Hello guys it's Spectafyr again :) please enjoy chapter 4, this is where things finally get good. Please be aware that some chapters will be longer than others due to differing amounts of ideas and motivation, and posting frequency will change for the same reason (I'll still do my absolute best to write high-quality chapters). Dynasty is also inspired by Solo Leveling, which is why I made the dialogue like that in the last part. Also please be aware that this series will likely be longer than most as I want to retell the entirety of MHA from Shoyu's perspective.
"Heeeeeelp! Where are the heroes?! Heeeeelp!"
It was a desperate cry for aid, echoing through the alleyways in search of a savior. Among the sparse listeners, one man stood motionless against a building, lost in his thoughts. Shoyu felt another headache coming on, expecting another episode, and shut his eyes, gripping his head. But the episode never came.
Slowly opening his eyes, Shoyu noticed something different about this headache; it seemed to be pointing him toward the voice. "More new things," Shoyu murmured to himself, steadying himself against the wall as he rose to his feet. "The pain in my head and eyes seems to be guiding me to the voice. I don't know why, but I feel…"
"Strong."
Driven by a sense of determination and passion previously unknown to him, Shoyu sprinted through alleyways and corners, following the direction that his headache indicated. "I'll save whoever it is, call the police, and hightail it out of there," he reassured himself. "No one will see me."
Shoyu's pace on foot was astonishing, beholding a newfound physical speed and strength he had never imagined possible, given the lack of physical activity in his lifestyle. Whether this revelation was mere coincidence, as he had never bothered to explore his physical capabilities, or if it hinted at a deeper, unknown reason connected to him, remained a mystery.
Bringing his sprint to a sudden halt, Shoyu skidded to a stop, his feet sliding slightly on the pavement as he reached the source of the distress call. Reiross. The name was connected to an overly elegant restaurant, reserved for the wealthiest of business owners. Here, diners were treated to unnecessarily complex, deconstructed dishes that prioritized presentation over flavor. However, the restaurant itself was not what captured Shoyu's attention; instead, it was the deep, dark, shadowy alleyway beside it, devoid of light despite the neon gold beacons that the restaurant had.
"The alleyway beside the restaurant only has dumpsters that the chefs use to throw away food after hours," Shoyu uttered. "But it's very deep because of the size of the building. Anything can happen there."
Before he would dive into the shadows, Shoyu rotated his shoulder blades, preparing and hyping himself up for an altercation. The normal Shoyu would have called the police and stayed far from the scene, but his headaches were too painful to be rational and instead paved the way to self-sacrifice. It was as if, at this very moment…
Being a hero didn't seem too bad.
"Heeeeeelp! Where are the heroes?! Heeeeelp!"
"Shut it! You're gonna cause yourself way more trouble than there needs to be," an unnamed voice hissed towards a figure of small stature. "You know them, right? The pro heroes that work at U.A.? Tell me everything about all of them, right now."
The perpetrator threatened the smaller individual with a weapon that appeared to be a shard of glass or a dagger, a shadow over his face due to the bright lights that illuminated the block behind him. Even despite the clear physical advantage this criminal had over the defenseless victim, it was clear that the victim had not even a drop of fear in him.
"Kill me if you must," he said, bringing his forearm to protect his face. "You're not getting anything out of me. The heroes will find you in no time."
His words appeared to strike a nerve in the armed man. "Fine… let U.A. collapse with your death."
Before his blade could pierce the skin of this mysterious, fearless victim, a new and unprecedented force compelled itself into existence between the two figures, swift and silent. Before the two of them could register this new challenger, the smaller victim was embraced by his arms and was quickly moved further from the offender.
"If you want to kill him, you'll have to kill me."
He couldn't see who the man was. The man's figure was shrouded in darkness, obscured by the tall buildings that cast shadows over him and the hood pulled over his head. Despite this, one distinctive feature stood out clearly. This unique trait sent a shiver down the culprit's spine as an ice-cold realization dawned on him.
"Biological members of the Akuzoma Crime Family have a highly dominant phenotype that no one else in the world has," the criminal recalled his memories. "That gene is unmistakable and is a foolproof identifier of their lineage for those in the know. The gene?"
"Snow-white eyes."
"Y-You…" his voice shook as he muttered.
Shoyu raised a brow at the man's sudden quivering. Nonetheless, he took additional steps backward as he continued to hold the short, small individual in his arms.
"Don't worry.. I'll protect you, you…"
Shoyu looked down at his arms to get a look at who he saved. He was intending to identify their gender, but the face of whom he saved astonished him more than informed him.
"A BEAR?!" he thought, mouth agape and a tear of sweat rolling down his face.
"I could be a dog or a mouse or a bear, but more importantly," said the… thing with an unnatural amount of tranquility. "My name's Nezu. Nice to meet you."
Shoyu paused with his mouth hanging open for a half-second before he snapped back to reality, gently setting down the animal behind him. "Okay… I can't get distracted," he contemplated. "It's a dead-end behind us, so I can't run away like I planned. I need to take care of him here and now."
The man continued muttering to himself, his body trembling as an eerie sneer twisted his features, sending a shiver down Shoyu's spine. "I found him... of all people, it was me!" the man exclaimed, excitement lacing his words. "If I capture him, I'll be paid in gold!"
"He's a complete nut job. What's he whispering…?" Shoyu wondered aloud.
Shoyu shielded Nezu with his body, fists clenched, eyes locked on the man. "He's not using his Quirk, so I won't be distracted. Good."
"I'll..." the man's voice rose, dagger pointed at Shoyu. "I'LL BE RICH!"
The man erupted into a sprint, and Shoyu followed suit despite the overwhelming fear he held in his body. The blade aimed for the region between his eyes, but he twisted, lowering his head and rotating his upper body, delivering a blow to the man's ribs.
"Khhahk!"
Wind was forced out of the man's mouth as Shoyu's punch connected. In an instant, Shoyu shuffled towards him before spinning on his heel to perform a roundhouse kick at the man's face. This display of martial arts was almost professional, and Shoyu was about as clueless as anyone else would be if they knew him and his scrawny physique. With an unnecessary amount of power, Shoyu's heel connected with a body, but the criminal could block his face. Fortunately, the dagger was knocked out of his grasp.
"Who… who is this?!" Nezu spoke to himself, watching Shoyu's movements. "He's a teenager, I can tell… but he's battling with adults! He's only a student, but if it's about physical strength… he's as strong as the average pro hero!"
The criminal chuckled as he dodged backward to create distance. "As expected."
Shoyu disregarded the vagueness behind his words and quickly charged at him, but the man was able to sidestep and dodge his assault, continuing to release a maniacal giggle, running not to Shoyu, but past him.
"He's gonna…!" Shoyu thought.
"You're good. But you're still an amateur," the man said, looking back at Shoyu while running towards Nezu before he spoke his name as if he was mocking him flirtatiously.
"A-ku-zo-ma!"
The surroundings seemed to bleed onto the man as Shoyu processed the name he uttered. Shoyu and Nezu's last sight of the man was him picking up the dagger he was previously disarmed of before he became one with the environment.
"WAIT…!" Shoyu shouted at Nezu.
Stress threshold exceeded.
Will to protect achieved.
Full Quirk manifestation will commence.
"Imperception. Class: Transformation. Allows the user to blend in with their surroundings."
"Strengths: Absolute invisibility. Hides footprints, clothing, and noise."
"Weaknesses: Stamina limit."
The same information Shoyu received whenever he witnessed a Quirk in action flooded his brain. However, this time, there was a complete absence of aching in his head and eyes. Better yet, Shoyu felt good. His body felt light and any fatigue on him was washed away. The information was more thorough, and this change was apparent to those around him.
"Blue eyes…?" Nezu remarked, witnessing Shoyu's eyes change. A deep ocean, blue as sapphires, flooded the entirety of Shoyu's eyes, leaving no trace of the white that previously inhabited it. Within the azure observations that Shoyu was making, it appeared as if the image of a radar, a line continuously moving encircling its radius from the center.
From within his mind, gears turned and information flooded his brain. It was a strange feeling; his vision was extraordinarily clear and all visual stimuli were absorbed to their fullest extent. All of this, minus the ocular and mental pain. The world and its every crevice, surface, and imperfection were crystal clear.
Sufficient data absorbed. Assault Mode's counter-synthesis will commence.
More changes occurred. Shoyu had a serene expression on his face as if he was completely unbothered by the criminal vanishing into thin air and threatening both of their lives. The ocean that was Shoyu's eyes was now overtaken by a lucid scarlet color, red as blood, while the radar image that was previously conjured to replace his irides now appeared more like the scope of a sniper rifle.
Once again, this time completely silent, Shoyu summoned unprecedented speed to instantly cover the distance between him and Nezu. As they slid backward, Shoyu's left hand pointed at the space in front of him, releasing a bright burst of gold light that illuminated the entire alleyway. Just then, the surroundings seemed to bleed again, now revealing the same criminal that was moments away from piercing Nezu in the heart with his glass dagger, his invisibility canceled by the flash of light and his sight temporarily stunned.
"Aaagh..! What the…?!"
Counter-Quirk: Flashbang
Class: Emitter
Disables invisibility Quirks by emitting a light-warping flash grenade from the user's hands.
Shoyu set Nezu down and propelled himself into a flying kick at his target's face. The villain had no choice of retaliation, and only one thing ran through his mind upon defeat.
"Akuzoma… you gave birth to a monster."
Opponent neutralized. Counter-Quirk's purpose has been fulfilled.
The rush of adrenaline that Shoyu had been feeling this whole time slowly subsided as his eyes returned to their characteristic white shine. "What was that…?" he asked himself, looking at his palm before quickly looking back at him.
"Hey, are you okay…?!" he asked, bending down to one knee to come down to Nezu's level.
Nezu brushed himself off before placing his paw on Shoyu's shoulder. "Thanks to you, young man, this old principal gets to live another day!" he said cheerfully as if he were blissfully unaware of the fact that he almost got killed.
"I recognize you now," Shoyu said, bringing his knuckles up to his chin. "You're that famous principal of U.A. Why were you alone?"
"I'm not a fan of most humans that aren't my students or faculty. But despite being a principal, I'm still a pro hero."
"So you were patrolling?"
Nezu gave a nod, which caused Shoyu to think again. "You were on the job, and you called for help like you were some normal citizen…?" Shoyu slapped himself on the head, feeling guilty for being judgemental of someone he had just previously saved.
"But young man, you are incredibly talented! Do you go to a hero school?" Nezu asked, now grabbing both of Shoyu's shoulders.
"N-No… I'm a senior in middle school," his voice shook, attempting to show modesty. "I haven't applied for any of that stuff."
"Really?!" Nezu said, shocked by his answer. "You have a real talent. You have good strength, good speed… and a Quirk like I've never seen!"
Shoyu couldn't help but be flattered by Nezu's praise, chuckling lightly while rubbing his shoulder. "Aha… it's no biggie. I thought I was Quirkless this whole time."
"There's thousands of late bloomers that end up being strong heroes!" the principal responded, standing up straight with his paws on his hips.
"I'm sure there are, sir… but let's get out of the alleyway and call the police."
As Shoyu led Nezu out of the alleyway and back into civilization and its bright neon lights, he started to think. "If I just got a Quirk… and I was strong enough to beat up an adult… then I shouldn't leave it to waste… No. I still can't tell anyone… That guy knew where I came from. I can't risk…"
As they stood together on the sidewalk, Shoyu's phone in hand, he suddenly felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, blurring his vision and causing his muscles to weaken. The strain of his new Quirk's manifestation resulted in severe ocular and mental fatigue, his energy plummeting as he collapsed onto the street.
The manifestation of a Quirk that affirmed the Akuzoma Dynasty's pursuits towards Shinyu and Yumie's son. Its name?
Countervision.