"Everyone has their costumes, correct?" Aizawa stood in front of us at the train station. "Remember – you don't have permission to wear them out in public and don't lose them or anything. Got that?"
"Yes!" Ashido yelled, holding her case above her head.
"That's yes sir, talk properly Ashido." Aizawa corrected. "Now make sure you mind your manners with your internships. Now get to it."
"Why, if it isn't Eraserhead!" A deep voice boomed from the stairs. We all turned to see a tall, muscular man in a bomber jacket and goggles approaching us. His head was shaved, goggles resting above his brow. He did not wear a shirt under his jacket – thus exposing a plethora of scars across his chest. He wore jeans that were tattered and hung low. "I didn't know that these were your brats!"
Aizawa did not look impressed. "Couldn't wait for your intern to find you herself, huh, Redemption?" I swallowed hard. That was my pro-hero?
He laughed, punching Aizawa on the arm. "But of course! Figured that Makoto had the old address and we gotta keep our new base top secret." A few of my classmates turned to look at me. "Well, where's my future top hero?" I stepped out of the crowd. I had never had someone outside of my Grandfather refer to me like that before.
I tightened my grip on my case. "It's Polaris."
He smiled before he erupted in a large boisterous laugh. "Let's go begin our internship Polaris!"
"That guy's a pro? He looks more like a villain," Mineta quaked in his boots. Redemption snapped his head towards Mineta, his laughter ceasing.
"What did you say, gnat?" Redemption towered above my classmates. "Heroes like us do the dirty work that those other top ass wipes won't touch! Not everyone who looks like they could eat you whole, will. Watch your judgements shrimps!" He made his way through the class, hoisted me up onto his shoulder with a hand, and left the train station.
"Good luck Polaris!" Midoriya and Uraraka waved widely. I lifted my hand to wave back. The train station turned into a blur. I felt my breakfast rise into my throat. The streets rushed past us until we stopped abruptly in front of a large three-story building with peeling paint. Half of the windows were boarded up and their glass was broken. I swallowed my breakfast down. What did I get myself in to? Did Nezu miss removing a villain from my list? He set me down, swung open the door, and marched inside. I followed him. The place was a mess. I closed the door behind myself and continued into what looked to be a makeshift living room. Five large couches were arranged in a circle around a coffee table. Vending machine coffee cans and food wrappers littered the area. Redemption let himself fall into a large, stained, brown sofa. "Do you know why I sent you an offer?"
"Because you thought you could prevent me from becoming a villain," I stood in the doorway, bag on my back and case at my side. He let out a roaring laugh, falling to his back on the sofa. The mortar of the brick wall opposing me was worn away – bricks were missing from their spots while others were cracked.
"That's what you think? Man. The media's pretty petty but damn." Redemption wheezed after his outburst ended. "No – it's because I knew your Dad."
"You knew my father?" My feet stuck to the ground. He was a villain. I turned to leave. This was a villain agency. I had chosen incorrectly. I needed to get out of here, now. But, Aizawa knew him. He would not have let me leave with him if he was a villain.
"I was his partner back in the old days. Changed sides after that battle though." Redemption shrugged, "hence the name. I found the better good and now I help other villains get out or let vigilantes have a place to sleep." He pulled a cigarette out of his bomber jacket and lit it up, stuffing the lighter back into the pocket.
I turned to face him again, "why just me? Why not Akari too?"
He laughed, "you may have your father's quirk, but she has your mother's personality. Let me teach you how to do more with your quirk. Your classmates will be screaming for mercy when I'm done with you!" He took out his phone and showed me his lock screen. It was a photo of Redemption when he was in middle school. He looked just as harsh as he did now, shaved head and all. His arm was wrapped around a bored shaggy-haired boy with tired eyes. He gave his friend a small smile. It was my Dad. They were both dressed in simple black uniforms with gold buttons.
I shook my head, "I'm not using his moves." He put his phone away after looking at the photo one last time.
Redemption rolled his eyes, "they're not his moves. If you think that way, then you'll be like all those who judge you. They judge you because of who they think he was. Show them all who you are."
He had a point. "I don't want to fight. I won't harm anyone."
He grumbled, blowing a ring of smoke out of the corner of his mouth. "Look Makoto. If you want to be a hero you need to know-how, and be willing, to fight. Even if you aim to be support for those that want to be on the front lines – you can just as easily get caught up in the mess. Do you not have any combat experience?"
"No." I shook my head. "At the USJ incident, I just kept them occupied by playing cat and mouse with Shigaraki."
His jaw fell and his cigarette toppled to the ground. I approached him, knelt to pick up his cigarette, and held it between two fingers. "You went head to head with the decay twerp!?" He jolted upright, towering far above me. I nodded slowly. He brought me into a tight hug, sweeping me off my feet. "I'm such a proud uncle!" Redemption swung me around for a moment before setting me back down on my feet and took his smoke back.
"I didn't do much at all. Aizawa and All Might took care of them for the most part." I shook my head, my bangs falling into my eyes.
"Call him Eraserhead or just Eraser 'round here. Some of our old haunts are still active." He corrected. "Man. You're not even out of grade school yet and you have a villain marking you." He smiled down at me. I opened my mouth to ask him what he meant.
"Is this Makoto?" A voice squealed from behind us. My shoulders stiffened and I slowly turned to face the voice. Redemption had his hands on his hips, giving the intruder an unimpressed glare. He walked around me to her.
"I thought I sent you out on a job," he frowned, flicking the woman in the forehead. She was tall, just a few inches shorter than him. Her hair was a dark red and styled in a long bob.
"That hurt," she cried. She wore large dark grey cargo pants that fell mid-calf with a small cropped black tank top. "I just wanted to say hi to our first intern!"
He sighed, running a rough hand over his face. "Polaris, this is Phoenix. She's one of my sidekicks who's supposed to be on a top-secret undercover mission right now!" Phoenix cringed, lifting her fingerless gloved hands in front of her. "I guess since you're here you can show her how to do her hair."
"Do my hair?" I took a step back. "What's wrong with my hair?" My hand gravitated to my wispy ends.
Redemption snickered. "You look like that girl from The Ring. Not inviting of a hero at all. No wonder everyone thinks you'll become a villain with that look. We'll train after you're done." He left us alone in the living room, moving towards the back of the house.
Phoenix immediately began to circle me. "Has no one ever shown you how to keep your hair out of your face? No female figures in your life?" I shook my head. Grandmother never taught me anything, really. "That's a shame. Let's have fun!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me through the large three-story house to the third floor to a dormitory with a middle finger sign on the door. There were two bunks on opposing sides of the room. Clothes and undergarments littered the floor. She sat me down in a chair in front of a large mirror. The vanity was covered in makeup, clothes, scissors, and styling tools.
"We're not cutting it," I said quickly as she reached around me for something.
She picked up a wide-tooth comb. "I won't – but why not? Shorter looks are all the rage right now." She tossed her head.
I blushed, averting my own eye contact in the mirror. "If I have to use my quirk without this suit – at least the top will be covered."
She began to laugh, hitting my shoulder roughly. "That's the best part about your quirk though! Imagine fighting perverted villains. Lose your clothes, they get flustered, and it's an instant win for you. One-hit KO!" My mind imagined a fight with Mineta. Not tempting. Phoenix shrugged, "you're still young. You haven't lost all of your innocence yet." She began to comb my hair.
"Why did you pick Phoenix?" I watched as she redid my part. The colour spectrum of my hair changed with each movement.
"How about I show you," she winked. She put down the comb and reached for the scissors. She swiftly stabbed herself in the heart. My jaw fell and I swung around to face her. She took a few uneasy steps back, holding her hand out for me to stay. I watched in awe as her body was engulfed in flames momentarily before they were snuffed out. Her body was scorched ash. Her burned body crumbled into dust. I sat there, staring speechlessly at the pile of ash. Within minutes the dust began to swirl upward, reforming her body. She began to move. Her eyes opened and she smiled. "Hope I didn't freak you out too much."
I shook my head, staring at her naked, soot-covered body.
"Let me take a quick shower and change." She smiled, grabbing random clothes off the floor before entering the adjoining bathroom. I stared after her. How many times had she died? She stabbed herself without a second thought. She returned after a moment, towel drying her hair. She threw the towel on the floor beside a large overflowing basket. She had changed into black high waisted shorts with gold buttons up the centre and a white ruffled shirt. She returned to my hair, combing it through. "You know – your bangs really are too long. Don't they poke you in the eye?"
"Sometimes," I said, tugging a strand in front of my face. It came down to the top of my lips.
"Let's make them look neater," she pouted, holding up a different pair of scissors. I bit my lip but nodded. She swung me around and I shut my eyes tightly as she fixed my straight across bangs. I felt the scissors on my brow as she snipped away. "Done!" She spun me back around and held up her scissors menacingly. She had trimmed them to about my mid-brow and feathered the edges instead of leaving a blunt end.
"Thank you," I said, moving my head to the side slightly. She beamed with joy. Phoenix put the scissors back down on the vanity and began to pull back the front pieces of my hair. She reached around me with a hand and grabbed a silver ribbon from an open box. She recoiled her hand and added it to my hair. I looked at my reflection. It was strange seeing myself with such a simple change. I did look friendlier without half my face hidden by my mop of hair.
She slapped my back, "bottom bunks are free. Pick whichever one you like. Change into your costume and I'll meet you downstairs." She adjusted the bow on the back of my head before leaving the dorm. I looked at my dull features in the mirror once more before getting out of the chair. I moved my bags to the bed on the left wall of the room. I opened my case, quickly changing into my skin-tight black and silver suit. I ran back in front of the mirror briefly to ensure that Phoenix's work had not gone to waste. You could actually see my bright blue eyes without anything obscuring them. I adjusted my posture to how All Might had adjusted me. Back straight, shoulders back, chin up. I looked like a real, live, hero. I nodded, swallowing hard, before exiting the dorm. I made my way down the stairs, my feet quickly hitting the edge of each step. Clothes, fliers, and garbage littered the stairs. I re-entered the living room. Phoenix sat on the coffee table facing Redemption and Hawks. I froze on the last step. Hawks was here?
His eyes landed on me as he swung his skewer of yakitori to the side. "No way – you really did land Makoto." I stood there in stunned awe. He knew who I was. How did he know who I am? Of course – the sports festival. But such a highly ranked hero remembered me? "Are you going to offer her a work-study? If not, I may steal her. I have the perfect job all ready." He finished his skewer in one bite.
Phoenix fell off the edge of the coffee table laughing. "Polaris' face is priceless!" I quickly took in a breath and finished the last step, entering the living room.
Hawks rested his chin on the knuckles of his hand. "Polaris, huh?" He smiled like Kirishima. "I like it!" What crazy wormhole had I fallen into?
Redemption snapped his fingers, "why don't you help me teach 'er how to fight!"
"You did get beat up pretty bad from your own sister." Hawks fell into the soft back of the stained sofa while he contemplated. I gently touched my cheek. My nose still needed a few more weeks to heal but my bruising had faded to a light brown and yellow. "I've got time."
"Yeah!" Redemption stood up quickly, forcing the coffee table to flip. "Let's head to the roof."
Phoenix sat up pouting, "but I can't get up there!" She crossed her arms in a huff.
He leaned down until he was bare millimetres from her face. "Then I guess it's time to return to that job you're supposed to be on right now." She gulped, scooted backwards, and ran out the front door. I guess there were some traits that even villains could never get rid of completely. "Let's go!" Redemption started out towards the back. Hawks stood easily and followed him, depositing his skewer into the garbage. I fixed the coffee table before following the two. We passed through the kitchen. It was a nuclear warzone. Tupperware of varying ages and contents sat out. The garbage was overflowing. Pizza boxes and take out containers were scattered across the floor and table. I wonder what other pro hero offices looked like.
We left through the back door into the alley. The garbage bin for the building was empty. The steps leading down from the kitchen were broken and shifted with your weight. This house was a death trap. Redemption nodded to Hawks before running up the side of the building. Hawks extended his wings and flew to the top. I took in a breath and dematerialized, reforming my body from the top down between the two pros. The roof of the building was inaccessible from mundane means. Empty beer bottles sat in a pile in one corner of the roof while well-marked dummy posts sat in another. The roof was covered in burn marks, puddles, and grime.
"By the time we're done with you – you'll be the one breaking your sister's face," Redemption howled as he tore his bomber jacket off. He flexed his upper body, face turning red with excitement. Hawks smirked, fiddling with a feather between his fingers. What on earth was I in for?
[B&M]
I sat cross-legged on the dark green vinyl sofa across from Redemption. Hawks had gotten a call from his agency after throwing me into the air for the twentieth time. He flew up to catch me by the back of my suit, yelled at me to smile, and took a picture of us in the air above the city before dropping me as he rushed off. Redemption laughed as he ate his ginger beef, "man – I bet you made his day."
"I'm sure I did," I scowled. Hawks had sent his feathers at me – full speed – and I had to dematerialize them, reform them, and send them back to attack for part of our training. My hand floated across the room to my limit, picked up a piece of Szechuan chicken with chopsticks, returned to me, and then I could eat that piece. Redemption had me repeat the process again and again.
"Why don't you try both hands now," he sneered, "your father used to do that to all his limbs at once to confuse whoever he was with."
I stared at him, chopsticks sticking out of my mouth. I chewed my chicken and took the chopsticks out of my mouth, then swallowed. "I have a hard enough time with going two and a half feet with one."
"Do you want to be a hero or not?" Redemption snapped. I bit my lip, picked up a plastic fork in my left and dissipated my hand from my forearm. I bit my lip harder, concentrating on using both of my hands at once to reach the chicken. My hands floated a foot and a half from me. I could not get them to move farther from me. He sighed, standing up enough to move the Styrofoam containers closer to me. I picked up a piece of chicken with the chopsticks and stabbed another with the fork. How the hell did my father do this, and control, all his limbs at the same time? "If you can expand the range of that move by at least half a foot – I'll take you on patrol tomorrow."
I glared at him as I chewed, focusing on moving my hands farther and farther from my body. It was painful to think while using both of my hands likes this. Redemption's phone began to vibrate violently on the tabletop. He picked it up, staring at the screen with a groan.
"What do you want? What do you mean you got caught? Fuck, give me a second." Redemption grumbled as he stood, "Tiny got himself found out again. Be back after I deal with this shit. Go rest." He ran a hand over his face, took another bite of his dinner, and was gone in an instant. The front door slamming shut.
I wonder how many sidekicks Redemption had. Plus, there were the vigilantes that he would allow a place to sleep if they helped on cases once in a while. I already knew that Phoenix was one of his sidekicks – and I would assume that Tiny was as well. With how much of a mess the house was at least twenty people had to cycle through here.
I continued to eat my chicken and stir-fried garlic spinach using my disembodied hands. I had to go on patrol tomorrow.
[B&M]
"What on earth did you do?" Redemption roared as he stood in the doorway to the living room. I rolled off the couch, landing hard on my hip. The pillow I had taken from upstairs fell on my face. I sat upright and rubbed the sleep from my eyes.
"What?" I groaned, blinking hard. He wore the same outfit as yesterday, but one of the eyes of his goggles were smashed.
"It's clean!" He hollered, walking around the living room, "and why are you sleeping on the couch?"
"I couldn't sleep so I came down here to clean and train," I yawned. I lifted my arms up, dissipated my hands and reformed them several feet from myself. "I fixed the steps out back too."
Redemption laughed, "like father like daughter. He couldn't stand a thread out of place either. What are you waiting for Polaris? It's time to go on patrol!"