-The Legend-
For years and even decades to come, Officers would pass on the tale of the interrogation of Speed Freak handled by Eraser Head. The speedster arrived with the underground hero after they escorted Fire Breath to a private hero hospital to receive treatment for the bizarre attack at his home. How he got the speedster to come to a police station is the beginning of the legend. What was said or what was threatened is not known. But it is believed that Eraser Head convinced him to do so through a level of charisma hidden in a capture scarf's depths.
What is not in dispute is that the Speed Freak was confused and incredibly upset upon walking into an interrogation room. He was ready to leave when Eraser Head walked in again, offered him a cold drink, and said that Speed Freak was crucial to getting to the bottom of the attack and that without his testimony, Eraser Head was afraid the villain would walk free. When Eraser Head returned 30 minutes later, he placed a notepad and pen in front of the speedster, much to Speed Freak's confusion.
Now this is where the legend kicks off. Eraser Head leaned down and whispered something, at most 1 or 2, maybe short sentences. Speed Freak's eyes went wide; then he started sobbing, writing, and willingly handing over his phone and password.
When he exited, he handed the phone to a tech that raced off like the devil was chasing them. Detective Tsukauchi stared at Eraser Head, "What did you say?"
"A shot in the dark; I had some suspicions." The Detective's Truth quirk rang: TRUTH.
Eraser Head walked away to get a cup of coffee. Forty-five minutes later, they had a full confession from Speed Freak before the Hero Commission knew where he was.
-The Myth-
All-Might had never moved as fast as he had after Recovery Girls' phone call. The retired Pro heroine was one of All-Might's closest confidants; she had healed him after many major battles or training incidents while he was a student. She had been there to comfort him when his mentor had died; for most of the critical milestones or aftermaths, she was there. Now she had called him and was calling in a favor. Recovery Girl never did that. The tone of her voice left no room for questions, no room for argument. After a quick phone call to Sir Nighteye and Torino about canceling their meeting, the pros protested till he told them the nature of the phone call. Their protests immediately stopped.
All-Might arrived approximately 1 ½ hours after receiving the phone call; as he made his way into Musutafu General, no one dared to stop the #1 hero as he made his way through the hospital, he did stop and offer reassuring words to a few children he saw along the way through. When he entered the hero wing, he immediately saw Midnight, who waved him over, opening a door behind her to admit him.
All-Might braced himself as he was unsure what kind of scene he was walking into; in the bed was a woman and her daughter; both looked battered and bruised; they were wrapped in each other's arms, asleep. Recovery Girl was standing at the foot of the bed like a sentinel. She turned at his entrance, moved from her post, and pulled him into a corner.
"What is so important that you called me here like this, Chiyo?" he whispered.
"First, those two are the wife and daughter of Fire Breath; he almost murdered them tonight. He has abused them for years in ways that make my skin crawl. I called you because of the wife, Inko Midoriya; her maiden name was Inko Shishio, after her adopted family. Before that, her name was Inko Shimura. She is Nana's daughter."
All-Might was stunned; then he went to the medical report on Izumi; he had to restrain himself from snapping the chart in his hands; Chiyo filled in the information on Inko and how their attempts to get help had been thwarted; the involvement of Umpire and Speed Freak, the apparent interference of the Hero Commission, the link to the disappearance of Strobe.
"Toshi, the commission is here; Umpire has been poking around. We are building a strong case against Fire Breath; I don't want them to fall back into his or anyone else's hands. Help them."
"They will be safe, no matter what I promise," he growled.
-Rooftop-
Lady Nagant sat looking through her scope into the hospital room; she had been sent to deal with two high-priority targets. She was told the targets were a mother and child currently in Mustafa General. Lady Nagant had fallen to the point of not asking questions, though it knawed at her soul; she felt she was in too deep. Has she done too much? What if she was doing wrong? The little girl inside that dreamed of being a real hero, of doing good and making the world a better place, was screaming to be heard; no matter how much boos, sex, or other distractions, Lady Nagant couldn't keep her quiet for long.
With a deep breath, she took her position, her quirk activating; she formed the bullet and loaded it into the chamber, the curtains were open, and she had a good view. As her eye lowered to scope, she prepared to do what had become so routine that it was making her sick. As the crosshairs locked on the target, she froze.
Inko? That's Inko. The scope drifted to the bed and the sleeping child, green hair, and freckles. That must be her daughter. Why would they want to shoot her and her daughter? What could they have possibly done? Look at them. Gaunt, battered, bruised, apparent signs of physical abuse, mental trauma. Who did this to you, Inko?
Lady Nagant knew this target personally deeply; Inko had been her senpai in school. Her senpai in the photography club and little Lady Nagant had the most profound crush on her senpai. Inko-senpai was excellent; she stood up to people, fought for what she believed in, was passionate about photography, and treated everyone with respect and dignity. Inko-Senpai and Mitsuki-Senpai had taken her under their wings; she was their precious Kohei, the dear underclassman. It was the first time she felt like she had fallen in love; she never told her senpai; she kept it all inside. She would tell herself that when she became a great hero, they would meet again and tell Inko all that was bottled up inside, the torch she carried.
She needed to know. She needed answers. Something crossed her field of vision, All-Might. What is he doing here? I cannot do this. Not to her.
"No shot, sir, All-Might is in the room." She radioed in.
"Clear the area; hold for new orders." That was the only response.
This wasn't how things were supposed to work; she was supposed to be doing good, being a damn hero. Someone that Inko-Senpai could be proud of. Someone that she could be proud of. Sadly, she wasn't that person; she had lost her way; she was lost in the darkness. Was there any way out? I should just go put a bullet into the head of the damn commission. But that won't necessarily solve the problem; if I expose them somehow, it will cause such chaos that I will spend the rest of my life in a cell. It is the least I deserve.
"If you want out, come to dinner at the corner of 86th and 125 East," a voice rang over her headset.
"Who is this?"
"Someone that knows what it is like to be in a cage." The line went dead.
-The Man? Mammal?-
Nezu sat in the back of the limousine, setting down the radio. Vlad King stood outside waiting; Nezu turned his attention back to the person sitting there patiently.
"Thank you for your assistance, Lo-Fi."
"I can tell you the last thing I expected was a phone call from the principal of U.A. I half expected to find the cops waiting for me."
"Why you may be a vigilante and wanted in some questionable robberies; you and I both know that they were just fronts for illegal operations, besides I heard you hung it up and turned over a new paw."
"I did; got a wife and a little girl to look after, went legit. My baby is the most important thing to me now."
"Children have a way of putting life into perspective, don't they."
"That they do, so we have a deal? When my little girl submits to join your school, you will look the other way about her being my daughter."
"I am a mammal of my word, Lo-Fi; what's the little rascals name?"
Lo-Fi lights up, "Mei and that girl are going to change the world or possibly blow it up?"
Nezu smiled and exited the vehicle ordering the driver to drop his guest wherever he needed to go, climbing onto Vlad's shoulder, "Let us go see The Mother; the war is just about to begin."
-The Bastard-
Hisashi awoke in a hospital room; his mind was fuzzy and sore. Slowly the memories put themselves in place; his daughter had manifested a quirk, but she had used it to fight him off when he was trying to kill them. FUCK. He knew he had drunk a lot that night; then those damn twins had offered him something called Stardust; after that, it was very blurry. When he came home and saw them there, he just decided to kill them; I mean, he would do it anyway, so why not now.
But that damn useless daughter of his had decided now, after all these years, this was the night to manifest; had she done so sooner, she may have been worth something. As it was, she was so damn scrawny that he couldn't even really sell her. The problem was that now that his wife and daughter were alive, sure, the neighbors would have seen the fight, but he could spin it.
His wife is having an affair, turns his daughter against him, and they try to kill him. Yeah, that was the ticket. The commission would sweep everything under the rug like always. Now to turn to the tears, play the sympathy ticket, get his hand back on his possessions, and after a short break, a sympathy boost in his rankings, and he would be on the rise again.
He hit the nurse button, doing his best to pull tears from his eyes; like clockwork, the door opened, and the nurse walked in, expressing surprise that he was awake and immediately checking to see if he needed anything.
"Nurse, where is my family? Are they ok?"
"I will have to check on that for you, sir; they were taken to a different hospital. Please try to calm yourself. I will get the doctor for you immediately," she exited the room.
The doctor came in soon after, informing him that his wife and daughter had been taken to Musutafu General Hospital, that his daughter had not regained consciousness, and that his wife was by her bedside. He understood Fire Breaths' desire to be by his family's side, but it would be against medical advice as he still suffered from the lingering effects of the concussion. The doctor leaned in and whispered that he would expedite the paperwork to get him released and arrange transport.
Fire Breath thanked the good doctor; he began processing his scheme when the door closed. He needed to get a hold of the commission soon, but he needed his phone. Where in the hell were Speed Freak and Umpire? Those damn toadies were never around when he needed them. No matter: he could manage this on his own.
-The Mother-
Inko awoke to the gentle nudging of Recovery Girl, Izumi was still sound asleep, and her daughter had a peaceful look on her face; Inko had not seen anything like that in a long time. Slowly and expertly, she disentangled herself from her daughter.
"There is someone here to see you; they will help you, deary." Recovery Girl said with a gentle smile, pointing to the door. When Inko opened it, she saw Midnight rise from her chair just outside and offer a gentle smile pointing to a room across the hall. Midnight she then sat back down to resume her watch.
Inko walked to the other room, unsure what to expect; worst case, it was Hisashi or the Commission, but she doubted that Midnight would go through all this trouble to turn her over now. What she saw as a rat/dog/bear thing in a suit sitting in a chair drinking tea beside him was some pro-hero she did not recognize.
"Please come in, Inko. I am afraid I don't have much time. Normally I would love to offer some banter or wit but let must tell you I am the principal of U.A. Nezu, and this is the pro hero Vlad King."
"You're the person that Midnight called."
"Yes, that is correct; now I have some paperwork for you to fill out for the restraint order for you and your daughter against your husband. He has just regained consciousness and will be arriving here soon or attempting to. The commission is trying to move to cover everything up as we speak, but we have a signed confession by Speed Freak, a whole mountain of evidence against your dear husband provided not only by you and your daughter but your neighbors as well."
"Why are you helping us? No offense, sir, why do you care?"
"The truth is that you and your situation will be the first shot I need to go against the Hero Commission. The commission is protecting heroes that have no place to be free, let alone heroes. Your husband and his cronies are a prime example. The system has failed you, your family, and thousands of others and needs to be corrected before it all burns down. If this continues, it will only be a matter of time till the commission has so much power that it controls every hero. We will find ourselves controlled by a totalitarian regime leading to civil war. Japan will crumble, and so will other countries plunging the globe into a quirk war that will take centuries to recover from, if ever."
"How do I know that we will be safe? I want my daughter to be safe?"
"The full might and resources of U.A. will be in your corner, as will several heroes that are loyal to me. I can protect you; you have just met me, but I ask for your trust. Midnight called me to keep you safe; trust her judgment and me."
Inko needed help finding where to turn and nowhere to run; Izumi was in no condition to run; they needed money. Her only hope was to trust those willing to fight for her.
"We will be in your care," Inko said. She saw no other way out; while Nezu's motives weren't pure, he had the only option she could reasonably agree to. The other option would see Izumi dead or worse.
"Excellent, let us get those papers signed."
-What happens when the hero known for his smile is not smiling-
Very few people on the planet have seen All-Might without his trademark smile. The number of people could be counted on both hands and not using all the fingers. That number increased by one this night. As All-Might opened the door to Fire Breath's room, the number one hero's smile faded as soon as the door closed.
Fire Breath was not expecting All-Might to come to see him or the look All-Might had on his face. Any words that Fire Breath was about to say fled his mind. It was taking significant measures of self-control not to void his bowels.
All-Might handed him a folder; slowly, Fire Breath opened it, seeing a restraining order barring him from contacting or coming within 300 yards of Inko and Izumi. Finding his bravery or arrogance would depend on whom you asked.
"What is this?" he asked, venom permeating his voice.
"That is a restraining order; I know you may not be familiar with them. Let me explain; after I am done, I am positive you will fully understand."
Before Fire Breath could respond All-Might's hand was around his throat, and with ease, Fire Breath was lifted off the ground.
"We know everything! I know everything; you will not go near them again; do you understand me? If I even hear you looking in the general direction, maybe the last thing you will hear is the wind as I remove your head from your body. Please feel free to tell anyone you want about what I said. NO ONE will believe you. I am All-Might, and you are a piece of trash. The commission will not save you; there is no one you can hide behind, and there is nowhere you can run where I cannot find you. Many people owe me many favors."
Fire Breath clawed futility at All-Might's hand. "Tell your handlers I am coming for them and the whole commission." With that All-Might dropped him to the floor unceremoniously and headed to the door; as he opened it, his trademark smile returned. "GLAD TO SEE THAT YOU ARE RECOVERING FIRE BREATH; BEST OF LUCK TO YOU."
The door softly closed, but it sounded like an iron door just closed to Fire Breath.
-The Lady-
Wearing a dark non-descript hoodie to hide her trademark hair Lady Nagant walked into an empty dinner; the man behind the counter nodded and jerked his thumb around the corner. As she made her way over, she was not expecting the principal of the U.A. sitting there. She had recommended the building and the surrounding area. There were no pros in the area, and he sat alone. Walking over, she posed as the Principal poured her a cup of tea.
"Time is precious, my Lady, so I will not waste yours. I plan to take down the Hero Commission and want your help." He said. "I know what you have done; I know that you are starting to see the Commission for what it is."
"What is it?"
"Power hungry, maniacal, oppressive, and vile."
"What does that make me?"
"Someone who once believed in what a hero was meant to be, someone that understood that sometimes somebody had to do the dirty work. Someone willing to do the dirty work so others could be clean."
"So, you want me to trade their targets for yours?"
"If it comes to that, yes. I am willing to go as far as needed to stop the Hero Commission and I believe you are too. You have lost your way; they took you and twisted your dreams and reality to suit their needs. I will not sit here and say I will never ask you to remove a target, but I will tell you why. I will not force you to take the shot or think less of you should you choose not to. Lady Nagant, I will burn the hero commission to the ground; it will be dirty and dangerous. If the Commission is not stopped, we will destroy our society and lead to an eventual Worldwide War."
"Tell me why the commission sent me after a Mother and Child tonight,"
"Gladly, but we should order something to eat; I, for one, am famished."
-El Bastardo-
Fire Breath stepped out of the hospital into the crisp early morning air; glancing around, he saw the waiting vehicle and made his way over; the driver stepped out and held open the back door. Fire Breath stepped in and was face to face with the undersecretary Hina Hiro, the eternally petite and youthful girl, who sat waiting with a stiff drink in one hand and file in her lap. Hina Hiro was blessed/cursed with one of the most dreamed-about quirks Healing Factor. The problem is that no one ever considers what would happen if that ability awakened when you were four. How many years would you have to live to even look like anything more than a prepubescent child? No one knew that answer except maybe Ms. Hiro, but no one dared to ask her.
"Mrs. Hiro, I wasn't expecting you this evening."
"No, Mr. Midoriya, I wouldn't have been expecting me either. You have managed to light off a shit storm in a single night that I wouldn't have thought possible in 100 years. The commission has for years covered your indiscretions and blatant fuck ups. For the simple reason that the vice president, for some unknown reason, had decided that you were worth it. That situation is like the ocean ever-changing."
"Mrs. Undersecretary, I can assure you that I am worth the time the commission has invested in me, that this little situation is nothing but a momentary hiccup. If the commission would see fit to continue their investment, I am sure they will be happy with the results."
"Mr. Midoriya, let me be clear: we at the commission are extremely disappointed with what has transpired tonight. Not only did you recklessly decide to come home and execute your family in one of the dumbest ways possible, but you also failed to do so and instead had a quirk battle with your daughter, which you lost. During the battle, you stated things that should have never been said out loud, and those comments were recorded and disseminated into the sphere. For all his stupidity, Umpire decided that threatening Midnight outside your family's hospital room was a great decision, and your wife is refusing all contact with commission officers. When a cleaner was dispatched to handle this situation, they informed us that Midnight, All-Might, and Recovery Girl were involved. Would you care to elaborate on the conversation you and All-Might had?"
Fire Breath started to sweat; it took a moment before he could relay his conversation.
Mrs. Hiro finished her drink and put it into the cup holder.
"Ma'am, if you just let me talk to the vice president I am, I can explain everything to him."
"I am afraid that is not an option, Mr. Midoriya. He retired suddenly," she said; Hisashi suddenly was even more aware of his precarious position. "You see, Mr. Midoriya if it were up to me, you would retire as well, but that would raise far too many questions, especially with All-Might seeing you all healthy and suck. Instead, you will be tied to the stake and burned alive. When everything breaks, and it will soon, you will stand there and do everything we tell you to as we attempt to salvage this. You do not speak to anyone without a representative next to you; you will not decide for yourself without a representative to sign off on it."
"What about those useless excuses for a wife and daughter?"
"They are going to walk away for now, you are going to do exactly what All-Might said, or we will hand you over to him if we fill that may placate him for a day or two. When the divorce papers arrive, you will sign them and give them everything as an act of contrition; we will see if you can be rehabilitated; if you can, you get to keep breathing. If you can't, you will join the vice president in retirement. Are we clear, Mr. Midoriya?"
"Yes. Ma'am."
"Good; now you are going to exit his vehicle, walk into the safe house, and await further instructions; now get out of my car."
Hisashi stepped out of the vehicle, unaware that it had been in motion during the conversation, his mind racing and slowly filling with anger and rage. It was all that damn girl's fault; he should be standing in front of cameras receiving sympathy and attention. But now the commission was upset, threatening his position; he knew what he had to do. He had to prove to them that he could salvage the situation. He just had to make sure he killed them this time.