After months of putting it off, Suri and her dad finally have a talk. Does it go as well as she hoped it would?
Suri paced back and forth near the door. Her arms were crossed tight under her breasts and she wore the deepest scowl she had ever mustered as she stared at the man on the other side of the private box. If the glass hadn't been tinted, he'd have a halo around him in front of the pounding light of the sun on the other side of the glass. His stance was utterly relaxed, not a care in the world while Suri was a hair away from going ballistic.
The man was six foot four with broad shoulders that filled out a well built upper body that was covered in trimmed muscle. He wasn't as built as All Might or Endeavor, that were complete mountains of muscle, he was smaller and leaner but not by much. You'd look at him and think strong, all man, but what you wouldn't think is how easily he could bench press a tank.
And yes, he did, in fact, do that for a fan convention.
His hair and beard were tightly trimmed into small curls that would look buzzed if they had been any shorter. His jet black hair was peppered with grey but it was spread evenly into a black sand like texture that showed his age but showed he aged really really well. His dark umber skin was hardly touched other than some aged scars that, aside from them and his hair, you'd guess that he was in his mid thirties. There was no other description for him than rugged handsome. It was plain to see that, even though he was well into his sixties, he was easily pulling women barely into their twenties - civilians and young naive heroines alike.
Sure he and her mothers were open with their relationships but it still pissed Suri off that he had no problem bedding women more than half his age. And that was one of the long issues she'd always had with him.
"Baby, can you please stop pacing like that?"
"Sure," she barked back at him. "Right after you tell me why the hell you're here."
He let out a half laugh and gave her a smile that asked if she had been joking.
"I figured I'd come see my little girl kick some ass on one of the biggest stages in the world," he gestured back towards the ring.
Now she was even more pissed that she was up here instead of watching the match between Iida and Tokoyami.
"So why lay out the welcome mat? You rolled your beast and put out an invitation to every wereanimal, vampire, and who knows how many fae in the entire area surrounding the arena. I know you're hot shit dad, but that's fucking reckless."
"No more reckless than you."
"I've done my best to lay low here," Suri snarled.
"You mean other than attacking high ranking wereleopards?"
His tone was filled with sarcasm and the fight to hold back from laughter.
"They brought it on themselves," Suri spat back. Kikuichi had picked a fight, she ended it. Simple as that.
"You mean like Hyrum?"
The mention of the name so casually made Suri stop in her tracks and look at him.
"What do you really want, dad?" Suri spoke calmly but it was filled with edge.
"I told you, I want to watch you compete," he responded and then turned his back on her to watch the match. "And to ask you to come home."
"You're kidding right?" she scoffed and shook her head at him with an incredulous look.
He remained silent.
"Mathias is okay with it?"
"We all miss you, Suri. And besides, it's come to my attention that Toshinori's gotten weaker. I think a lot of it has to do with passing on All For One." He pushed his hands into his pockets and sighed deeply, "I love the man like a brother. He's family. He's pack. But what happened two weeks ago? I don't know that I can trust him to keep you safe."
"And I can't trust you at all," she cooed with thick sarcasm
"Suri-"
"No! You can't just swoop in when it's convenient for you," she pointed a claw at him and seethed. "Do you remember what you and Mathias said that night at all?"
"Su-"
"Image and tradition!" her voice doubled with anger as Atiena joined with Suri. The two of them were furious and spoke in a duet of pure rage. "And you did nothing to silence members of the pack who talked shit on your own fucking daughter!"
"Suri, calm yourself," he replied in a low, growling tone.
"Daddy, he was going to kill Mathias! He was going to kill your son! My brother! And when he was done he was going to come after all of us," Suri screamed, a lump in her throat swelling as she choked back tears. "You, Mathias, Dante, Hunter, all dead! And then he was going to kill me! My mothers! Your wives! After," she screamed and stormed towards him. "He raped us!"
She couldn't stop the tears now.
"Baby, he couldn't have done all that. You know that," he replied sternly.
"Pfft, yeah, I believed that at first. I believed Mathias was going to beat him like usual. I believed that he was just being petty and all talk just to get under Mathias' skin. I believed that but you didn't see the look in his eye when he looked at me right before he took Mathias down and had his throat in his hand."
She shivered as the memories of that night came rushing back and she had to hug herself tight and turn away from her dad.
"When he ripped Mathias' throat out, I knew I couldn't let him become Ulfric or else so many others would end up dead. I had to do something. I had to save Mathias and I had to protect my family and keep the pack safe. You," she turned and pointed a finger at him and stuck it against his chest. "You taught me that a hero has to act, a hero's responsibility is to save lives and protect the people around them. I did what you taught me."
"I didn't teach to kill, Suri. That's not what we do!"
"If I didn't kill him, who was going to stop him from trying again, or coming after us? Who was going to make sure he didn't rape your daughter and then murder her? Cause it sure as hell wasn't you!"
"Suri, that's enough," his eyes narrowed deeper as Suri went on her rampage.
"I did it! I have blood on my hands because you couldn't man the fuck up and save your fucking family, you goddamn bastard!"
"Enough! You stupid little girl," he roared and a storm of energy came from him like a tidal wave of fire and electricity.
The power burned and swallowed Suri whole, dropping her to the ground like she had been hit by a bus and then pinned her to the ground. She cried out and choked on the raw power as it whipped and stung her like she was being covered in a blanket of barbed wire. The power and rage behind it forced Atiena deeper into Suri's mind to the point where Suri couldn't feel her anymore. She was rendered completely and utterly powerless, unable to move and held at the bitter mercy of the man now standing over her.
Suri coughed and choked and was left gasping for air when the power receded. She was wheezing and her entire body shook from the shock of the pain that the wave of power had delivered. Then she began to shake from the icy cold her body was wrought with after the blanket of painful heat left her with.
"Suri? Suri, are you okay?" his voice picked up with fear as he quickly knelt by Suri's side and reached out to touch her.
"Don't!" she screamed, flinching back from his touch. "Don't…"
"Suri... Pupkit, I-"
"Please just leave me alone and don't ever call me that again," she whimpered, slowly dragging herself along the floor towards the door. She stammered as she pulled herself up and sat with her back against the wall next to the door and looked up at the man who had hurt her. She began to cry and gave him a weak smile, deep down she knew she didn't mean what she was about to say but she couldn't help saying it. "I'm sorry, Daddy, but Suri Okwondu died that night."
"What do you want me to say, baby?" he looked down at her with sorrow.
"Why don't you start with an I love you," she croaked back and began to get to her feet. "Or an I'm sorry? Or I understand why you did what you did? Or best of all, you've been forgiven. An I'm sorry that I was too busy being pro hero Alpha rather than your father and Ulfric and that I let someone as evil as Hyrum into our pack and try to kill me and my family. Take responsibility."
"Take responsibility," he laughed. "Baby, if I did that, by pack law I would have to either sentence you to death or banish you."
"Well you can't banish me from a pack that didn't want me anyway, so here," she spread her arms and looked up at him with blank eyes. "Get it over with."
"You know damn well that I couldn't do that, Suri."
Suri pushed herself back, slowly forcing herself to stand using the wall as a crutch.
"Right, cause you don't believe in killing," Suri glared at him. "Even if it meant saving your loved ones and protecting those you've sworn to protect."
"That's not how a would be hero should be thinking. You don't kill because you have the power to and you think you have that right."
"So I was just supposed to just stand by and watch Mathias die? And then when Hyrum made good on his threats to just sit and take it like a good girl?"
"He wouldn't hav-"
"How, dad? How do you know he wasn't bluffing?" Suri gave her dad another incredulous look. "You weren't there when it was happening! You didn't show up until after I-"
"I know!" he screamed. "I know..."
A silence that fell between them was interrupted by a thunderous roar from the crowd below and it made Suri turn her attention towards the center of the arena. It made her angry that she was missing the matches between her classmates. She should be down with the rest of her class cheering them on but instead she was here. She was angry that she had missed the entire match between Iida and Tokoyami and only grew more frustrated that she didn't get to see how Tokoyami won.
She wanted to get out. She didn't want to be in the same room as her bastard of a father. She wanted to go down and root for Uraraka when she took on Bakugou. She wanted to feel Tooru against her again and go further with her best friend. She wanted to tease Izuku and watch how cute he was when he blushed. She wanted to push him against a wall and do the same thing she did to Tooru. She wanted to watch Mina bounce around and cheer and just watch the gorgeous girl. She wanted to be surrounded by that happiness. She wanted to be with her friends, her makeshift pack. So many things other than being here.
"So is that it? You came to tell me to come back to Salt Lake?" she sighed, trying to ignore the pain coursing through her body.
"Not tell. When you're done here today, you'll say your goodbyes and then we'll fly home tomorrow morning."
He said it so matter of factly. It made Suri look at him. Really look at him.
He was dead serious.
"No," she shook her head and her tone was filled with disbelief. "No! I just… you can't!"
"I've already talked to Principal Nezu about it," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "You'll attend Xavier with Dante. Luckily you won't have that much school work to make up with the transfer. And then at the next Lupanar, we will discuss how you can redeem yourself amongst the pack."
She stared at him harder.
"Does Grandma know about this?"
"She knew I was coming but no, I have not discussed this with her."
Thanks for the warning, Grandma.
"You know there's no way I'm going back to the States with you."
"I'm taking you home, Suri, and that's final."
"No," Suri shook her head. "I'm making a home here."
"That's sweet, Suri, but as your father, I am in charge. You can stop this little rebellion of yours and come home or I can drag your ass home. I have that right as your father and your Ulfric."
So he wanted to play alpha male and pull rank? Fine. She could do that too.
"You're not my Ulfric anymore," she smirked at him and gave him the full weight of her gaze to let him see how little bullshit she was going to take. "I've staked claims."
"With what? Werewolves or wereleopards?" he scoffed back at her, shaking his head. "You made it clear they didn't want you. You got a vampire friend or something I need to know about? Or some of the other fae that-"
"None. I'm my own queen."
"Suri," he groaned and raised his hands to rub his temples. "Stop this childish nonsense. You are not old enough or powerful enough to be a queen or run your own pack. You know nothing of what it takes."
"No, I do because I know what not to do and how I should lead because of you. I know that, no matter what, I will always be a better leader. I will do what it takes to make sure my family is safe from threats and challengers."
"Your family," he growled, "is back in Utah where you belong, child."
"The family that never bothered to call? The family that never bothered to check up on me?"
"I called! I called every goddamn day!" he growled louder now, forcibly pointing at his chest.
"What about Mathias! Or Dante and Hunter? What about my mothers? Anyone," Suri screamed back. "Do you have any idea how much it hurts not getting to talk to my mom or Hunter? Why haven't they called?"
"Because I forbid them!" he screamed and let another wave of energy roll and smack Suri like a backhand across the face. The force floored her and made her choke once again.
"W-why?" Suri choked out and heaved again.
"So that I would be the one to bring judgment down on you. As your father, and as your Ulfric. Because I spent the last few months pleading with a faction inside the pack that you stirred up to not come and hunt you down. Because I begged and pleaded for you. I did something an Ulfric should never do and because of that you made Mathias and I look weak. You undermined everything we raised you with. We were already looked at as the weakest group of werewolves in America because I got us away from the traditional Challenges of Power. And because of the support in our community, everyone views the wereanimals, vampires, all of the other fae in Utah as weak and easy to be taken over."
As he spoke, his voice became louder, angrier, and more hostile. He shook his finger at Suri with nearly every word and began to stalk closer towards her. Suri in response choked up, coughed and wheezed as she forced herself back against the wall. She forced her legs to pick up her weight and make her stand and fight off the need to collapse again. She clenched her fists and her eyes, turning her head as he came within inches of her and screamed into her ear.
"You fucked up everything I had built and put into place for you kids. You, Suri! You fucked up everything for every hybrid like yourself and Hunter. You fucked up everyone's lives all because you couldn't, for once in your life, hold your tongue and sit the fuck down. You acted before you thought anything through and ruined everything!"
A growl filled the room as he towered over Suri, glaring down at her with eyes filled with fire and rage. His fists were clenched and it looked like he was visibly straining himself not to hit something… or someone.
"Look at me, Suri."
His voice claimed ever so slightly. It still had a thick edge of anger as he spoke and then he took a deep breath and this time screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Look at me!"
Suri flinched and for one of the very few times in her life let out a whimper and began to weep. She forced her eyes open as best as she could through the tears and looked up to him with weak and pathetic eyes,
"Finish up today. Say your goodbyes and then go back to Grandma's and pack your things."
Suri remained silent and the tears rolled harder, burning her cheeks.
"Don't worry, you'll still get to be a queen. After you finish at Xavier you'll have to be because once you turn eighteen, you're out. The pack is holding off the bounty on your head until you come of age."
"Bounty?" she looked at him wide eyed.
"You are to be cast out of the pack and then the wolves will have permission to hunt you if they choose to. I know of one for sure who will try for you. So, I get to have my daughter home with me for a couple more years and then she can go off and pretend to be queen with a group masquerading as a pack or a pard or whatever you want to call it."
He backed off of her then. As he turned around to walk back towards the large bay windows there was a massive explosion in the middle of the arena. After the brutal shockwave that rattled the glass came a rain of debris, pelting the panes and making them crack from the force.
"What in the hell was that?" he whispered in awe, staring out the windows. "That's the third one with a ridiculous amount of power. Who the hell is this Bakugou kid?"
"That," Suri panted out as she backed away and opened the door to leave. "That is one of my future lieutenants."
Suri let the door close and then made her way to the steps. She looked down at them and her head began to swim, making her vision cloudy. She stumbled forward trying to catch the handrail but missed however, as the ground came for her, the darkness came faster. And the darkness took her before she hit the floor.
Sweet darkness.
Her old friend.