"Wake up."
Bakugo groaned as he lifted his eyelids, only to find that he was currently tied to a chair and dangling over a subway track. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"
"Rise and shine Mr. Hero, we have much to discuss." Tombstone said from behind him, twirling his gun. "You know, if UA is really one of the heavily guarded places in Japan, I don't have high hopes for Tartarus...because kidnapping you was pretty easy."
"LET ME GO, RIGHT NOW!"
"My, someone's a little feisty. Shouldn't you be used to being kidnapped by now?"
"WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE, I'M GONNA INCINERATE YOU!" Bakugo screamed as Tombstone grabbed the rope and yanked on it, pulling Bakugo into the side of the railway. "AGH!"
"You'll be as quiet as possible, or I'll leave you for the train, understand? And if I even see one spark coming from your hands, I'll shoot you. Got it?"
Bakugo only growled, glaring hatefully at the vigilante as he began to brainstorm ways of escaping under Tombstone's radar. Tombstone returned the glare, his eyes glowing bright enough to cause Bakugo to wince. "Here's the deal, someone wants you dead, and they wanted me to do it. However, I want to decide whether or not you should live on my own terms. He thinks you're at UA right now..."
"You're fucking Tombstone aren't you? I heard you were in town, why are you-"
SLAM!
"OW!"
"I will be the one asking the questions around here. Tell me, what was your main inspiration to be a hero?"
"...All Might, you sick fuck."
Tombstone hummed in response. "You admire All Might, do you?"
"I'm gonna surpass him, I'm gonna be a hero that scumbags like you will FEAR!"
Tombstone began tapping his foot. "You're settin' off some red flags pal, you sure you can call yourself a hero?"
"I AM a hero, and I'm gonna make sure you aren't gonna get away with this, you fucking VILLAIN."
"Okay, I'm getting mixed signals with him, are we gonna blow his brains out or what?" Living Dead said, rubbing it's hands together in anticipation.
"...I have a plan, please don't ruin it."
"I don't ruin things, you make it sound like I'm incompetent."
"Sure, does my LIFE ring a bell?"
"You did that, I'm just a stand."
"You're a CURSE."
"Well...well now I'm HURT!" The skeletal stand turned the other way and pouted, while Tombstone rolled his eyes. "Strange bedfellows indeed..."
"Are you done talking to yourself or what?" Bakugo said, and next thing Tombstone knew he was being blown back by an explosion, and the vigilante crashed into the wall. Bakugo grinned as he pushed his shoulder back into place, he had dislocated it in order to shake his way out of the ropes. "Because I think it's time to KILL YOU!"
Tombstone got up and brushed himself off, flicking debris off of his shoulder. "Well, aren't you a slippery little bastard. You know what? There's only one way to solve this. Drink with the Living Dead!"
"No."
Tombstone turned to his stand in exasperation. "Seriously?"
"You hurt my feelings."
"Listen, you're the stand, I'm the user. You either need to BACK ME THE FUCK UP...or shut the fuck up, got it?"
Living Dead grumbled and went over to it's user. "You're so mean."
"God I hate you...listen Katsuki Bakugo, I need to know who the hell you are before I decide to shoot you, and there's only one way to find out your true intentions...I challenge you to a duel."
"A duel? And why the fuck should I agree to this?"
"You don't have to, but you could theoretically gain a stand. You see, my stand is transferred to whoever beats me in a duel, so I'm putting a little more than my life on the line."
"I could get your stand?"
"Yes, although you would lose your quirk. But you would gain a power even greater than that of quirks..."
Bakugo seemed to be in thought, before shaking his head. "I don't want your stupid power, I can do just fine with my own. Forget it." He began to walk away.
"Very well...activate Else Draw Against My Hand."
"I'm out of here, have fun with your annoying ass sta-" Bakugo walked right into something, and next thing he knew the two of them were in an old saloon littered with decaying corpses that were still waiting for their drink.
"What. The. Fuck?"
"Welcome to my saloon. Well...the remains of one anyway. This is where I take my most serious duels...keep in mind, you can still say no, but it will be pretty hard to leave."
"THAT'S IT!" Bakugo lunged towards Tombstone with an open palm. "I'M GONNA BLOW YOU TO HELL!"
Nothing came out.
Bakugo looked down at his hand in shock as a large shadow blocked the light from the doorway, and Living Dead twirled it's revolver and pulled down it's mask as smoke began to filter out from it's skeletal grin.
"Sorry, I'm afraid quirks don't work in my realm...but there is one thing."
The stand reached behind it's back and yanked something from it's belt, before tossing it at Bakugo's feet. It was a revolver, identical to the one Living Dead was currently holding, the names engraved on it and all.
"Well kid? Ready to duel with Death?"
Kyoka sighed in frustration as she looked at the music sheets in front of her. She was currently trying to write the song that they were going to be performing, but she had a major case of lyricist's block.
It didn't help that Kaminari clearly volunteered to be in the band in order to get closer to her.
"Well, as much as I hate it, he isn't as dumb as I thought if he can see you for what you are."
Kyoka turned to find her boyfriend standing in her doorway. "Shit, did I say that out loud?"
"Yeah, I think Izuku is rubbing off on us." Johnny said, sitting beside her. "Look, I'm sorry if I'm acting a bit...irrational."
"Johnny, I snapped my phone in half when that girl tried to scam you into dating her, and that was BEFORE we started dating. Love makes people do stupid things...I'm just...I don't want to break his heart, he's one of my best friends...outside of our friend group of course."
Johnny leaned over and put an arm around her. "I get it. I don't feel all that good when I have to turn people down, and I usually try to do it gently. Occasionally...however, if they're too pushy, I use my father's method."
"Well, I'm not going to tell Kaminari to YAKAMASHI anytime soon. I mean, I know he's a bit of a pervert, but...he has a good heart, and sometimes he can be kind of...sweet."
Kyoka said the last word with a smug look in Johnny's direction, taking enjoyment from seeing him shift uncomfortably in his seat. "I know what you're doing Kyoka."
"It's comforting, seeing you all jealous. Now I know that I'm not the only one."
"You're just going to hold this over my head aren't you?"
"Johnny, I hold everything over your head. I still want those baby photo-"
"No."
"Listen, it's a girlfriend right of passage. Your dad has them, and I want them."
"No."
Kyoka sighed. "I bet Kaminari would show me his baby pictures in a hea-"
"Will you STOP?!"
Kyoka burst into laughter at her boyfriend's increasingly red face, and put a hand to his cheek. "God I love messing with you...I can stop of the whole baby picture thing is bothering you, I just...well I want to see how much you've grown."
"Look...it's embarrassing enough having other people look at them...but...I really don't like looking at them myself."
"What? Wh- oh..." Kyoka's face fell. "That...wasn't a very good time in your life."
"Little me, so innocent, not knowing that in a year or two life was gonna become hell...it's just a painful reminder more than anything..."
"Stop, do NOT bring her up." Kyoka said. "She is dead and gone, and good fucking riddance."
"Kyoka, that's the problem. I can't deny that she existed, nor do I think I should just ignore the past. She was my mother, and like it or not, she is a part of my life. I've healed, mostly thanks to you, but...I'm going to bring her up once and a while, because she's in the Joestar history books."
Kyoka closed her eyes and pressed her lips together. "I understand...but I want to forget her, I want YOU to forget her, so you can be happy. I'm sick and tired of..." Kyoka fell into silence.
"I AM happy." Kyoka turned to look at Johnny. "I've been happy for a while now, because I have a better life than I did then. Friends, Family, and someone who I'm seriously considering spending the rest of my life with." Kyoka blushed at the last part as Johnny took her hands. "Like I said before, I've healed, I've moved on...but she cut me really deep and left...scars."
Kyoka looked at her arm, the scars Blood on the Dance Floor had made were still as prevalent as ever. "And they'll never really go away will they?" Kyoka asked. "I'm stuck with them...with HER."
"She had more of an effect on you than I thought, huh?"
Kyoka nodded. "I guess with everything that's been happening...I never really found time to heal from it. I mean, between stand users popping up and going into my first relationship, Eri and Pillar Men...Johnny am I traumatized?"
"We all are, even Gyro. You just...haven't talked about it like the rest of us."
"Can we?...I can't think of anything to write at the moment, and..."
"Kyoka, you don't have to ask."
Kyoka nodded and took a deep breath while Johnny waited patiently. "She...she made things so personal. She was just like everyone else who picked on me in middle school...except it was so much deeper than that. Every single word she ever said to me was like getting stabbed in the chest, and then there was the fight...when she paralyzed me...I've never felt so...helpless...and then you died, and I thought I lost you, and that Gyro and Midoriya were gonna die too and..."
Johnny put his head on hers, so that way their foreheads touched as she continued. "I never want to feel like that again...I'm supposed to be strong, I HAVE to be strong, for all of you. But whenever I remember her, and how she made me feel...I was never so weak in my life, not even when I didn't believe in my quirk...I was completely and utterly helpless and alone."
"And yet you rose up, and you beat her. We all feel helpless Kyoka, you know how I was when I lost my legs...and here we both are, scarred, but stronger than before, and you don't need to be strong for us, because we all love you just the same."
Kyoka shifted her weight from her chair into Johnny's lap. "Can you hold me for a while?"
"Always."
Kyoka laid her head on his chest and sighed. "You know...I really like listening to your heartbeat. It's just so...comforting...did you mean what you said back there?"
"What?"
"About spending the rest of your life with me, did you really mean that?"
"Yeah, I did."
"I'm glad...although I don't want to hold you back."
"You never will."
"Well, if I do, at least I still have Kaminari." Kyoka said, her smile returning as she heard Johnny's heart skip a beat.
"I'm going to drop you."
"Do it bitch, you don't have the guts."
"You need to stop messing with me like that."
"Nope, this is payback for Tokage."
"Don't punish me for her actions!"
"Shush, just be comfy for me, and I'll consider dialing down my revenge."
"Yare yare daze...you're lucky I like you."
"..."
"..."
"Johnny?"
"Hm?"
"I want to spend my life with you too, in case that wasn't clear."
"I know."
"This is BULLSHIT!" Bakugo hollered as Living Dead continued to spew smoke. Tombstone, in the meantime, was checking the bar for a good drink.
"You said no, my secondary ability activated. This is the game, and now you have to play it. I wanna know whether you have potential to be a real hero, or if you're gonna be someone like Endeavor."
"Endeavor?"
"I've talked with a...relative of his. Someone who is now my enemy, I know goddamn well who that man is...and the only reason he ain't dead is because Japan needs their number one hero. Are you like him? Or are you just a good man with a little too much pride?"
Bakugo was bristling. "You fucking kidnapped me!"
"I forgot to mention...my stand also makes me somewhat immortal. The only way I can die is it someone bests me in a duel. If you pick up that gun, it'll be a fair fight. You'll have a 50/50 chance to become immortal, and isn't an immortal hero someone who would quickly climb to the top? Someone who people will praise and glorify for eternity..."
"An immortal hero..." Bakugo breathed out. "Someone who will outlive All Might's legacy..."
He took the revolver off the ground and examined it as Tombstone got into firing position. Bakugo looked at the revolver, then at Tombstone, and then at the mirror at the bar. In the dusty, cracked mirror, his face was distorted, almost unrecognizable.
"Whenever I enter a duel while Else Draws Against My Hand is active, my bullets are a one-hit kill, no matter where I hit you...likewise, your revolver does the same thing. if we hit each other, it depends on the seriousness of the wound to decide the victor. Now...if you lose..."
Living Dead began to glow as the smoke began to turn a radiant green. "I eat your soul and send you on a one way trip to hell!"
"These bodies...these are people you've dueled before, aren't they?"
"They are."
Bakugo looked at the broken mirror again, and then his face hardened as he held the gun at his side. Tombstone brought his gun to his side and faced him. Each agonizing second passed longer than the last as the two waited for the other to make their move.
Bakugo's arm moved, and Tombstone quickly raised his gun and fired, only to shoot at nothing but the air. Then, the other revolver hit him in the face, not the bullet, but the gun itself.
Bakugo threw the gun at him instead of firing it. Tombstone quickly recovered and swiveled around, catching Bakugo's fist and throwing the explosive teen in front of him, before pistol-whipping him in the head, knocking him out.
"He chose the non-lethal route...he could've killed me and took you...but he...this kid isn't evil."
"What about that furry from earlier? He sai-"
"Katsuki Bakugo is a high school bully, not a monster. He actively chose to spare my life, regardless of the way I treated him. He's an asshole, yes...but not a villain, I won't kill him."
"Well...I think we both know who will feel our wrath instead..."
"Yeah..." Tombstone said. "We still have those silver bullets?"
"Do we really need them?"
"Fair..."
Bakugo groaned and rubbed his head as he propped himself back up, only to find himself back in his dorm room. Was...was that a dream? No, it couldn't have been, my head fucking hurts. What the hell was all of that?!
"Ah, you're awake."
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Bakugo immediately stood up as soon as he saw Tombstone examining his gauntlets.
"Shut up, I don't want any unnecessary attention...are these grenades?"
"Yeah! Now you better tell me what the hell is going on!"
"I've decided to spare you, you showed that you weren't motivated by greed during our 'duel', so I absolved you of your sins. You see, a lot of people compare me to Stain...but we couldn't be more different. He's a psychotic, I'm an idealist. I only kill heroes who have used their status to actively harm others...and while you have certainly damaged a few people, I won't end your life because you were mean to people in middle school...that being said...you may have created a few villains..."
"Created villains?!"
"Yep, there's this guy ripped straight out of Twilight after you, and he isn't out for romance. Ugh...worst piece of literature I've ever read...vampires don't sparkle in the sunlight, they DIE."
"So now what? We gonna be friends or something?"
"No. I don't care about you in the slightest, or whatever is going on at this school. I just won't dirty my hands with the blood of an innocent. However, our encounter in the subway was NOT unimportant, treat it as a lesson in unchecked pride."
"Fuck you."
Tombstone grunted. "You know...there was once a man not unlike you, he wanted to be the best at what he did, because people would be safer if he was the best...he was a sheriff. One day, a notorious outlaw came into town and went on a murder spree...and the sheriff became obsessed, so obsessed with being the best, that he pushed away the people that supported him...because he thought they were only holding him back. His pride became hubris, and the love people had for him turned to loathing. One day, he finally caught the outlaw, and they dueled, and the sheriff emerged the victor...but victory without honor, without friends and family, felt hollow, and he paid the price."
Tombstone lifted Bakugo's window and began to climb out. "He paid the price..."
"Hey."
Tombstone lifted his head to see Bakugo had an interesting expression. "Could he have...gotten his friends back?"
"Yeah...but by the time he beat the outlaw, it was too late, they forgot him...and they never remembered him for the rest of their lives. He always remembers them though..."
Tombstone jumped out of the window and landed almost cat-like on the ground below. Bakugo watched the whole time as the vigilante dashed through the courtyard and lept over the UA barrier as if it were an ordinary hurdle.
Bakugo sat down beside his bed, thinking about Tombstone's words. The encounter with the vigilante had been terrifying, but towards the end of was a lot more...sad. Clearly, Tombstone was carrying more guilt than he let on.
Not unlike Bakugo.
Gyro yawned as he finished up the last of his homework, and checked his phone. "God I'm tired, how are you holding up Midoriya?"
"I'm surviving." Izuku said from the couch, earning a snort from Gyro as the Italian began to pack up his things. "Oh, you got something in the mail today. For some reason Yaoyorozu wanted it, but Iida kept it from her and scolded her for 'being un-vice president-like', do you know why she might've wanted it?"
"I have my suspicions...where is it?"
"On the counter."
Gyro found a letter on the counter and grimaced at the seal. "Yeah, it's from who I think it is...should I read it Midoriya? It's from my father."
"Why not? Maybe he's writing to tell you how much he misses you."
"Or to tell me how disappointed he is in me." Gyro muttered as he slowly opened the letter and read it.
Dear Julius,
(Fuck you old man it's Gyro).
Once again, I am sending you a letter, although I must confess I find your lack of responsibility disturbing. Not once did you reply, and not once did you heed my advice. Julius, your delusions of heroism will only get you killed, and considering you are the only member of our family that can be capable of succeeding me-
(Oh sure, it isn't because you LOVE me, it's always because of the business, isn't it? You just want your heir back.)
I implore you to stop this foolish rebellion and come home. You are smarter than this, and I won't let you throw your life away for a daydream. By the time you are getting this, I will be arriving in Japan, and you WILL be going back with me. It's time to grow up Julius, and we will also be discussing punishment.
Sincerly,
Gregorio Zeppeli
Gyro stared at the note in silence, his face slowly contorting into fury. Izuku, who was reading it over his shoulder, could only stare with his mouth open. "He's...he's gonna take you away from us?" Izuku asked.
"No, he's not. I won't allow it." Gyro said, his hat casting a shadow over his eyes. "It's time my old man learned that I choose my own path...can you give this letter to Dr. Kujo?"
"Y-yeah..." Izuku took the letter and looked at Gyro in worry. "I...I uh."
"It won't happen Midoriya, now GO!"
Izuku flinched at the sharpness in Gyro's tone, but did what Gyro had asked of him. Gyro was left alone, standing in the common room, contemplating the life he had built for himself...
And the prospect of having to say goodbye.
