The Quirk of Solitude by ShadowAlchemy
Author's note:
For those who have left a review before, can you confirm to me whether or not you got my responses?
Chapter 10
Everyone in the room had an internal moment of doubt when they replayed the offer in their minds again.
"I…don't understand. Why would you want me as a hero?" asked Izuku very hesitantly.
All for One made a gesture that Kurogiri recognized and prepared himself.
"My apologies, young Midoriya. I wasn't talking specifically to you."
Starrk's eyes widened but before he could even warn Izuku to dodge there was already a portal created above his head and a nightmarish tendril was sticking out and stuck Izuku's head. The room was silent as Izuku's eyes rolled into the back of his head and All for One's influence attacked Izuku's mind.
Izuku's mindscape
It all happened so fast. Starrk was still wide eyed and incredibly worried. He could still see and sense Izuku but something felt…off. Like if their connection was being greatly muddled. The sudden appearance of a foreign entity made Starrk go into high alert. Approaching Starrk and the tiled floor was a middle aged gentleman wearing a really expensive suit. His head had a well kept short white hair and his attention was focused on the moon above them with a curious expression.
"How interesting. I've never actually had this happen to me when I've infiltrated other people's minds before. This feels oddly refreshing." said All for One while still admiring the situation.
"Get out. You're not welcome here." retorted Starrk angrily and got into a fighting posture.
"Easy there my new friend Starrk. I'm not here to fight you. Honestly, I'm more interested in talking." replied All for One while waving a hand dismissively.
He walked a few more steps before stopping and then looked at Starrk with an amused expression. "You don't have to worry. I already tried taking over young Midoriya's mind, but your power easily eclipses mine. I'm not even sure who would be stronger even if I was still in my prime."
Starrk narrowed his eyes, "I don't consider it a good idea to talk about trying to mind control Izuku while directly in front of me. I will just kill you here and take the kid and leave."
Starrk sonido'd and appeared right on the side of All for One with one of his soul swords drawn ready to cut him down. Outrageously, All for One sonido'd away a bit with a devilish grin.
"Oh what fun! It's really a pity I can't use these abilities in my real body. In fact, it's even a greater pity that I can't take you as one of my own quirks."
Starrk was completely wide eyed with surprise. Did he just sonido? That should be impossible.
"Starrk, my dear friend, your expression is a dead giveaway. Because you showed me something so wonderful before, allow me to enlighten you a bit: This 'me' in front of you is a culmination of mind and memory quirks that somehow became manifested like this when I entered the child's mind. Even if you slay me here, it would be pointless. I can just reinsert myself until I stop the mental invasion." All for One said while waving a finger tauntingly. "As for your ability I just demonstrated, the one you call sonido, while I'm here I know everything you do and can imitate your abilities. Of course I can't use a resurrecion but I must say I really enjoy the feel of your abilities." He pointed a palm at the top of a sand dune and charged a ball of pitch black with neon red streaks.
"Cero."
All for One's attack blasted forth and exploded the top of the sand dune in a violent gulf of black and red.
"Hm…I really need to see if any of my emitter quirks can function like that." All for One contemplated out loud.
Starrk gritted his teeth in anger and frustration. Not only was there an invader, but it had to be the unkillable kind. "Say what you need and get out. You'll find no welcoming from me."
All for One chuckled a bit and matched his eye contact. "You have the eyes of a killer my friend and have enough power to be one the best at it as I can tell. Your talent is wasted on a pitiful child. Come willingly and serve with me. I will personally find a way to give you your own permanent body to control. You'll be able to live in this world doing exactly as you please."
"I've been in the service of a powerful egotistical tyrant before. It didn't end well for me. This kid is young and has room to grow into a much better primera than I ever was, and I want to guide him to that future." replied Starrk while painfully being reminded of his origins.
"You mean this man?" questioned All for One and his figure distorted and became Souske Aizen in his usual open white coat and signature brown hair. "From what I can tell you were only a means to an end. Plus, I don't remember seeing you complain about it once…even at the moment of your death."
Starrk was stunned again. How is he able to do this? Even his voice matches!
All for One clapped his hands in amusement while laughing. "You are too easy to surprise, dear Starrk. Surely you just heard before that I know everything you do at this given moment…Even if you are just a fictional character." he said the last words with greatly amused intrigue.
"If only you knew the secret of how your host was able to manifest someone like you. What a shame. You truly are an unusual phenomenon. I can already hear Ujiko's voice trying to demand answers or theories about this." He dropped the Aizen appearance and returned to his normal self while sighing deeply to himself.
Starrk honestly never figured out what manifested himself as Izuku's quirk. It never crossed his mind to dive for answers and he was content to be the kid's power, mentor, and only friend.
"So then, Mr. Primera…" All for one said as a small chair appeared out of nowhere for him to sit on. "What can I do or offer you to come into my service?"
Another tally for the confused and surprised Stark face. This time All for One mirrored his expression.
"Don't tell me you didn't know you could do this? Oh goodness, I suppose I just showed you something new and useful for free." said All for One with a shrug of his shoulders. "Anyways, my question and offer still stands Starrk. I can assure you I have no ulterior motives like Aizen did so please give this a serious thought."
"The man who tested and threatened to kill Izuku minutes ago in your darkened room is saying there's no ulterior motives…how rich. No. You are exactly like Aizen. You look at me and see only a weapon to be used and then discarded when it breaks." said Starrk in a cold voice.
All for One had an evil smile. "If it gets you what you want, why would you care? I am choosing this friendlier approach rather than threatening the boy's life. You weren't kidding before. Your soul wolves absolutely have the power to erase me beyond any kind of restoration quirk that I possess, or quite possibly the world possesses. I'd rather us talk and walk away with a mutual gain rather than a race to see who can kill the other first."
"If you recognize that I'm stronger than you and you don't want to fight what could you possibly interest me with? I am not leaving this kid's side under any circumstance." said Starrk, not trusting this man in front of him.
"Tell me. Why haven't you restored Lilynette yet?" replied All for One in a cheekily grin.
BZZT
Starrk had his sword drawn again barely an inch away from All for One's throat.
"What do you possibly know about her or me? You may have my memories but do not test me…Or I will kill you repeatedly here until you can't bear the pain anymore." Starrk said through clenched teeth and a menacing glare.
All for One mock put up his hands in surrender. "I didn't mean for it to sound so insensitive. It's just from an outsider who has meddled with countless minds of individuals before I know a thing or too…and I'm dead serious. You do have the ability to restore her but I don't know why you haven't."
Starrk was outraged and clenched his blade even tighter. "You better start making sense before I start tearing you to pieces."
All for One met Starrk's gaze with a daring one of his own. "Then I'm guessing you don't know about you killing young Midoriya unintentionally?"
"What do you mean?" Starrk asked with hostile suspicion.
All for One shrugged his shoulders in great exaggeration in mockery. Starrk had enough, With a quick slash he opened the throat of All for One and watched his body fall limp to the tiled floor before it disintegrated into black smoke.
"My my, you have a temper worse than your tenth espada friend. You still didn't answer my question." came the voice of a new figure of All for One looking at Starrk with a smug expression.
BZZT
Starrk's attack sliced him into diagonal pieces
"Tsk tsk. That was rude. I'll make it simple for you to understand, primera: Agree to cooperate with me and I will tell you the answers. What are those two worth to you?" Another figure of All for One said while waving one finger back and forth.
"Why should I believe any word that comes out of your mouth? Besides, Izuku would never agree to do your dirty work after he learns that the quirk doctor who tried to kidnap him is already one of your pawns!" demanded Starrk while on the verge of attacking the reappeared figure.
"I don't need you or your young host to do any dirty work. Your skills would be more useful locating and acquiring certain assets like you did today. Your garganta skill has far more potential than Kurogiri's portals because you don't need to visit a location before going there. Plus you are more than capable of defending yourself and escaping and I don't care if they notice you doing it. I would greatly prefer not risking Kurogiri's appearance or capabilities unless absolutely necessary." All for One explained and gave a great pause to gauge Starrk's reaction.
Starrk was still in a hostile position and had his eyes narrowed with suspicion.
"Nothing else? Not going to clarify if it means kidnapping or killing people who protect such assets or maybe are the actual assets? Not going to tell me what collateral you'd use to keep us in line so we don't flee or tell the authorities?" Starrk asked with great annoyance.
All for One smiled wickedly. "Of course I have means to ensure your loyalty. It would take me an instant to scramble this kid's mind and make him a vegetable for the rest of his life, but I know that would make you a permanent threat to my life after you take over." All for One sonido'd to the top of a sand dune and spread his arms like a conductor and the ground began to shake violently.
Starrk followed him with his own sonido but was dumbstruck at what he saw that he didn't kill All for One. Sticking out of the endless moonlit desert were black spires and obelisks jutting out at random heights and angles. All for One seemed very pleased with his work.
"Each of these are an inhibitor. If you were to try and talk to young Midoriya right now it would be impossible for him to hear you. Of course if you break all these spires then the effect would be released…however I can plant enough of these that you would have to use your cero metralleta non stop for about 6 months…and we both know you can't use that ability without your pistols which you don't have."
Starrk was immediately pissed again and killed the figure of All for One with a violent slash.
"Here's the full bargain, primera: For 3 years you will assist me with my previously mentioned request of location and transportation of goods. I will leave one obelisk in this mindscape that will trigger and detonate young Midoriya's fragile mind if you attempt to betray me. I will let you have free reign and autonomy to handle any unexpected circumstances during your assignments. In exchange I will provide young Midoriya with his essentials to live and even provide facilities and services for his growth and training." All for One reappeared behind him holding a black soul sword to the back of Starrk's neck. He lowered it before continuing. "And for you, Starrk, the two essential answers you crave. One will be given up front because it is an immediate matter of death for young Midoriya and the secret to restore Lilynette will be given at the end of our 3 year arrangement."
Starrk was silent. Frustrated again at his situation where all of his power gave him no help. He turned slowly to meet the expectant eyes of All for One.
"I agree, but let me make one thing abundantly clear…If you renege on any part of your side…I will hunt down and destroy every asset, every person, every last shred of you and your underworld empire. I would tear the world apart just to make you suffer…so do not give me the slightest reason you will or you'll pay dearly for it." said Starrk with a calm but ice cold tone.
All for One briefly felt a shiver at the level of wrath that Starrk was feeling and hell bent on delivering if it needed to be unleashed.
"Very good." All for One raised his hands again and the ground began to quake again. Starrk could see the black pillars retreat back into the sand. "Per our agreement I left one obelisk somewhere in the vast desert. It is linked with the intent of your mind. I'm not sure how sensitive it is so I wouldn't recommend even humoring hypothetical scenarios where you betray me."
All for One returned to his chair that his first figure was killed on and sat down waiting for Starrk to join him back on the tiles. Starrk reluctantly appeared with his arms crossed.
"Also per our agreement I will tell you the immediate danger young Midoriya is in…I know you will have questions and I am certain the solution will make you very angry. Please refrain from killing me otherwise I will consider that part of our agreement fulfilled prematurely."
Starrk nodded, although had a bad feeling of what was about to be told to him
"You. Your mind, your persona, your soul–whatever way you want to classify yourself is putting an increasing strain on young midoriya's mind permanently and it is killing him."
Starrk couldn't believe what he just heard. To him everything felt fine and he didn't understand where this was coming from.
"When you practiced synchronizing your minds in order to learn how to perform the resurrección, your power started pouring into him and even now hasn't stopped. He is too underdeveloped to handle your power and I can feel him bending like a barbell with too much weight being added to it. That was why he was able to maintain the released form for far longer than either of you anticipated. The excess power had an outlet but when he got too afraid of me and caused the physical split of the powers in his body…Your output has not decreased pouring into him."
Starrk immediately tried to check on Izuku and sure enough there was a massive reservoir of Starrk's power still building inside Izuku. He immediately stopped the flow and dissipated the stored energy. He could feel the tension on Izuku's mind lessen significantly but it was bent and misshapen terribly. The kid was one large mental strain from literally losing his mind beyond repair.
"That was wise and now that you've verified my facts I will tell you the solution to fix Izuku's mind safely. You must bring him into this mindscape…and kill him."
Starrk nearly lost his cool at that suggestion. "Why would I—-" but he was cut off
"I told you I've meddled with the minds of countless individuals. If you kill him here, his soul-persona-whatever- will temporarily but safely dissolve and reform itself. This is a property that sentient quirks have in case one persona conflicts or protects the other. I do not know how long it will take for him to reform but I guarantee you he will. While he is healing, the persona of Coyote Starrk will be moved forward and take control of Izuku's body. Not like during the moments where you forcibly manifested and had to temporarily suppress him. That is also why taking an action like that fatigues you so quickly. The suppression is not an easy feat and not every sentient quirk is strong enough to do it." All for One finished his explanation and was waiting for a reaction.
Starrk seriously contemplated All for One's words. This was very risky but he didn't see another way. If Izuku's mind did break there was no guarantee that Starrk could help repair it. He would be stuck in the back seat of a mentally defective host and would have to spend massive amounts of energy to protect him. If Izuku didn't recover, would Starrk have to do this for the rest of the kid's existence? Could that even be considered living? And then they would both be alone… Starrk shook his head at those thoughts. He knew what he had to do but he still wanted to run it past Izuku first.
Starrk shuddered at the thought of Izuku's hypothetical reaction if Starrk suddenly cut him down without explaining himself. He looked up at All for One who was quietly watching Starrk with an amused expression. I hate how much he reminds me of Aizen.
"Go ahead, end your mental invasion. I'll bring the kid here and talk to him first. It's only fair to him." stated Starrk with a stoic expression.
All for One got up and had his hands in his pants pockets. "For what it's worth Starrk, you don't have to believe that I am benevolent enough to help a kid like young Midoriya. It's the fact I respect your strength enough not to make you my enemy. I told you no falsehoods." With that said the figure of All for One vanished and Starrk could feel the atmosphere return to its normal feeling.
Izuku's eyes rolled forward as he came back into focus. He shook his head not knowing what caused a sudden blackout. He heard All for One say he wasn't talking to him specifically but didn't know anything else past that point.
"Kid…We need to have a word. I'm bringing you into your subconscious world." came the voice of Starrk.
"B-But Starrk, A-Aren't we in d-danger?" stammered Izuku not taking his eyes off the monitor where All for One was speaking from.
The increased stuttering was a tell-tale sign that fear was still putting pressure on Izuku's psyche. Starrk didn't know if it would be enough to snap the kid's mind but he spoke again with urgency.
"Kid. Please trust me. I need to share something important with you. You'll be safe, I promise."
Izuku's nerves didn't calm down. He wanted to but he was still too scared. He felt a tug and his vision blurred out of focus until it was met with the familiar moonlit desert landscape of his subconscious. Starrk was standing on the tiled floor staring off into the dunes. He slowly turned to face Izuku with a look of kind sympathy.
"S-Starrk…w-what's going on? What d-do you need t-to show m-me?" stammered out Izuku looking incredibly shaken up.
"Kid… I messed up." He told Izuku with a sorrowful expression. "My carelessness has almost cost you your well being."
"W-what a-are y-you…" but Izuku was caught off guard as Starrk appeared and embraced him in a hug.
"It's me. I was accidentally causing your mind to overload and become damaged. You are dying…and there is only one way to save you." He pulled away from the hug to look into Izuku's terrified face. "We have to temporarily switch personas so you can heal…but it requires that I cut you down so you can reform yourself, and I know that mean seem a lot but—"
"D-do it." interrupted Izuku.
This caught Starrk by surprise a little bit, "Do you fully understand what I'm asking you to do?"
"I-I don't c-care. I t-trust y-you. Y-you wouldn't s-suggest it i-if it wasn't important. I-I know I'm w-weak. T-this is all my f-fault." Izuku forced out with a sad but content smile.
Starrk respected the kid's resolve and his trust in him. "I don't know how long it will take but you will heal and you will return. I promise to keep your body safe."
Izuku only replied with a nod. He felt like he was on the verge of a breakdown and somehow knew Starrk was telling the truth about his fragility. If he was honest, it was okay with him that Starrk would be in control and really wasn't in a hurry to return. He trusted Starrk would make things right and knew he was strong enough to care of them both. Izuku straightened up the best he could and readied himself.
Starrk steeled himself. At the very least he wanted to be absolutely certain he didn't show the kid any hesitation and wanted this strike to be quick and painless.
"Rest up, primera. When you return you will be much stronger and ready for the challenges that await you." said Starrk forming one of his soul blades.
Izuku smiled and closed his eyes. He didn't feel a thing as Starrk slashed his head off. Starrk felt absolutely disgusted with himself. Even though he knew this was the only way, he couldn't help but feel this was also an act of betrayal. He watched in silence as Izuku's body disintegrated into blue energy and escaped into the desert air. The light of the area began to dim as the eternal moon above was eclipsing into darkness. Starrk felt the wind begin to pick up and his vision began to blur. The sands began to stir violently as complete darkness was enveloping the area.
He stood there and let the winds ravage about. The darkness and wild blowing sand eventually completely took him and the next thing he knew he was standing in Kurogiri's bar.
He looked down and brought up 10 year old looking hands into fists. He indeed had full control of Izuku's body. He looked around and saw Kurogiri staring at him with a curious expression. The monitor on the wall began to talk.
"I see your talk went well. You did the right thing. Now the healing process has begun and you are in full control."
Starrk was silent and glanced at the talking monitor. Both All for One and Kurogiri were surprised to see Izuku's eye color had changed from green to blue. The young boy stood straighter and had a look in his gaze that blurred the line between indifference and disdain. The number 1 on the back left hand was solid black instead of a glowing blue. And the kid's voice had a much more serious tone despite still being young.
"I took no pleasure in that. The kid trusted me completely and I will not let it go to waste. If nothing else I would like to go home and rest."
"Indeed. Giran and Kurogiri will be in touch with your assignments whenever they need you." answered All for One.
Starrk nodded and turned to his side and reached out with his pointer finger. The reality at his touch opened the rift of his garganta and he entered in without saying a word. Kurogiri was dumbstruck that such an ability existed and watched as it silently closed after the boy entered.
"Master. Do you have any new special instructions on how to conduct business with him? Did this occur after your mental invasion of him?" asked Kurogiri.
All for One mused for a moment on that question, "Your usual professional conduct will be sufficient. Don't expect him to be very friendly but he won't be overly hostile either. That person who we are seeing is not young Midoriya…It's his sentient quirk protecting his body and he is very powerful. Try to fulfill any reasonable request he has. We have at least 3 years of his cooperation so let's try to slowly win him to our side."
Kurogiri acknowledged his orders and bowed to the monitor before it shut off. This was a lot of new information but he felt that his master knew what he was doing. Hopefully the still-in-training young Tomura would be ready for his leadership role and not scare away or piss off this new version of young Midoriya for all of their sakes.
Aldera Junior High
Katsuki Bakugou was seated in his usual classroom seat but there was no class period at the moment. The Mustafu police department had submitted a warrant to interview the school staff and student body and their cooperation was required. The ash blonde was very bored and annoyed. His usual punching bag hadn't been at school for the last couple days. Bakugou's temper briefly flared up at the thought of the useless trash that made a fool of him. There was a score that needed to be settled and he was going to pummel that green haired piece of shit into the cracks of the concrete.
"Katsuki Bakugou. Please come to the interview room." The teacher poked his head into the room and announced.
Finally, Can't wait to get this crap over with so I can go home early. He thought as he begrudgingly made his way to the classroom being used as the interview room. Entering he saw Detective Tsukauchi seated across a table with a friendly smile beckoning him over to sit across from him.
"Good morning young Bakugou. My name is Detective Tsukauchi and I need to trouble you for a couple questions. Do you feel comfortable talking to me alone or would you like us to call your parents to come and accompany you?"
"HA! I don't need the old hag here to be here. Ask away detective so I can enjoy this day off!"
Replied Bakugou with a sneer.
Tsukauchi nodded and brought out his notebook alongside the question sheet. "First question: Do you know the missing student Izuku Midoriya?"
A bulging vein appeared on Bakugou's forehead. "This whole day is wasted because of that shit eating useless piece of garbage?"
Tsukauchi was a bit taken aback at the sudden hostility at the mention of Midoriya but he maintained his professional demeanor. "Is that a yes, young Bakugou?"
Katsuki snarled and crossed his arms, "YES I know Deku."
"Second question, do you have any guesses where someone like Midoriya would run or hide for his safety?" asked the detective after filling in the response from the first question.
"I don't know or care about what that loser does or where he goes!" spat Bakugou with venom
Hostile reactions like this always indicated something more. Tsukauchi jotted down Bakugou's answer and decided to go off script for the next question. "Can you briefly elaborate why you seem to have an adverse opinion of Midoriya?"
Shit. Bakugou knew he overstepped with his previous comments. It would be bad for him and his future application to UA if a police detective knew how much he hated and bullied Midoriya. He quickly thought of a way to make a passable explanation.
"He...annoys me. He always has an empty look in his eyes, like he already gave up on life and nothing matters anymore. When I saw that he had a hidden quirk this whole time I raged at him because he fooled me and everyone else."
Tsukauchi raised an eyebrow. His quirk, lie detection, didn't detect any lies in Bakugou's statement so he was going to proceed to the next question.
"What type of quirk do you think Midoriya was hiding?"
"I don't freaking know! He had a blue number 1 on his left hand and blue flames appeared on his palms!" exclaimed a very annoyed Bakugou.
That's new. Tsukauchi noted that and proceeded to the final question and information.
"Young Bakugou, you must understand something. This will be released to the public tonight but Midoriya and every person from Mustafu Orphanage have gone missing. Is there any possible chance that you saw or heard any type of stalker, conspirator, or stranger that was staking young Midoriya out for a potential kidnapping?"
Bakugou was stunned. Not one thought came to mind that fit the detective's question. "Honestly, no. I don't understand the value of kidnapping such people."
Detective Tsukauchi collected his notes and straightened them on the table. "Most people don't. Please inform any police officer or hero agency if you hear or see anything that helps find the missing individuals. Here is my card. You are free to leave, thank you for your time today."
Bakugou got up with an annoyed expression but didn't say anything. He was thinking rapidly of possible reasons behind the kidnappings. Does this have anything to do with the destroyed Hosu Orphanage? He had no proof but had a creeping gut feeling it did. Leaving the school with his usual cronies he didn't pay attention to their antics and they didn't dare break Bakugou's train of thought. The only thing he knew was that once he became the new number hero: No villain would be stupid enough to try that under his watch.
Doctor's Lab
"-and that is everything relevant that I got from young Midoriya's mind, doctor. I trust that you will produce results to compensate for my time." Said the voice of All for One through a monitor at Doctor Ujiko's lab.
The doctor was absolutely stunned in shock. Then the shock turned into a grin. Then the grin turned into a maddening laughter.
"OF COURSE! How did I not think of this! It all makes sense now!" Ujiko exclaimed while running back to his chalkboard.
All for One internally sighed. The doctor was incredibly valuable and beyond loyal but he will never get over the good doctor's eccentricities when he has a brilliant revelation. Nothing was going to break Ujiko out of his scientific rambling so All for One patiently waited for him to finish.
"The formula didn't fit because it was a sentient quirk! No wonder the math didn't work…Okay…Change this variable here…add this…subtract that…replace that value…AH HAH! IT WORKS! EXCELLENT!"
The doctor went to his computer console and began typing at a hysterical speed.
"Master! With this new information I can successfully begin testing the new Noumu formula. The chances of creating an Anti-All Might variation without damaging its limited sentience is around 99.1%" He adjusted his glasses while calming down with deadly focus. "And the fruits from the first failed formula attempts has given me ideas about even an elite class of Noumu that have full sentience, loyalty, and multi-quirk capacity. Which project would you like me to focus on first?"
All for One was greatly pleased at this report. He never humored the possibility of a fully sentient elite Noumu but the symbol of peace needed to be destroyed first. "Finish the All Might killer Noumu first. When you have produced a successful specimen you may begin on a new personal project of mine: ten elite class Noumu with specific powers I want them endowed with. Call the project: Noumu la Espada."
Pantera's Hero Agency
The feral hero, Pantera, had a very simple hero agency building. It was a worn building with chipped red paint with only a simple wooden sign above its main entrance to indicate its owner. Inside was a state of the art training center. It had a boxing ring, an MMA cage, a large area for free weights and machines and an area dedicated to punching bags and muay thai kicks. Pantera was at one of the heavy bags slugging into it with a very heavy sweat being built up. He wasn't in his costume but was wearing resistance clothing trying to slow down his movements.
Every punch echoed into the otherwise empty facility. His focus was on visualizing the infuriating disinterested look of the villain who beat him. Anger and frustration were motivating him to push past his limits. Somewhere deep inside there was an ember of excitement. It had been a long time since a villain caught his attention and actually deserved to be his prey. With one final haymaker he finally stopped to catch his breath. He had a devilish grin. No one else but him were going to hunt the mystery villain down and take him down. No one.
The chime of the entrance door being opened signaled through the facility. Pantera immediately lost his grin and scowled instead. There were only two kinds of people who entered his agency and both annoyed him greatly. He saw both walking towards him: Eraserhead and another potential new sidekick.
"Tch. Shouldn't you be asleep somewhere in a dumpster, homeless man?" jabbed Pantera while crossing his arms. He took a brief look at the person next to him and saw a 5ft tall dark skinned woman with rabbit ears wearing a training uniform.
"And who the hell are you, rookie?"
She looked at him with a challenging gaze with her red irises but Eraserhead spoke first
"Always a pleasure, Pantera. I've come to give you a direct report before it is disseminated to all the rest of the hero agencies. And this lady here is here to kick your ass."
Pantera gave a challenging grin. "Music to my ears. Oi rookie, pick either the fighting cage or boxing ring and start warming up. I'll crush you after this hobo tells me this report."
"The name is Mirko, the Rabbit hero, and I will be using your face to polish the floor." She said with her own challenging smirk.
"I had a long meeting with law enforcement and then another with the principal of UA." interrupted Eraserhead before either battle maniac kept insulting the other. "The villain you faced last night has no record of the quirk you described. We are expanding the search based on the physical description of his hair and eye color but it will take a while. The government is never in a hurry unless it involves a direct threat to them. Was there anything you didn't want to mention to them that you think might help?"
Pantera scowled at the mention of his encounter but gave it an honest thought. Suddenly he remembered a quick detail because he was in a state of surprise.
"The brat's left hand…Had a tattoo of the numeral one. I personally never encountered a quirk or a gang that utilized something like that for their markings. Have you heard anything from your underground escapades?"
Eraserhead made an important mental note to tell Nezu that detail. "No, I also agree that I have never heard of a gang marking like that. Do you think it was a part of his quirk?"
Pantera sighed "I don't see how it correlates to the power and appearance he demonstrated but there is always the possibility we are overlooking something."
Both heroes were in silent contemplation. The silence was broken however when Mirko loudly complained,
"Hey you toothless kitty cat! Get over here so I can turn you into a throw rug!" She cracked her knuckles in anticipation.
"She is very capable but doesn't make a good sidekick. She's skipping that step so I figure you were the best suited to train with because you also did the same. I'll come back if I find something out. Now go beat each other senseless you battle freak."
Pantera had a wild grin "With pleasure. Don't get lost on your way back to your tent city!" He turned around and jumped into the ring and both started slugging each other to their heart's content.
Eraserhead sighed. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Nezu who immediately picked up.
"I think Mirko will find a kindred spirit with Pantera. I feel bad for any criminal they catch. I was also given an important detail for the investigation regarding Pantera's attacker…"