Tomura watched as the group arrived. "Status report." He spoke cleanly, hoping for good results. Playing the cards right, high leveled characters …
"Both kids caught, three members down." Dabi spoke, Iruma roughly shoved forward as his hand twitched.
"Oh, Shigaraki." The boy spoke, his arms broken beyond recognition, that had to hurt. "Did you cause this?"
"Don't worry, I gave orders to make sure no kids were harmed." He assured the boy before he panicked.
"Wait, I thought it was no student killed." He stared at the confused kid. "That's what Muscle head said before punching me over and over and laughing about how he was going to kill another kid because he wasn't a student."
"...Muscular didn't come back right?"
"Correct." Compress nodded. "Same goes for Moonfish and Mustard."
"A shame … Mustard was a good kid." They all gave a small bow of their heads for the actual loss. "But we have two good replacements." He looked to Compress. "You have Bakugo?"
"Of course, but can we wait to let him out? He seems a bit trigger happy. It's best to have him in a sort of sedation first."
"We'll prepare some cuffs for later, but for now, let's let Iruma feel comfortable." He told the league. "The League wouldn't be what it is today without this kid. He showed me the path I needed to take to correct this twisted society. Thank you."
"Um … you're welcome." The kid blushed, embarrassed. He should be proud, he created something amazing here.
"You know you look super cute right, bruised and bloody?" Toga asked with an excited blush.
"Oh really? I thought it made me look broken like burnt noodles." He shook his head. "I like your hair. It's really pretty."
"Oh Iruma-kins, you're such a flatterer~! And super funny!"
"Ignoring that little disturbing note, did you really inspire Tomura to think Stain was a fake?" Spinner asked, looking at the boy.
"Akaguro? I mean, he was just a really loud guy who thought everyone had to be All Might to be a hero. But heroes just help people, and it's not like Bunny-sensei the only one who can help people. You don't even need a quirk to help people."
"Bunny-sensei?" Dabi and Twice actually snickered a little at that. "Is this kid for real?" The laughter got a little bit louder.
"Why does everyone laugh at that?" The boy asked.
"No problem, you're a good kid." Mange patted him. "Too bad about the arms though."
"Oh, I can just go to Recovery-nurse or something. But I don't want to leave Bakugo behind."
"Such a good friend. Leave him behind! You're better off on your own! Friends are what make life worth it! I'm better off alone!"
The boy blinked in confusion at that one, but said nothing. "I'm glad your mission was a success Tomura." Sensei spoke from the screen. "I'm proud of you." He felt warm and giddy. It was nice to hear those words from him. "Now I believe I owe myself a conversation with your target, and the boy who brought you such kind wisdom. I have a few quirks to heal up his arms."
"A few quirks …" Iruma looked confused, before his eyes opened wide. "All Forty One!" A beat of silence passed before a few members of the league started to snicker. Hopefully his sensei was in a merciful mood tonight.
"I see, so All Might has talked about me. I'd like to see just how much you know. Kurogiri?" The boy was warped away before anyone could question what and why.
"Hey, Iruma-kins is going to be alright, right?" Toga asked.
"Of course, it's just catching up and recovery. I promise to nor harm him." The TV cut off as the League looked concerned. But not him, he trusted his Sensei on this one.
"So these are the Nomu?" Garaki sighed at the demon walking in. "Quite impressive creatures if I do say so."
"Who gave you the right to stroll in here?" He asked with a glare.
"All For One said Baal's successor should be aware of how the army functions. I'm told you have trouble with demon parts."
"It's not the demon biology I have problems understanding, that's oddly simple enough even with the mana flowing through it. It's combining it with quirk genes." Garaki went over it. "The two have trouble finding compatibility without the quirk genes eradicating the demon bloodline." Or in even more serious cases, the cells themselves.
"I see. Aniki mentioned this a few times before." Kiriwo looked over. "It's an old tale going back to the age of quirks." Not that old, since he was in his hundred and twenties. "Demon summoning was on the rise, and many forces feared what would happen if they found a way around the contracts, if Demons could one day roam the human world freely without restraint. So humans developed potential poisons to counteract them."
"Some suggest it was the corona virus of 2019 that started it all." Others said rats, but he confirmed it had mostly human origins.
"I thought it was 2020, and that the entire year was just cursed all together?"
"Fair enough, a lot of people however rather forget about it in general." He shrugged.
"Of course, one little bitty outbreak couldn't cause such wild mutations, so they had to take it a step further." The demon grinned. "Interspecies mating became more and more common among summons, creating half breeds in hopes of making something capable of fighting back."
"I still find that bullshit." He spoke up with a dismissive wave. "Quirks genetically antagonize the genomic structure of Demons. Even if your kind was involved in some way or form, they're not your spawn. Evolution doesn't work like that."
"Whatever you say." The blue haired one shrugged, looking at the tubes. "Are any of them finished?"
"One is." He looked at a special tube. "This is the first subject that survived, his compatibility rate is astounding with other species genes, so he can soak up all the negative effects. He's still inferior to the model before him however."
"How so?"
"Because the model before him has something better than any demon could have. A Quirk beyond Quirks." He looked at the tubes, one labeled Ten, the other Nine.
"So many quirks in a variety of flavors." The demon observed. "Yet the most interesting human I've ever met doesn't have one at all. This is the hell you tried to escape, isn't it, Deku-kun? How did you manage to smile through the cracks you fell through?"
"Oh, a quirkless kid? Those guys are like sponges for quirks." He turned. "Maybe I could use his body as a template of sorts. Cut it open, throw in a few bloodlines and see what I can work with?"
"Hm, a sponge you say?" That caught the boy's attention. "That explains the level of magic he's able to endure forcing himself through. Something to remember for later." Crazy bastard.
All For One watched the boy fall onto the floor. "Iruma Suzuki, a pleasure. I've heard much about you."
"So you're the guy that ripped Bunny-sensei's stomach out?" The boy, not afraid, but not unwary, asked with a straight face.
"Of course I did. He wanted to arrest me and I didn't want to go to jail. So I give him an injury and look at what he does to me." He gestures to the missing top of his face, hoping to gain some sympathy.
"Well, if you hurt each other, then that would make you guys even. Eye for an eye, even if that is dumb. Both sides end up blind that way."
"Thank you, normally that would. But there was a bit of a problem." He sighed. "You see, I loved my brother, truly I did. But he didn't understand my point of view. I gave him a quirk to help him see my way and what does he do? Revealed he had a quirk and gave it to my biggest enemy at the time!" He started, spinning his technically true tale. "They then promised to kill me, passing on my brother's quirk when it's honestly the last thing I have of him in the world."
"So...you just want One For All, because you miss your brother?" The kid asked. "You wouldn't do anything else with the quirk?"
"With One For All?" He asked. "No, it's far too precious to use, I'd keep it safe within me." The vestiges locked away until they saw it his way. "But the problem is that the quirk is strong enough that even I can't forcibly take it, and my enemies always hold onto it, sacrificing the lives of so many innocents just to keep a hold of it."
"Yeah, Bunny-sensei did say a lot of people died just keeping the secret."
"And you want to stop all this reckless violence, correct?" He leaned down a bit. "All the suffering, and help out Brothers reunite? So i'm going to ask you, please help me by giving me back One For All. I beg of you." He smiled at the kid's flinch.
"O…Ok…" The boy started gagging. "Ok…" The boy threw up over his nice and expensive shoes. Not that he paid for them but it's the thought that counts. "Sorry, I'm new to saying no to a request."
"... No?" He asked with a faux tilt of the head. Did he say the triggers wrong?
"Look, your story sounds sad and all, and I'm glad I heard your side of Bunny-sensei's story, but you still killed a lot of people, haven't you? People that didn't involve One For All at all, right?" He stayed quiet for a bit. "And call me selfish, but I like having a quirk. I don't need it, but it was a gift from Bunny-sensei. It's mine, and I want to keep it."
All For One sighed, realizing his time with All Might, the bastard, actually improved their doormat tendencies. "It was such a shame, I was hoping to do this peacefully. You let Tomura grow up so much already." He spoke, letting his hands spark different colors. "In my hands I have two quirks."
"I thought you had Forty One?" He was very tempted to not give him the option.
"The point is I have two ways to heal you. The first drains my energy to stimulate the body and heal it exponentially without any health detriments. The second uses the magnetic field from the earth and your body, and combines them to trigger the healing process with no health problems … at the cost of excruciating pain."
"...You'll only heal me painlessly if I give you my quirk, right?" The boy sighed. "I've been hurting all day, what's some more?"
"Your loss." He grabbed the boy, and let the screams of agony become his new melody.
Bakugo groaned, blinking in the light of the area, hearing hushed whispers and shuffling. When he finally adjusted he saw the most tacky 'welcome to the league' banner he's ever seen. Given it's the only one he's ever seen, but it still was the most. "What the hell?" He knew Dodger wasn't smart enough to lie, but it was still unbelievable to see it actually happening.
"Welcome to the league, new friend!" A masked villain stepped in front of him. "We have cake. The cake is a lie." He wanted to kill this guy just for that meme alone.
"Welcome new friend! You don't look as cute as Iruma-kins, but we can fix that up no problem!" A school girl held out a knife. Really? How many idiots got horny over Dodger? What was this, the fourth one by this point?
"I just spent an hour getting him into those complex cuffs, I am NOT letting you cut him out of it for that alone." The guy that turned him into a marble spoke up, shuffling cards in the air.
He turned to the handjob villain from the USJ, and apparently from the mall trip he missed. "I'm sorry, they're very excitable." How was he the sane one here? "But regardless, we have an offer-"
"Don't want it, don't need it, go fuck yourselves." Simple answer. Now hopefully they'll leave him alone, which'll give him time to form a plan to get him and Dodger out of here. Those busted arms weren't going to do them any favors.
"So do we kill him now?" Asked scar face with a raised hand and blue flames. "If he's gonna say no there's no reason to-"
"If we and Sensei absolutely can't get him on our side, we warp him out. There's no point in murdering him." Handjob spoke calmly. "But he'll see soon enough it's the best offer he could ever have."
"Oh yeah, joining a group of crazy quiet, crazy looking, and crazy …" He glanced at the school girl and bodysuit. "Crazy, sounds like an absolute blast with no repercussions."
"See, he wants to join already!" Bodysuit spoke up.
"Sarcasm you moron, look it up." The buff bastard grunted. "So what, you gonna have the big tough guy act until we give up?"
"I'm going to bust out of here, grab Dodger, murder creepy glasses, and get the fuck back to UA, away from you morons."
"Oh, you hate that asshat Kiriwo too? We have so much in common already!" School girl shouted in delight. "I want to cut him up bloody, but I won't drink a drop of his blood. He's not even good enough food for rats."
"Well, it's not hard to imagine anyone hating that prick. Seriously, that despair fetishist gives me the creeps." The lizard man shivered.
Well he can't exactly move, might as well probe for information right now. "So why do you even work with him?"
"Lack of options. It's the only reason we kept Moonfish to begin with." Scarface spoke up.
"Hey I liked Moonfish, we bonded over people not understanding cravings." The school girl giggled.
"Right..." He forgot they were all crazy for a second. "Freaky quirk too." He shook his head.
"Oh no, he's a genuine demon." He gave them a half lidded look. "Believe us or not, we summoned him from a ritual after setting a piece of paper on fire."
"So you're all genuinely insane." Looks like he wouldn't be getting answers unless he forced it out of that prick personally. The problem was that he probably couldn't stop himself from killing the guy before he questioned him.
This…this was hell. Iruma had to suffer in many environments over his life. The middle of a scorching desert, the blistering winters in the arctic, the humidity of the harsh jungle, and all of them combined didn't match the utter hell that the villain was putting him through. Every inch of his body felt like it was ripping himself from the inside out.
Iruma was left gasping, clawing at himself to distract from the pain. When it was finally finished he just stabbed the ground, trying to get his bearings together. He didn't feel like anything was broken, even if it hurt to move. He still felt tingly, even if it was mostly his arm. Was he dead or was it over? He couldn't tell.
"Now do you understand?" The man asked. "I tried to give you the painless way out, but maybe you had to experience it yourself. But you should be thanking me, your body won't scar unlike normal healing, and there's no permanent damage you would have gotten from multiple broken bones all splintered apart."
"Yeah, you did something 'nice'." He said the world as if it was a curse. "My parents always do something 'nice' for me, and I know for a fact they don't give a single care about me."
"Oh yes, such lovely people. If I knew about them I would have gotten them to train Tomura a long time ago. Pay him much better then they were training a quirkless child such as yourself." He laughed. "But it was probably for the best, you became a bit 'too' much of a dormant, even if you're moldable."
"What the heck are you talking about? Moldable, like I'm a piece of clay?"
"A bit too self aware for my taste also." All Forty One continued. "But yes, that's essentially what you are. A piece of clay, something for others to use at their whim to get what they want. Why do you think All Might kept you as his successor?"
"He picked me because I wanted to help people." He growled. "Do you EVER help someone without expecting anything in return?"
"Actually yes, Tomura." He smiled. "I saw a boy on the street, saw his potential, and saved him. Gave him a home and helped him grow up."
"And told him it was okay to kill what annoyed him."
"Because it is. You people and your morality." He leaned back, as if he was a Sensei. "Obey the rules, follow the laws, help someone if they ask. Why should we? We have power to make them obey, yet you stand here and preach about fairness and peace?"
"I never said it was fair. The first thing I learned about life is that it's unfair." He groaned. "That doesn't mean I have to hate everything just because it is. If everyone in the world acted like you, there wouldn't be anybody left on the planet…"
"Nobody gets to act like me Suzuki." The man taunted. "I was born with a gift far beyond what others can get naturally. The ability to take any quirk I see fit, so many interesting powers to test out, so many skills." The man acted as if it was like playing with toys.
"...That's why you want my quirk, isn't it? It doesn't act how you want. You made it, yet you can't use it, whether it's through someone or for yourself." He steeled his gaze at the man.
"You do have a point." The jovialness was gone, replaced with something Iruma would put akin to a robot … no, robots didn't have feelings. This was more like a cold annoyance. "My brother was the only human I actually cared about other than Tomura. Not my parents who thought of me as a dog, not my friends who thought I was a monster, just my brother who looked at me like a human being. But he never truly appreciated my work."
Iruma stood silent, feeling it was best to keep his mouth shut. Something told him the man was restraining a lot of spite. "But there are plenty of other interesting quirks out there." He smiled darkly. "Did you know there's a quirk that negates gravity? Truly fascinating." He pulled up a nearby monitor. "She lives right in this apartment. The name's Uraraka, the last time I checked."
Iruma felt himself slip in his gaze. "What …"
"And another quirk, a Naval Laser? Held by one Yuga Aoyama."
"What…?" He couldn't … no.
'He's targeted many people close to One For All'
"And Tensei Iida lost his legs right? Shouldn't his little brother lose his own? Oh, I seem to also recall a certain Toru Hagakure being rather fond of you, such a shame nobody ever sees her. Then again, nobody will miss a girl that might as well be dead to the world." All his friends…they're in danger, because this BASTARD wanted to get on his nerves.
"I WON'T LET YOU!" He shouted, throwing a fully powered punch straight at the bastard's face … only for nothing to happen. His arm cracked, he could feel it, but the man hadn't moved an inch from his seat.
"It's funny, you think you can do what All Might couldn't. It doesn't matter how far you run, how well you hide, or how big of a defense you make, it won't be enough." The … evil bastard smiled at him. "Your friends will die if you decide to be selfish, for that's the price for caring about yourself." No … no … he couldn't but … they were in danger. "Oh would you look at that, your arm is damaged once more. I better heal it up again."