"I've told you exactly what happened," the greenette droned. "I've told you and told you. What do
you actually want me to say?"
"Let's take it from the top," was the cliche and incredibly frustrating answer of the incredibly cliche black-suited agent in the incredibly cliche off-white interrogation room with incredibly cliche buzzing, florescent lights.
"You know, I'm so miserable and tired I might admit to crimes I didn't commit just to get you to stop asking the same questions over and over and let me sleep," Izuku finally snapped, pulling at the cuffs as he rose from his chair. They'd been at this for hours . He was sick of it. They just kept making him relive it all over and over and he was just so. Damn. Tired. "Just let me know what crimes you want me to confess to why don't you? Arson? Murder? Jaywalking? Giving Nedzu ideas?"
"We want the truth," the agent replied.
"I have told you the truth! Five hundred times! To the best of my recollection of details! You must
have someone with a truth quirk on staff! You know I'm not lying! What's the point of this?" "From the top."
"Ugh," he sat down and pressed his forehead to the table. He would refuse to speak anymore, but he ought not push his luck. They likely weren't above using enhanced interrogation techniques. Best not to give them any additional reason to employ those, not after this little breakdown. "Why are you doing this to me?"
The agent raised an eyebrow. "You were found in a clearing with two of your classmates, one dead and the other bludgeoned unconscious, along with two dead PLF deserters, both of whom could have provided a lot of information if they'd been brought in alive." Well, that was true except for him being "found." He made a report and requested assistance. "Given what else we know about you, you see how that could be considered suspicious, don't you? Not a word was heard from you until after everyone was dead. The only person who might be able to corroborate part of your story is out cold and liable to stay that way for days." Nice to know Katsuki was probably going to be alright and, well, the agent had a point.
The agent had more of a point if you stuck your head in a microwave before listening, but the agent did have a point. "The fight itself lasted around a minute," Izuku said, toneless as stale bread, "from the time Tokoyami attacked Dabi to the time that Hawks tried to kill me and I shot him. When, exactly, was I supposed to place a call?"
"Why did you charge in guns blazing like that? Not even taking the time to call for help?"
"I didn't charge in guns blazing," the greenette hissed, frustration getting the better of him again. "I ran to the clearing to try to save my classmate," pointlessly, "assessed the situation, and tried with everything I could to get everyone to back off and leave."
"What of this Bakugou Katsuki, then? You're blaming it on him?"
Oh no you don't. They weren't going to pin this on Kacchan. "He probably thought Tokoyami and I were about to be killed because we were facing off against a pair of S rank or above villains." Hawks was either double or triple-S and Dabi was S, right? "Was what Bakugou did smart? Probably not, but he was trying to save us and he couldn't have known what was going to happen."
"So it was Tokoyami's fault, then? It sounds like he violated every directive given to him when he attacked these villains."
Fossa bristled and felt another great chunk of his control disintegrate. "He's dead you defective chatbot! Why are you doing this? Don't you have a shred of decency?"
"How about we take it from the top, then, or perhaps I'll explain it back to you this time. You tell me if I get something wrong."
"Fine. Chatbot."
The chatbot had already searched him for weapons, tools and personal effects. Now the chatbot had Izuku change into blue scrubs and slippers.
Two guards escorted the greenette down four flights of stairs to a grim, concrete hallway. This place had similar isolation cells to Tartarus, all of them sporting one-way glass. These cells weren't nearly as large nor as nice as the Tartarus cells, however.
Why was Stain here? Wasn't he supposed to be in Tartarus? Well, they'd had to move a bunch of prisoners after Hawks' escape and one could make a case for distributing the most dangerous villains over several facilities to avoid the possibility of all escaping at once... Regardless, it was weird that they were locking up a hero student on the same block with Stain.
Fossa was apparently on the same block as one of the men who had been arrested at the Green Mountain Lodge when Izuku was working for Nighteye, too... and that man... that was the Face Fixer, wasn't it? Probably? Those secondary mutations--almost like circuits embedded in his skin-- were pretty distinctive. What was that poor guy doing here? What the Face Fixer did, selling instant quirk-provided cosmetics to anyone who cared for them, was probably illegal in many circumstances but he certainly didn't belong in a place like this. The man looked terribly bored, flipping through a book he must have read several times before.
Izuku stepped into his cell without a fuss. The door slammed. The light in the ceiling buzzed. Well, at least he was finally alone.
The blanket and sheets were not as scratchy as he expected them to be. The greenette curled up on his short bed with a sigh.
He could have stopped this. He could have stopped it all. If he'd just called it in the moment he saw Tokoyami flying over the field they probably could have stopped the other student from chasing after Hawks but Izuku thought Tokoyami was following orders. Tokoyami was the "out of the ordinary" person that Nighteye told Fossa to look out for, wasn't he, and Fossa just didn't get it until it was too late. What would poor Nighteye think of all this? It was probably nothing the seer hadn't seen a hundred times before... seen and tried to prevent futilely. No wonder All Might's old sidekick always looked so miserable. His life must suck.
Why, just why didn't Izuku call in about Tokoyami? It wasn't as if Fossa would have been distracting control--collating information from all the heroes on the ground was their job and they should be good at it. Why didn't he just call and ask if Tokoyami was supposed to be there?
Moreover, if Fossa had just taken the risk and shot Dabi the moment he arrived in the clearing maybe Hawks would have tried to kill Fossa but Hawks certainly wouldn't have hurt Tokoyami and maybe only one person would have had to die. Kacchan would have still arrived and then Tokoyami and Katsuki would have fought but Hawks could have made a run for it, either back to the heroes to show he'd always been a triple agent or off to who-knows-where to be free for once in his miserable, short life.
Izuku was such an idiot. And now his classmate was dead because Izuku was an idiot. Now Izuku had been blacklisted and thrown away like bruised fruit because he was an idiot. He had all these skills which he hadn't even earned, skills that had just been handed to him one day, decades worth
of experience, and even with that advantage he couldn't get anything right!
He was crying. The student raised his hand to his face, wiping at the tears with his fingers. He didn't feel like he was crying, not in his head, but his body was definitely crying. "They're all dead," he whispered, choking on a lump in his throat before collapsing forward onto his pillow and sobbing as if there were no tomorrow.
For some people there wasn't. Today had been the end of the universe as far as they were concerned.
Amidst the waves of sudden, overwhelming grief that accompanied every new sob came relief because he wasn't a broken, unfeeling monster after all. He'd just been in shock or something. "I'm sorry, Tokoyami," he whimpered. "I'm sorry, Dark Shadow, Hawks, even Dabi. I'm so sorry! It's not fair!"
He must have repeated some variation on that a hundred times, repeated it alone in the dark where nobody could see him and the words were as meaningless as the deaths of those who deserved to hear them.
An arm wrapped around his shoulder and the greenette turned instinctively, burying his face in the comforting presence's chest. "Hm," a familiar voice said as fingers carded through his hair. He would have preferred to cry on his mother's shoulder, but Kuma's would do since it was the only option.
"I screwed up plenty of times," she told him quietly. "Sometimes I made legitimately bad decisions, blatant mistakes. Sometimes I acted reasonably, but in retrospect everything I did seemed unbelievably stupid. The day I died was like that. Hindsight... You know how it is. It's not fair, but that's how it is."
"Yeah." He knew.
"In the MLA there were times when we got in screaming fights and blamed each other for things that weren't our fault, but those were few and reconciliations were always quick. We didn't have the luxury of turning on each other and throwing scapegoats in prison in order to make ourselves feel better." She said that last sentence with bitter disgust, implying that such shameful behavior was not only beyond their resources but unthinkable.
The greenette cried until his eyes burned, vaguely wondering whether it was only his dream self crying or his physical body as well. Kuma did not speak for a time, respecting his right to grieve uninterrupted by useless platitudes that every soldier had heard before.
"Where are we?" Izuku asked eventually, finally taking in his surroundings... huge trees towering like skyscrapers, lush branches casting deep shadows over the mossy earth, quiet bird songs, rustling needles, salt on the breeze...
"Black Forest maybe?" Kuma suggested. "This is from your memories, not mine. I've wanted to see this place. Never got the chance, of course..."
"Huh. A graveyard." The stones were all embedded into the ground, one in front of each tree. He read the names without comprehending them. "Fitting." Would Dark Shadow have his own gravestone? He would probably share with Tokoyami... would they even put down Dark Shadow's name? Would everyone forget him? "Do you think quirks can have souls?" Izuku wondered.
"Dark Shadow was a person as much as any other person I have seen," Kuma said. "I refuse to
believe in a universe that would grant some sapient creatures immortality and others nothing. Either Dark Shadow had a soul or nobody has one."
"Let them be together, wherever they are," Izuku whispered.
"Do you mean Dark Shadow and Tokoyami or Dabi and Hawks?" Just how much had she seen of the day's battle? All of it perhaps.
"Both. And Epona and Influx. Romeo and Juliet. All of them. I'm sorry," Izuku began to cry again, "I don't know what I'm saying."
"No, I think you do. It's a nice thing to say."
"I had to kill them."
"You did."
"If I'd had a moment to think... maybe I wouldn't have. Maybe I could have saved everyone." "Maybe."
"But I didn't."
Kuma hummed. "If you had it to do over again, from the moment all the pieces appeared on the board, would you take the chance to change it?"
"What? You mean if I could do it over... from when Katsuki got there... what would I do?" "Yes."
"I'd..." what would he do? "Shoot Dabi right away."
"Bakugou arrived before Hawks was burned." She'd definitely seen everything, then. "At full strength and overwhelmed with vengeful fury at what would have seemed an unprovoked murder, he probably would have killed you."
"Bakugou and Tokoyami would have lived at least." "Would they?"
"Uh...?"
"You think your friend would have failed to fight to the death to avenge you?" That was... a very good point. "That could've ended with Bakugou knocked out, but more likely it would have ended with at least one of the other three dead."
"Well... I could have shot Dabi in the leg or..."
"If you shot to incapacitate like that, he would quite possibly have incinerated you, and Tokoyami at least would have tried to protect you and likely met the same fate."
"I could have... I don't know!"
"Would you roll the dice?" she asked, one eyebrow raised, "and risk an outcome that ended with both of your classmates and yourself dead? If not, you'll have to accept that you made the best decisions you could and everyone got screwed over anyway."
Did he? Did he have to accept that? Because he wasn't sure now, thinking about it critically, that he would risk doing it all over again if he could. Even with the benefit of hindsight... "It just... how can it be that this was the best outcome? There must be something better... some world out there where I didn't kill two people and watch another die today. I..."
Kuma huffed, as if considering a laugh, then said, "'The optimist believes that this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears that this is so.'"
"I'm a pessimist, then." "Me, too."
The breeze picked up through the dream trees. It was a nice graveyard. The rest of Black Forest was probably nice, too. If Izuku ever got out of prison, maybe he should ditch school and take Kuma to see the Rebel Isles. Izuku would like to see it himself.
"It's weird, you know?" Izuku asked after a time.
Kuma raised an eyebrow. "Well, yes. You're a teenage spy and I'm a ghost."
"Not that, I mean... I feel so much worse about Tokoyami than about Hawks and Dabi, and I killed them but I hardly feel bad at all, it's just... I went through this with Moonfish, too." He'd gotten over that, all be it mostly because other, more immediate problems and traumas took up all the available brain processing space.
"Those who run in the track of wolves must sleep in their dens," Kuma replied dryly. Where had he heard that before? "Didn't Arch say that once?"
"Arch used to say that, yes. I don't approve of slandering wolves, they're not the bad guys, but you get the idea."
"Actually no, I don't."
"Simply put, if you decide to make bad decisions, you will end up bad places surrounded by bad people who want to eat you. Perhaps you'll be wealthy and powerful. Perhaps you'll be broke and miserable, but you will sleep in a wolves' den either way, regardless of its list price.
"The point is this: if Dabi had decided not to try to murder your incapacitated friends, you would have sent him and Hawks on their way. You weren't going to pick a fight with them to try to get revenge for Bakugou, not when there were other lives at stake. You and Tokoyami would have recovered and dragged Bakugou out from under his tree and everyone would have been fine, more or less.
"Dabi ran in the track of wolves when he threw that fireball, choosing to do something evil just because he could. Hawks ran in the track of wolves when he chose to prioritize trying to murder you over trying to save his student or his lover. Run in their tracks, sleep in their dens.
"Did they deserve it? 'Course not. Nobody deserves this. Were they asking for it? Definitely. This is not your fault. Should you feel guilty for being a part of this mess? Yeah, probably, because humans tend to feel guilty even if there's no reason to, but if you don't, well, you're just being hyper-rational I suppose."
Hyper-rational... or just in shock still, perhaps. There was only so much he could process at once, but he'd have to keep Kuma's words in mind. There probably wasn't anyone else who could
understand and advise him like this. She'd been there, and she'd lived things like this before. "Thanks Kuma," he whispered.
"Anytime I can."
They didn't interrogate him again. Apparently they just wanted Izuku out of the way, a wild card off the table. They never told him what had happened to Kacchan, but at least they'd implied he was alive and not in a coma. That was something at least. For all that Izuku was a worthless waste of space in some ways, Dabi would probably have killed Katsuki if Izuku hadn't been there. In fact, Dabi likely would have been the only survivor had Tokoyami, Dabi, Hawks and Katsuki crossed paths in that cursed forest without Izuku's interference.
The actual outcome was probably preferable to that. Kuma was right. If Izuku had the chance to turn back time and do that fight over, he wouldn't, not even with the power of hindsight. So he'd have to accept that he'd been screwed over by bad luck rather than bad decisions, other than not realizing that Tokoyami was that "out of place thing" that Nighteye warned him about. After a good night of crying, that didn't seem like a large mistake, either, especially given how quickly events had transpired after Tokoyami's appearance. There had been no time to think.
It still felt like Izuku's fault. In some sense it would be easier if it were his fault. Then, at least, there would be some reason behind it. If his friends were dead because he was "an idiot" as he had earlier asserted, then at least his friends were dead for a reason, stupid and unsatisfying as that reason might be. But it wasn't his fault. So they were dead for bad luck, which was no reason at all and that thought was about as painful as holding himself personally responsible for all of it.
His brain was defective and he needed a new model. Or maybe he needed a new life, somewhere calm and quiet where people didn't get burned to death all the time.
Several meals passed. Izuku didn't count them. One of the lackluster lunches came with a book about the history of accounting. It was still more interesting than staring at the gray walls, although it was difficult to concentrate when every stray thought brought another wave of twisting pain to his heart.
It didn't really matter how long he'd been here, did it? On a few occasions he was summoned from his cell and joined groups marching to an above ground exercise yard. Some prisoners talked quietly. Izuku held his tongue and kept his head down. If he tried to speak he might start crying, or worse, be recognized by an old enemy, because he already had those despite being a high school student.
Izuku finished the final page and closed the book, now knowing more about the history of accounting than any sane person should. "If I send it back on a meal tray will they give me something else to read?" he asked the sound-proof walls.
Prolonged solitary confinement was generally considered torture and liable to drive the sanest mad. Izuku seemed to be fine so far, however. He'd been in need of some down time maybe.
It was starting to grate on him now. He was through addressing the sharpest blades of grief, emotions simmering down into a grinding ache rather than shooting pains. Now he had the energy to be angry with the HPSC.
They had absolutely no right to lock him up here on a whim. He hadn't done anything criminal and this detention was certainly illegal. They'd never charged him with anything or allowed him any contact with legal representation or family. He was a traumatized child who'd just seen something nobody should ever have to see and the HPSC's reaction had been to drag him away and throw him in a pit so they didn't have to deal with him.
No wonder the PLF had gained so much power. Those who run in the track of wolves, as Arch would say. Here the HPSC sat, top of the world, surrounded by other hungry wolves ready to rip them apart. Izuku might hate himself for the things he'd done but compared to the HPSC he was an angel.
Fossa ought to escape. It would serve them right.
It might not be possible, though. He was more likely to be released or even broken out.
There was a non-zero chance that Nedzu, or Nighteye, would pitch enough of a fit to have Izuku released. Both of them had significant clout. There was a larger chance that False Flag would break Fossa out if she learned what had become of him. There was a larger chance, still, that the PLF might successfully raid this place as Stain--the League's old hero--was here and the facility security didn't seem to be nearly as tight as Tartarus. There was also a non-zero chance of Isomorph staging a raid given that Izuku was being detained illegally and had definitely heard faint, agonized screaming on several occasions.
He should have put up a fight when the agents dragged him away after the Gunga Mountain battle, enough to make sure that someone on the outside at least knew what had happened to him, but he'd been so broken at the time it hadn't seemed to matter.
Izuku woke to a cacophony of explosions and screaming. Well. That happened faster than he'd expected.
It sounded like quirks were being used much more than conventional weapons; he only heard the tell-tale, rattling explosions of automatic firearms occasionally. That meant it was almost certainly the PLF leading this attack. Isomorph seemed to make liberal use of guns, stun grenades, and explosives.
The PLF was here to break out sympathetic political prisoners, not loyal heroes that had fallen afoul of their allies' suspicious natures. If Fossa were recognized, they would almost certainly kill him, especially given his history with Shigaraki. If All For One was to believed, Izuku's possessor had threatened to kill the PLF's current leader during Izuku's missing week.
Pity his shoulder-sitter hadn't gone through with that slaying.
All right. He had minutes at most to prepare. There was no time to waste thinking about whether Fossa would be willing to turn back time and sacrifice his life and perhaps the life of his possessor to kill Shigaraki, whether he would be willing to roll the that die in the hope of a better future.
Fossa dragged himself out of bed, relying on the adrenaline rush to chase away the lethargy that had built in him over the imprisonment.
If he had something even vaguely sharp he would shave his head--that would throw the PLF off
his scent--but the sharpest thing in this cell was a slightly warped bed spring which might be barely pointy enough to break the skin.
Shoving his head as far under the tiny sink as possible, the greenette set about soaking his hair so it hung down in dark, tangled waves. When sopping wet, it almost looked black.
The bed spring was, indeed, sharp enough to break the skin. Fossa smeared blood across his face, rubbing it in as an attempt to change his skin tone and disguise his features.
It likely wouldn't be suspicious to wear an improvised mask during a prison break. The student ripped a corner from his sheet and tied it over his nose like a bandana. He shoved a few more strips of ripped sheet into his shoes, ruining the already questionable fit but adding a bit of height and likely severely modifying his gait.
He had no more resources to make use of. This paper-thin disguise would have to do and if it didn't, well, he had plenty of company waiting for him in the underworld.
No, he couldn't think like that. His mother didn't deserve that. Kuma didn't deserve that, either, and neither did Kacchan for that matter... or False Flag, Nedzu, Ojiro or Shouji. There were people who would miss him.
The lock--and a good section of the cell door around it--exploded, metal shards clattering to the ground. "All ye, all ye out is in free! Well, in is out free, whatever!" an arrogant voice sing-songed as the door creaked open. Izuku waited until he caught the sound of other feet in the hallway before slipping out and joining the crowd.
Fortunately, this was a large facility, perhaps the largest of its kind still in operation--not including Tartarus anyway--and the halls were chock-full of escaping inmates. There were a handful of others wearing improvised masks, so the greenette's choice was not going to stand out. Allowing the river of the crowd to sweep him away, Izuku ran for the stairs, an endless chorus of pounding feet and panting breath accompanying him.
Izuku found himself beneath a sky lit by dull stars and harsh searchlights. He made a sharp left, keeping to the outskirts of the crowd, all but hugging the steel bar and razor wire fence. The exercise yard was almost unrecognizable, scoured by ferocious combat. Smoke poured up from the clear-blasted earth beneath gaping holes in the fences. The PLF logo--a bastardized combination of the old MLA insignia and a crossed-sword and bandana symbol Stain supporters rallied to--was everywhereand nobody was being allowed to leave. There was no possibility of Fossa slipping away. Was there anyone here liable to recognize him? Yes. Yes there was.
"Ladies, gentlemen, gentlepeople of all kinds!" roared an all too familiar voice. The courtyard did not grow silent, but it did grow quieter until everyone could hear. Shigaraki stood upon an overturned truck, floodlights chasing away the shadows to bathe him in a halo. "You have been Liberated. Society turned on you, threw you away, but you all deserve better and we are here to give it to you.
"We are beginning a new order, a new world, where the people who oppress you for your powers and your thoughts will get what they have coming. The Paranormal Liberation Front welcomes new fighters, and I'm sure we'll find many here to day, brave and powerful as I know you all are. We watch out for our own. Join us and together we will retake this country from the unworthy who've held you down all your lives!"
The cheering and applause was instant and overwhelming. "Liberation! Liberation!" the group roared, stomping their feet to emphasize the rhythm of their warchant. Izuku joined in, ill as it made him feel. He couldn't afford to stand out.
How was he going to get out of here and back to UA--oh dear. This wasn't just a raid, was it?
The number of PLF soldiers and resources here... he could see dozens of trucks, tents, and plenty of powerful A and S-rank villains... this wasn't just a raid . This was a battlefront or, more specifically, a battlefront which had just advanced far more than expected and overrun a significant opposition outpost. Fossa was behind enemy lines.