mako didn't seem to buy whatsoever.
"Dude. You got your ass, WHOOPED." Kaminari said in awe, causing Jiro to turn to him, her ear jack going into his own ear and, causing him to yelp as he fell out of his seat clutching at his ear.
"Dumbass!" Jiro hissed.
Mako rubbed the back of his head, "I mean….he's not wrong." he said before Jiro looked at him.
"Mako, you stood up to your dad. That takes guts, but you kept getting up after being knocked down, that's…pretty rockn' in my book." she said, her cheeks warming up a little as she admitted her respect to him. Mako meanwhile tried not to snort at her descriptor for him.
"Dude that was the manliest thing I've ever seen!" Kirishima cheered before wincing, "I mean not you get beaten up, you getting up….wait…." he said, not sure that he was getting his point across well as Mako took his seat.
"I get what you mean Kirishima, and thanks." he said understandingly as Present Mic entered the room for their English class.
After an hour and a half of going over the difference between Japanese and English sentence structures, something Mako knew all too well was really frustrating, they were dismissed for lunch, which Mako broke off from everyone else to go eat with Midnight as part of a counseling session. It was something the two of them had done once a week since he returned to school, talking about his progress and how to deal with things. He had told her last week about during his call to the tower, one of the heroes attacked him, she had been completely understanding in how much of a blow that was.
However she also emphasized how another hero, Bulletproof, had gone out of his way to tell Mako that he wasn't to blame. Which helped Mako look back on that whole situation with a slightly more fondness.
After eating their meals, of which he noticed Midnight didn't seem to have much of an appetite, he took a deep breath before speaking. "So…um….I assume you saw the video?" he asked awkwardly.
The pro heroine nodded, "Yes, when you went off to check on your mother me and the rest of the teaching staff watched it. We were…..waiting for the GDA to share it officially with U.A. but then…" she trailed off.
Mako's eyes widened, "Oh…..so none of you guys really….well, knew….huh?" he realized. He had assumed that Cecil had shared the recordings with the school already, "I kind of thought that you guys let me back because you already saw them." he admitted.
Midnight's soft eyes saddened, "We were convinced by the fact that you stood up to your father to begin with….that takes incredible strength to do so Mako." she praised.
Mako sighed, it was one of the hardest things he ever had to do in his entire life, he loved his father and until that point he thought….."I honestly don't even know what to think of him…..I mean…..what I said got to him, clearly…..and I like to think that maybe…..just maybe that means…" he shook his head. "No it's stupid."
Midnight folded her hands in her lap, "Mako, it's not." she denied. "Your father, despite what he said, clearly cares about you…you are not just his 'offspring'. You're his son." The Viltrumite pressed his lips together unsurely, "Obviously this doesn't excuse anything he's done, but I think he really did care about you Mako."
He ran a hand back through his hair, "Not sure if that's a good thing or not." he replied, "I mean…if I could….I'd want him to come back and….I don't know, face up to what he's done? I mean like you said it doesn't undo what he did but…..the more I think about it? The more I think maybe….he's just as brainwashed as he thought I was?" he explained.
Midnight tilted her head curiously, "That's…..not completely unreasonable. He lived as a part of our culture for nearly two decades. Despite his longevity, he was clearly affected by his time here." she conceded. She shoo her head, "But Mako…..I know that anyone in your position, where a family is split apart, would like things to go back to normal….but…" she trailed off.
Mako sighed, "Normal is what I make of it." he repeated her words from the last session. "I know that, and if he did ever come back here? I'd want him to pay for what he's done…..but if he came back to face that? To own up to it?" he shook his head. That seemed like a reach, "I just…I think there's good in him….somewhere, deep down maybe but it's there, I've seen it." he said with conviction.
Midnight bit the inside of her cheek, while she didn't want to dissuade the part of Mako that was looking at things optimistically, this line of thinking could windup hurting him worse later on. "That may be Mako…and if it can be reached? Then I'd encourage it…..but I also think you need to keep in mind al that your father has done."
He looked her dead in the eyes, "I'll never forget it." he affirmed. "And I know that I can't just let what I hope be what I just rely on. If he comes back? And it's for a fight? I'll fight." he said with just as much conviction as he had from the video.
Midnight was taken aback by his tone before smiling slightly, "Mako. you are well on your way." she praised. The teen tilted his head unsurely at what she meant, "Anyway, the lunch period is almost over. But if you want, we can talk more tomorrow." she offered.
Mako nodded, "Yeah, that sounds good." he agreed as he reached into his pocket to pull out his phone so he could make a reminder, it as then he saw the missed messages from Melissa. His eyes widened and his jaw clenched, "Shhhhiiiiit." he hissed out.
Midnight blinked, "What's wrong?"
"Well aside from me accidently ignoring my girlfriend's messages for the past hour and half? Nothing." he replied with a dreadful look as he read through them.
Melissa: [Mako are you ok?]
Melissa: [I saw the video online]
Melissa: [Wait, do you even know what I'm talking about?]
Melissa: [Ok, wait, your in class, you might not know]
Melissa: [And it's trending.]
Melissa: [Seriously are you ok?]
Melissa: [I don't mean physically; you can talk with me.]
Mako: [Hey! Sorry, I went to check on my mom really quick then got back to school, I'm doing ok, I'll swing by after school and we can talk. ok?]
He groaned as he sent his message back to her, looking up he saw Midnight's expression had transformed from serious and attentive, to gushy and lovey, "Oh how wonderful!" she squealed as she clasped her hands together and wiggled in her seat, "Oh young love! How romantic! How exciting! The fires of youth always manage to set my heart ablaze!" she said with a slight blush to her cheeks.
Mako's eyes darted to the door, then back to Midnight, Alright maybe I can get to the door before-
"Now Mako, I don't know what exactly you know from your family but U.A. does have a sex education class in the fall, so if your unsure about anything-" she began.
"I'M GOOD THANK YOU GOTTA GO BYE!" Mako said before bolting out of the room.
As soon as school ended for the day, Mako had a call to make, "Is there anything? Any idea of how it got out?" Mako asked Cecil through the earpiece he had.
'As of now we have a list of suspects from the GDA. There's only a few dozen who saw that footage and knew of it's recorded existence. I got Robot searching for who accessed it last and copied it.' Cecil answered him as the teen flew through the air towards I-Island. 'On the bright side, the public's reaction has worked in our favor, it's quelled rumors of you and your father working together.'
Mako rolled his eyes, "And all it took was showing everyone a video of me getting my ass kicked across the planet." he said dryly.
Cecil let out a dry laugh, 'Yeah that would seem to be it. But we've also picked up chatter about how people are starting to galvanize around you.' he added, making the teen blink.
"Wait, what?" he asked in bewilderment.
'Yeah. They see you as standing up to your old man as proof of your intentions. Seeing it with their own eyes has solidified it, there are some people who are pushing their own spin on the narrative. Like this proves that Quirks shouldn't be regulated so they can defend themselves as well, or that you should be granted a full hero's license for your service. Or my personal favorite, we need to put up a force field around the planet so no more aliens can get in.'
Mako snorted, "Ok that's sorta dumb, but should we be worried?"
"Of what? We have actual threats we deal with on the daily basis, if these people actually start something like a cult? I'll consider intervening. But if they want to come up with their own ideas for what this means? Fine. No skin off our nose. But I promise you Mako, I will find who leaked this information. And they will be dealt with.' Cecil said in a deadly tone.
The teen swallowed, "A-Alright, thanks again Cecil." he said before hanging up, "Note to self, never piss off my boss." he muttered to himself as he reached I-Island. Flying to the building that Melissa messaged him about, he saw his girlfriend waiting for him on the roof, "Hey, sorry again for not getting back sooner." he apologized as he landed, his girlfriend walking up to him and embracing him which he returned.
Her hands rested against his shoulders as she pulled away with a concerned look, "It's alright…..you sure that your ok?" she asked.
He nodded, "Yeah….I mean, it sucks, but there's nothing I can really do about it." he said with a shrug, looking back at her he noticed that she still looked worried. "Are you ok?" he asked, he could only imagine what it was like for her seeing just how badly his dad had beaten him.
She brushed some of her hair back behind her ear, "I'm ok….I just….didn't realize…" she trailed off.
Mako offered up a smile, "I mean could be worse, Could still be missing teeth." he joked. Melissa was taken aback by the response, "Shit! I'm sorry! I meant for that to be funny!" he quickly rectified.
The blonde support suddenly snorted, "I apricate the attempt but please don't try and make jokes out of life-threatening injuries for…..at least a few weeks." she giggled back at him as he smiled. The two looked into each other's eyes, Mako's head moved in closer to her's, she tilted her head to the side and met his lips with her own. The kiss lasted for a moment, letting the young couple enjoy themselves until they pulled away, Melissa's eyes still closed as she parted her lips, "I….I really like doing that."
"Yeah….me too." Mako bashfully admitted as they stepped back from each other, the Viltrumite coughing into his hand, "So…um….what's….what's going on?" he asked.
"Well me and my dad are working on a large super magnet so you can work out." she explained, Mako blinked in surprise at the sudden information. Seeing his surprise, his girlfriend went onto explain, "You see the problem you run into with working out is that eventually you'll adjust to whatever weight your given. And practically speaking it'll be more and more challenging to add mass in a way that can make you exercises comfortably."
Mako tilted his head as he tried to put it together, "Like…..if I get used to lifting up a plane or something, it's going to be harder to make something that weighs more then a plane that I can manipulate?" he asked.
She nodded, "Right, so I thought of something else, magnetism. We have a large machine push down two large magnetic weights that are the same charge as the large magnet. This way we never have to change out the weights, we just add to the charge they share, making it push down on you more." she explained.
Mako snapped his fingers in recognition, "Oh! Like when you have two positive magnets in your hand and you hold them close together until you open your palm and it shoots out." he reasoned.
Melissa blinked at his description, "Mako…..what exactly….brought that to mind?" she asked.
The teen rubbed the back of his head, "I might have…..tried tricking kids into thinking I had a quirk when I was little kid." he admitted.
Melissa's expression turned darling, "Awww! That's cute!" she cooed, making her boyfriend's face turn a little red as they walked towards the side of the roof where a metal railing stopped anyone from just walking off the ledge. The two stood silently together side by side for a moment, Melissa noticing that her elbow was touching her's, not that she minded at all, but it brought a little flutter to her chest nevertheless. "Sorry if I freaked you out with my messages." she apologized.
He shook his head, "Nah, your fine. If it were me? I'd probably do the same thing." he said understandingly as he looked over at her. He turned back to the island spread out before them, "You know the sports festival is next week, you gonna watch?" he asked.
Melissa smirked coyly, "I don't know, there's this certain someone I like who's not participating in it, think it'd be a little boring." she teased. Mako smiled at her, "Me and my dad will usually watch it, once in a while we actually take a trip to go see it, but he's too busy this time." she explained.
Mako hummed, "Bummer. I'm still not taking part in it but I'm still going to cheer my friends on. We got a whole section of the stands really close to the field to watch." he said.
Melissa smiled, "That's cool! We would get these box seats, they were nice and had these snack bars, TV's, and you could see everything from up above." she said fondly, "When I was really little my dad took me to one, it was one of the best times we had together." she recalled with a bright smile.
The look on his girlfriend's face made Mako's heart warm, and it made an idea form in his head, "Hey Melissa….you want to meet some of my friends?"
AN: Happy Holidays! I have finished my finals, Christmas has come and gone, and I have RESTED. I also got to see the new Spider-Man movie and holy crap it's…..it's easily the best spider-man MCU Movie I've seen, hell it's up there with my favorite Spider-Man movies! And as someone who wasn't a fan of the last two? I don't think anyone is more surprised then I am.
Speaking of which, I'm going to get real for a second. It's come to my attention that some people who follow me and read my fics have been PM'ing those who criticize or disagree with them. I want to say here and now that if someone, for whatever reason, does not agree with or like any stories I write, then do not go after them privately. It's just fanfiction, it's not worth it. Seriously. In the past I'm guilty of this myself, I'd message people directly who didn't fully agree with what I was writing and that wasn't right of me to do and for that I apologize, but I'm trying to be better and do better so I ask that you do the same. If you see someone right something on here or any of my other fics that you think is harsh, mean, or whatever? Please let it go.
Now then! Onto some reviews!
Leonardo18anime: No spoilers but Melissa will have a whole new story for this fic.
Messiah of Authors: Apparently the Manga is ending in a year (sadly as I fricking love this series!) but I actually have a rough idea of what will happen, in fact I planned most of everything up to the War Arc in the show and a little bit afterwords.
For'Sleepy: Well we see here that the MLA just isn't on the GDA's radar, in Invincible they're actually more reactionary then investigative. I mean if the local Public Safety Comission didn't pick up on them despite being around for apparently years? I don't think the GDA who have to work on a worldwide scale would either.
Also spoilers dude.
And thanks for the condolences.
Maelstromressurected: Thanks, we have other pets but losing him was kind of a real blow.
Dracus: I have heard of it by name only but never played it.
mataeae123: I mean it takes some time to reach planets and there's no real planets in the solar system that could really push Mako. I mean the max time a viltrumite can hold their breath is a week, Mako can maybe do it for a few hours right now so he might not even get to another planet in that time. I mean I get that logic, but even then after a while he'd just acclimate to that.
D3lph0xL0v3r: They all know he's an alien, it's just he was allowed to use his powers to defend himself freely and has been doing so since. For a group all about no limitations on their own powers? That's kind of a figurehead. Like in the same way that Captain America is for the military, not that's what he represents but some people can see it that way.
Devil Dragon Stand Knight: Yeah Guardians in the comics are sick.
Abarrow800: Just symbolism.
Super Comrade: Hehehehehehe yeah.
Iskandar Svengali: Yeah he kindof needed that, and I wouldn't say that about the MLA, Bakugo is just the way he is because everyone told him that he was amazing growing up and it gave him a huge ego. The MLA just want people to use their powers freely. I mean honesly given the training camp arc? I wasn't exactly against the idea.
Andrew: I mean….why wait that long?
Austin: One for All can't take Mako's powers because it's not a quirk. And yeah that probably would happen but he'd probably go to Kali before Cecil.
As for Eri…that whole arc is going to have some fun in it.
As for new stories? Nothing right now, one that I think would be fun is an Assassin's Creed/Avatar the Last Airbender crossover. I mean you'd have to get rid of all the magical god stuff but honestly I've ignored most of that stuff for all the games until I can't.
I actually do have this one fic…My Hero Academia but with Zombies, like DCeased. But It'd just be a short fic.
Guest 1: Nah, Endeavor wouldn't just randomly attack Mako.
Viewing Civilian: Right? Honestly the hardest part is making it not seem repetitive.
Sracasm Sage 626: Yeah, Him and Outrun are members of the guardians in the comics, Bulletproof himself is actually a really cool character. He actually was with them when they fought Battle Beast in the comics and got wrecked instead of Monster Girl. And Robot is….one of the most developed characters in Invicible.
TheCarcassKing: Good to hear!