Hey everyone, I know its been a while but the school year has picked up and I have been both busy and tired almost everyday. Updates will slow down signifcantly since I am now working full time now, and I wanted you guys to have something other than my silence. Anyways, the next chapter will be be about the actual Hosu Battle and the following chapter will be its aftermath, so look forward to that when I crank it out. Thanks for the continued support for the story and I will see you guys in the next update.
Izuku was crouched and shivering over a puddle of water that he had been so unceremoniously thrown in after by a group of faceless boys. His lip was bloody while his skin was bruised in different places. Scrapes and scratches littered him like spots on a dalmatian with a dirtied school uniform to complete the ragged look. He wheezed and coughed as he slowly regenerated from the beating he took from the other children.
He looked down into the dirty water and peered at his own reflection alongside the reflection of Marris hovering above his shoulder. Tears began to fall from his eyes and his face was shaped like clay into borderline despair. Marris placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, but it did nothing to alleviate Izuku. In fact, Izuku had completely ignored her initial attempts to comfort him and instead seemed dead set on his reflection.
"Why does everyone hate me?", He spoke in a whisper, "What did I do wrong? Why...do I hate seeing...myself?"
A shot of adrenaline surged through the unconscious Hagakure as she shot up from her bed with a loud gasp. A bout of coughing overtook her as she adjusted to consciousness once again. She learned it all. She learned why Izuku so willingly abandoned everything. It stung like a barbed hook in her skin.
Izuku thought he was useless, and was convinced that everyone viewed him as nothing. Ten years of perceived quirklessness and ten years of being subjected to torment had engrained the notion as almost a fact in him. The name "Deku" was one of the many examples from a long list of dehumanizing done by his classmates and teachers. It only worsened when he failed the UA entrance exam. As his failure was nothing more than a confirmation of what he had been told everyday for a decade.
Her intentions for Izuku to become a hero, while good natured, had the opposite effect on a boy who only received disdain or pity his whole life. That still won't stop her from slapping the hell out of him for being a jerk about the whole thing! But that was going to be after the fact because there were still bigger fish to fry. The invisible girl frantically looked around the room for the only other person that held close ties to Izuku. And after a moment of searching, Hagakure's brown eyes locked onto the blue shape of Marris.
Hagakure stared at Marris with an apprehensive face or she would have if she knew Marris could actually see her. The mermaid, however, did not even spare a glance at her, instead opting to look outside the singular window in the room while fiddling the strings of her wetsuit. But that ultimately didn't matter because she had learned the truth about Marris. The warped mermaid was not a quirk, she was a living creature of unknown origin and was extremely powerful. But that realization paled in comparison to the inner workings of Marris.
The warped mermaid was devastatingly lonely. Her prison or whatever made her ghostlike was the reason for her loneliness. She was seldom seen by humans who could actually perceive her, and she latched onto them when she discovered them. But her never ending life cursed her eternally to suffer the pitiful lifespan of a human being. That was even if the human was lucky enough to make it to old age. Most of her adopted "children" met a gruesome and violent end to their lives. Marris' entire existence was a cycle of suffering brought about by long periods of crippling isolation which were interrupted briefly by small joy in the form of a surrogate family. Yet, it would always end with the tragic death of the human, and the cycle repeats again.
It was a punishment befitting of a person who wronged the Gods in the many legends and tragedies of the Ancient Greeks. But things changed with Izuku. Hagakure couldn't deny the feelings Marris had for the boy, she loved him like any parent would their kid. There were plenty of happy memories in which for a brief time, Marris could forget her curse and feel free. But even love could distort into something more vile should the circumstances allow. Izuku's near death experience had propelled the fish woman to act not out of the best interests of Izuku but rather in her own selfish desire to stay happy.
Izuku being tormented and nearly killed because of being quirkless? Give him one or even two quirks to ensure that doesn't happen again. He failed the exam and can't become a hero? Push him towards being a vigilante to give him something to live for. And so on and so on.
Everything that she did, every decision, every action, and every regret was dictated by that event. It made the kindly and generous creature that Marris portrayed herself as a much more selfish one. In fact, Marris' gift of Oarfish was one of these selfish decisions. Hagakure couldn't help but feel like she was more of an object in the eyes of the mermaid rather than a person. Or perhaps she saw humans as weak and pitiful creatures like how one looks at puppies. Which made all the cutesy talk that Marris spoke take a more demeaning demeanor. Now that the cat was out of the bag however...
"I should hate you…", Hagakure said bluntly, causing Marris to flinch.
She really should hate the mermaid for acting in the way she did towards her and Izuku. She should hate Marris for treating them as objects for her own desires rather than people. She should hate Marris for deciding that she would be the perfect emotional anchor for Izuku without her say in it all.
She should hate Marris...but Hagakure has lived the same life that Marris has had.
The invisible girl was a mirror image of Marris in every sense of the word. She too was cursed with loneliness by the effect of her quirk. She experienced firsthand what it was like to be forgotten, despite being Infront of other people. She never had friends on the account that they could never get past the difficulties of her quirk and neither could she relate to them on the account that she couldn't do things that most kids age take for granted. She too had been waiting for someone like Izuku to come and save her from her curse, and despite all that has happened, she wishes to save him. Hating Marris would be like hating herself, and that was something that she could never do.
"Marris, I…", Hagakure began as she turned towards Marris.
To the surprise of Hagakure, Marris had vanished from the spot near the window. The hero student quickly hurried to her feet towards the empty spot. The invisible girl did a brief scan of the area to see any sign of the mermaid, but there were none.
"Marris, I know you can still hear me.", Hagakure called out as he talked to the empty room, "I don't hate you for why you did what you did, but that doesn't mean I agree with it."
The room remained silent and empty.
"If it makes you feel better, then know that I would've done the same if I were in your shoes. But that doesn't make it right.", Hagakure paused to take a breath, "Izuku is lashing out because of something that both you and him chose to ignore for years. I am going to find him and try to talk some sense into him before he does something regrettable. Running away from our problems is not going to solve anything, and I will fix this even if he kicks and screams the whole way."
The invisible girl quickly got her stuff ready as she prepared for her day at the Nighteye Agency.
"I love Izuku, Marris. I want to be happy with him, and I will do anything to have that.", Hagakure said with determination, " I am like you Marris, a sad lonely girl, and I would do anything to not be alone again. I would risk everything, just for Izuku to come home. My career, my freedom, my friendships, even my relationship with you Marris. I am sorry, but I will do what is necessary if such a thing were to pass. You are welcome to come if you are willing to admit you made a mistake. If not...then all I can say is...goodbye."
With those final words, Hagakure left the silent room.
Three Days Before Hosu
"Have you ever heard of a quirkless villain?", Hagakure blurted out.
Sir Nighteye raised an eyebrow at the question that was randomly thrown in his direction. It was a break period in between the rigorous quirk training that was a part of internship. The youngest intern at his agency used it as an opportunity to ask advice or questions pertaining to improving Hidden Strength. So, this question was completely out of the blue.
"A quirkless villain?", Sir Nighteye replied, "What suddenly brought this up?"
The spot where Hagakure's head should be appeared to move in apprehension, "Oh nothing really, but I have never heard of a Quirkless hero before. So I wondered if there was a quirkless villain, or maybe there was no such thing?"
An innocent enough question.
"I don't seem to recall anything of the sort….", Sir Nighteye said after a moment of silence.
"I would be surprised if you did.", said the wheezy voice of an elderly man, "Most people these days don't remember anything."
The two people in the training room turned in near synch towards the new participant in their conversation.
A squat elderly man with light grey hair stood amid on the edge of the training ring alongside Mirio, who was sporting a thousand yard stare and shivering in fear at the old man. He was dressed in a yellow and white hero costume with a black mask while holding an old rickety wooden cane. His face held a permanent scowl that was only emphasized by the wrinkles that consumed his face.
"When I was one of you anklebiters, there was a villain that caused a load of havok in many of the prefectures. He was a proper professional criminal too! Not like one of these freakshows or those fifteen minutes of fame street thugs!", The Old man ranted.
"Gran Torino.", Nighteye said while hiding his disdain, "if such a thing were true, surely there would be something written about it or at least mentioned in the Commission Archives?"
"Ah, but that's where you were wrong. You see this villain was the famous Takashi Kouichi, but you would all know him under the moniker 'The Fool'.", Gran Torino replied.
Hagakure recalled in history class that "The Fool" was an infamous villain that terrorized Japan nearly sixty years ago. He was famous for high level robbery of many of Japan's most secure banks, and no matter how tight the security was, he always managed to break in. Even worse was the fact that he managed to defeat every hero that came after him. However, this is not what made him infamous. What history remembers "The Fool" for is his break in at the Osaka National Laboratories, and grievously injuring the Number Three Hero at the time. Hagakure found herself going wide eyed at the realization that all these crimes were committed by a quirkless person. She was most certainly impressed in a morbid sort of way.
Yet, it seemed Sir Nighteye wasn't convinced, "Quirkless? The records from that villain's case indicated he possessed an intelligence quirk on par with a supercomputer."
Gran Torino gave Sir a shit-eating-grin, "History is always written by the victors, and more often than not, they change the record to make themselves look good. Or rather in this case, make it appear they were dealing with a high profile villain with a powerful quirk, and not a disgruntled part-time salary worker with no unique power. Could imagine how foolish and incompetent they would look if word truly got out!"
"Excuse me, Mr. Torino, Sir?", Hagakure blurted out.
The elderly man shot his hawk-like gaze towards the floating gloves and boots in the room.
"If what you're saying is true then how did they defeat him?", She asked. "Mr. Aizawa said that it took Five Pro Heroes, including the number one hero, and the entire Police Force in the Princeps to arrest him."
The old pro laughed like a madman at what she had said, but he didn't stop when he should have. Mirio and Sir Nighteye exchanged awkward glances while Hagakure began to sport an unseen blush across her face. Thankfully, Mirio decided to save his Kohai from embarrassment.
"Um...what is so funny about that question, Gran Torino?",spoke Mirio.
"Nothing, just leave it to those suits to flaunt their nonexistent muscles.", the old man said in between wheezes.
"Sooooo….they didn't use any of that?", Hagakure asked a little meekly
"Oh no, they did. The commission nearly mobilized the entire country to do so, but all it took was just the Number One Hero.", Gran Torino said with a little too much glee.
"You mean, He beat "The Fool" by himself in a battle.", Mirio said in surprise.
"Nope!",Gran Torino exclaimed, "All he did was talk to him, and convinced him to back down."
Everyone in the room stared at the old pro like he was a dancing cat.
"You mean to tell me that one of the most notorious villains of the last century was defeated by a simple conversation by the Number One Hero!", Sir Nighteye said in disbelief.
"Yes.", deadpanned Gran Torino.
"What did he say to him?", Hagakure asked innocently.
Gran Torino stared at Hagakure with the most serious expression she had ever seen on the old man, "Just the one thing that he needed to hear. Now come on and get ready! I need to see yer stuff before the end of the week because you and the blonde here are going to Hosu."
Two Days Before Hosu
Iida wondered if Manual had even an inkling of an idea why he wanted to intern with the normal hero. He certainly hoped deep down that no one could be that daft, but he was thankful if he was.
Despite Manual's attempt to keep everything appearing as normal as possible, everything was far from okay. The city was abuzz with activity and paranoia with the recent battle. Heroes and Police patrolled the streets like an occupying military rather than law enforcement. Average citizens were extremely jumpy and on edge. While the few criminals that were brave or foolish enough to still be active were guarded even more than usual. On one occasion, Iida came across a patrol of people in the more seedier parts of the city. They were a neighbor watch made of the working class and criminal persons of that sect of the city. They had all banded together for the simple purpose of mutual protection.
Fear had gripped the city of Hosu because everyone knew one simple fact about the battle that had taken place earlier that week. The battle wasn't over just delayed.
The hero killer had a moniker of at least three victims in the city he visits. And so far only his brother was the singular notch on the murderer's tally. And he was a monster that was known for his principles, so he was not going to abandon the city so easily.
It is believed that Ghost is still in the city, and based on the supposed sightings he was clearly stalking the Hero Killer. The vigilante from Musustafu was treated with an extra layer of fear due to the recently leaked video. The mere fact that he easily beat Endeavor after getting shot at least a hundred times did little to ease everyone's worries. Especially with his disregard for civilians caught in the crossfire with his battle with Stain.
At least three top ten Heroes were called to aid the inevitable sting operation, and calls were made to All Might himself to help subdue the walking disaster. But none of that was an immediate concern for Iida, right now he was only looking for the right opportunity to enact his revenge.
A rough shove from a passing civilian took Iida out of stupor momentarily, and the hero-in-training quickly looked to see who the one that so rudely ran into him. But all he was met was a sea of unfamiliar faces. The teen only lingered a bit longer before the calls of Manual ushered him to keep up with the pro hero.
What Iida didn't notice was a small orb of water hiding in a crevice of his armor.
One Day Before Hosu
"I am surprised that you even took on an intern at all. Aren't you renowned for your no help, no weaklings, solo attitude.", A man with a cat chimed.
The person he was addressing was a woman dressed in a white leotard and a pair of thigh high boots. She had dark skin and a pair of bunny ears strutting out of her head of long white hair. She carried a permanent scowl on her face as she crossed her arms with an impatient tapping coming from one of her feet.
"I don't.", She said, "But this year I decided to make an exception."
The cat man looked quizzically at the bunny woman before slowly striding past her. "Well, whatever you see in the young man must meet your rigorous standards. But then again, you didn't come here for idle chit chat."
"I sure as hell didn't.", she scoffed with arrogance, "I came here to kick that vigilante's ass!"
The cat's ears flickered, "I see, but I can assure you that Ghost is no average street thug. His strength is grossly underestimated along with the fact he is more animal than man. But promise me this Mirko, try not to do anything rash."
The bunny woman almost gave him a scoff, but it quickly changed to a smirk mixed with a smug expression. "No promises."
The cat headed man merely sighed before entering through the double doors, and the Rabbit Hero followed shortly after.
Inside the two doors is a large conference room containing all manner of police officers and heroes. Many were looking into manilla folders while others were talking with their fellow contemporaries. The man with the cat head strode past every individual while each one seemingly locked onto the man and kept their eyes trained on him as headed towards the head seat.
Mirko hopped on her heels next to a boy with white and red hair, but also ignored his presence in favor of the cat man.
Once in the center of the conference room, the cat headed man began to speak. "Thank you all for coming, and the city of Hosu will appreciate your help in the coming days." The cat man began, "Thanks to the capture of the info broker known as Giran, we now know the League of Villains is aligned with the Hero Killer and they intend to strike the city once again."
An image of the known leaders of the League and Stain appear on the projector screen. A figure dressed in white robes also appears amongst the images.
"Giran's testimony also indicates that the Ghost of Musustafu is still in Hosu and intends to finish his battle with the Hero Killer.", The Police Chief said, "We are going to make sure that these villainous scum are going to regret coming to our city."
The heroes and police directed their full attention towards the plan to save the city from the foreigners that threatened it.
"Not too late to back out now, kid.", Mirko told Todoroki, "You think you are strong enough to handle it or would rather return in a few years when you finally learned to walk."
"I do not think I am ready, Miss Mirko.", Todoroki said without taking his eyes off the board, "I was born to take down people like them off their pedestals."
The Night of the Attack
On a small skyscraper amid the forest of concrete and steel stood a figure amid one the buildings' many perches. His body features and face were obscured by the bulky and oversized white robes that he wore.
His eagle-like gaze peered over the horizon that overlooked the city that he had so unceremoniously invaded. It was abuzz with activity with various law enforcement and average civilians going about their evening.
The Ghost of Musustafu had been waiting for the better part of a week for his prey to emerge, but the now crowded streets of Hosu will make things difficult. Not to mention that he was so ruthlessly being hunted by heroes and police complicates things, but with plenty of idle time and a problem that needed addressing, Ghost was able to find a emerged when he was strengthening his quirks while he awaited the League's attack.
As such, he raised a sleeved arm to allow his hand to tunnel out of its burrow. With a quick motion that mimicked brush strokes, a ball of clear water emerged in his hand. It rippled and pulsed like a living organ of fluid.
"In oculis Patris", he murmured to himself
An explosion of colors cascaded inside the ball of water before revealing the image of two individuals. One was a man who looked rather ordinary despite being a pro hero. The other was a younger person dressed in a suit of armor akin to a mecha robot. The two individuals appeared to be doing a routine patrol through a section of the city and nothing more.
The wonders of each quirk's potential. Holy Water could effectively be used as a simple security camera by leaving a piece of liquid in a location or on someone. It completely took all of his concentration to channel the quirk in this manner and also made it impossible to use in combat. Plus he would have to drop it to recharge its strength once he took off in pursuit of its last location, but he was more than fast enough to pursue on foot.
Ghost smiled when the focus became fixed upon the armored individual and revealed the eyes full of anger inside the mask. Was it villainous to see that the brother of Ingenium was full of hatred for the Hero Killer, or was it worse for Ghost to use him as a sniffer dog to find his quarry? Maybe, but it gave Ghost the ability to comb large swaths of the city without worrying about being interfered with.
All he needed to do was wait and strike when Iida Tenya found the Hero Killer for him.
"Are you sure about this?! You just joined up with the party and now you already want to split off?", an irritated Shigaraki spouted.
Yet, Stain paid him no mind as the two sat atop of the small skyscraper overlooking the city of Hosu. Though, the gamer talk of the man-child was grating on the ears of the hero killer, but he would have to endure it for now.
"If we are to achieve our goals of destroying our common enemy, then yes, I must leave.", The Hero Killer repiled, "But don't think I won't honor our alliance."
Shigaraki scratched his neck causing the skin to redden, "I still don't understand why trying to find the shrine of that sword of yours is going to help kill that vigilante? Wouldn't just stabbing him with the sword kill him anyway without the side quest?"
"Sutābein is no mere 'sword', Shigaraki!", Stain barked, "It is a legendary relic of our country's past that was forged to fight a monstrous scourge that plagued the lands!"
The puppet leader of the League did not look convinced, "I still think all this effort for a weird looking relic of a bygone age is a waste of time. I don't believe this side quest will amount to anything useful."
"Believe it or not, you cannot deny that we are running for a limited amount of time to kill Ghost.", Stain retorted, "His skills as a fighter are ametuer at best and yet he kept up with me on the sheer strength of his quirks alone. Should he acquire proper training or complete mastery of his quirks, then he will become unstoppable!"
This line of thinking was something that Shigaraki could agree with the Hero Killer. But without all the stupid Shinto superstision nonsense.
"Whatever, let's just get this raid started so the real main quest can begin.", Shigaraki spoke out loud.
Right on que, a black misty wormhole opened up behind the two villains and from within the swirling mists emerged three nomu. Each bioweapon stared blankly as they awaited orders from their masters. Stain eyed the three abominations before dismissing them entirely as they paled in comparison to the monster that hid behind white fabric that was most certainly hunting him as they spoke.
"Time to finish what I started.", Stain said as he dashed off the roof and into the concrete jungle.
The nomu then quickly followed the motions of the Hero Killer and each one took off in a random direction. The true battle of Hosu begins.
Did this make you guys excited or do you feel I am pulling your chain too much? Be sure to let me know so I can improve.