"So, wait...the Robot Restaurant is the Red-Light District?!" Isabella asked in shock and disgust, which was shared by many of the American students as everyone had settled at a sushi bar in a large booth for all of them.
"Yeah...you kids didn't know that?" Mandalay asked.
"We just saw it on Discovery Channel before we left! The show never said WHERE it was! Ah, poo! I was looking so forward to it!" Natalie pouted. "By the way, Bobby? This doesn't count as the sushi you have to get me!"
"You're still holding me to that? Everyone knows now!" Bobby gasped, his arms now in slings and Riley now helping him drink his teas.
Confused? Let's roll back the clock a bit shall we?
FLASHBACK!
The kids had all reunited and where following Mandalay and Kohta to a big but inexpensive diner for dinner. The ones not involved with the fight had been angred and worried over their classmates….Until they learnt about Nemo AKA the Spot.
Then the American's opinions and thoughts had soured; Isabella had begun cursing in Spanish, Odessa claiming Nemo got what he deserved and Henry explaining he was a failure as a man and student council to Ida. Donna had assured Bobby he was not fault for what happened and then joined Brittany in checking Riley was okay seeing her 'not-ex'. Riley insisted she was fine.
The walk was delayed by a fight between a giant Quirk user and the Lurkers, but no one really had time to 'enjoy' or 'analyze' the fight, as the villain knocked a building down towards several civilians.
The students all raced forward, the Americans' costumes quickly covering them as Ochacko and Katsuki helped Izuku and Shoto land powerful blows on the villain, followed by Riley and Nancy knocking him upside the head.
Sadly, as quick and well timed as they were, several civilians were still in harm's way and more debris started falling; a particularly large block towards one little girl and her younger brother, who she shielded…
Only the impact never came.
Bobby had moved faster than anyone else and was struggling to hold the debris up.
"G-GO!" He ordered with a plea, the two children shocked but hurriedly moving as best they could
Izuku, Terrance, Brittany and Sato had all rushed to hold up the pillar so the other civlians could escape, Isabella warping several out of harm's way and Izuku using Blackwhip to pull Bobby out of harm's way.
"You okay, Bob-chan?" He asked worry in his tone.
"Stop calling me cha…Op. There go my arms." Bobby smirked as his arms suddenly went limp. "…No? No takers?"
Reggie, Nancy, Natalie and Henry massaged their foreheads in annoyance.
"This mother….!" Katsuki started, only to be whacked by Eri.
"Language!" She smiled cutely, making all the American students coo at her and tear up in pride.
END FLASHBACK!
"He has a point Nat; that does defeat the entire need of you needing sushi." Reggie reminded his oldest friend. "Besides, you had that huge boat at UA…"
"Don't care! Want sushi on his dime!" Natalie pouted.
"Apologies, but I think I speak for many when I say... I'm lost." Tenya interrupted, getting many nods of understanding.
"Before Ms. Starr explained the whole Deku and Everyman saving Eri situation, Bobby bought Natalie's sense with the promise of sushi," Odessa said. "And no, I was not eavesdropping, you're just that obvious."
"Wow, that is both freaky and awesome," Denki noted.
"I take it that's not the first time they've done something like that?" Kyouka asked
"Pretty obvious if you ask me," Katsuki said.
"Oh please, Mr. Bombadier, we could make a sitcom of those three." Donna giggled.
"Triste, pero cierto." Isabella and Reggie noted with the rest of the Americans nodding in agreement.
Henry suddenly yawned. "Gets boring after a while, ya know."
"Oooh! Do tell!" Tooru begged, getting in Henry's face…and inwardly pouting when he just kept drinking and recounted something about 'crossdressing, nosey paparazzi and idiot hotshot geniuses.;
"Then it's for the scare with those kids!" Natalie quickly hollered to Bobby. "What were...you..."
She stopped abruptly, as Bobby looked down at his feet and the other Kirby students became saddened.
"Rachel?" Riley asked in concern.
"Rachel." Bobby confessed, letting his girlfriend take him into a hug.
Many of the UA girls, alongside Tenya and Yuuga, gasped in shock, making the connection very quickly. Still, it needed to be said.
"Whose Rachel?" Oujiro asked, already knowing he wouldn't like the answer.
"My older sister," Bobby explained, a sad smile encompassing his face. "Walker White. The only sister who always believed in me. Kept me safe...heh. I remember this one time, when we were in Africa, this mad elephant started to rampage and nearly crushed me when I pushed some other kids out of the way. Rachel held that foot up long enough for me to escape and then joined me. And she wasn't the strongest of my sisters by a long shot! Her Quirk was like a homing-firing, target-setting thing. But still, she...she was amazing. All that mattered to her was that I was okay."
"She was always the nicest of your sisters," Momo noted as tears escaped his eyes. A memory filling her head..
FLASHBACK
CRASH!
6 year old Momo had been admiring some of the artwork the Walker children had made growing up, finding herself drawn to one vase in particular: A pure white cremaic one with a cowboy stick figure.
Startled and worried, she'd moved to pick up the pieces, only to cut herself.
"Momo? Everything okay?" Rachel Walker called out, then spying the mess,
"G-gomen na…!" Momo started, awaiting Rachel's anger…only for Rachel to gently take her arm and examine the cut, completely ignoring the shattered pot.
"Oh, that doesn't look too bad, but we better get that bandaged." Rachel smiled sweetly, gently taking the little girl to a nearby bathroom, and wrapping up her cut.
"I'm so sorry." Momo teared. "It looked so pretty…"
"Momo, it's okay." Rachel smiled. "Yeah, that was a favorite art project of mine, but here's how I look at it: Everything with a physical form? It eventually dies, leaving only the memoriues. So, in my eyes, the fun I had making that and making sure you didn't get too hurt are way more important than a silly pot. Now, wipe those tears and put on a big smile!"
With a wee bit of tickling, Momo did just that.
FLASHBACK
"…I'm sensing a bad ending." Fumikage mused.
"She...she died two months ago, during that gang war we've brought up." Bobby finished, clearly wanting to move on from this.
The mood at the table became downtrodden, and not just from the Americans; Jiro and Hagukure seemed to be almost just as affected as Bobby, and Terrance was fighting back tears.
"Dude, are you crying?" Denki asked.
"I had a crush on her, Kay!" Terrance hurriedly said before downing his tea.
"She was married had a cute daughter." Kyouka reminded him. "But yeah, how could you not? A great singer, dedicated hero..."
"She actually inspired me to become a hero," Tooru confessed, Oujiro gently squeezing her hand. "She said: It's not the Quirk that makes the hero, it's the user. Never give up, kids! Like All-Might himself says, only YOU can make yourself great. And look at me; can't even keep a little girl safe from a villain who can't figure out his power..."
"Us neither," Eijirou said as he and Mina hung their heads in shame.
"Hey now," Dennis said. "Those guys were A-ranked! You guys did your best..."
"Much better than we did." Natalie smiled weakly.
"At least until the Bomber," Nancy added, before covering her mouth in shock.
"Wait, you kids fought THE Mad Bomber? Mason Jingo?" Mandalay asked in shock. "And survived?!"
The Kirby students nodded hurriedly, not wanting to remember more than necessary. Though Bobby was surprised when Kota and Eri moved over to hug him.
"I...I lost my parents." Kota explained.
"I lost my papa and grandpa." Eri nodded a weak smile on her face. She was clearly trying to be like Izuku…Something the American realized, as Bobby smiled at his former pen pal before placing his head on the kid's head.
"Thanks, kids."
By this time, the food came and everyone dug in, the mood having been lifted considerably. Even Katsuki was slowly opening up somewhat but he still mostly only talked to Terrance, Eijirou, Mina, and Sero.
Ochako looked down at her own plate, picked up a Gyoza, and turned to her boyfriend.
"Um...Izuku?"
"Um...Ochako?"
Izuku had done the same, albeit with some chicken teriyaki
With a blush on both their faces, they followed suit, making several of the girls squeal with delight.
Unbeknownst to most, two familiar faces were watching the whole scene from afar:
"Tomorrow we leave them be, promise." Ben promised he held Megumi in his arms.
"You care about them and so do I." Megumi smiled. "Besides, with villains here? Our 'us' dates can wait until we get back to the States. Oh, by the way? Your mom says hi…and asks if you've proposed yet."
Ben comically grimaced, getting Megumi to giggle.
"Mom, for crying out!" Ben whispered before composing himself. He DID have a ring back at the hotel room…
"I'm surprised you're not complaining about having to heal him again." Megumi mused.
"Hey, Bobby only gets hurt helping other people. If he did STUPID stuff, on the other hand? Different story." Ben explained.
"Nostalgia fuelling that?" Megumi asked. "You, the adopted boy grown in a lab, and me, the first bio-droid; having to figure ourselves out?"
Ben smiled
"Maybe a little. But for now? I'd like to look to the future."
Judging by his girlfriend's smile, she was happy to hear that.
MHPP
"You did not!" Rei gasped in between laughs and sips of sake.
"I did!" Perry smirked, having been telling Rei about the time Brittany had first come out of the closet. "I went 'Hi gay, I'm Dad' and she went 'Dad! I'm serious!' And I responded 'No, you're gay. It's Isabella, isn't it?'"
"You are horrible!" Rei laughed, punching him in the shoulder.
"I know! But come on, I'm a dad, I get to do that! Besides, Brittany is not at ALL subtle when it comes to what she wants. And she teases everyone all the time! It was as close to payback as I could get."
As the two adults, a little buzzed from Sake, continued to laugh, the door slid open.
"Mom?"
The two adults turned to see Shoto, Fuyumi, and Natsuo stepping in, looks of confusion
"Um…Are…are we interrupting something?" Natsuo asked
"Mr. Grin?" Shoto asked. "…What're you doing with my mother?"
The two adults hurriedly began to clean up, although rei was far calmer and chuckled as she explained.
"Perry and I were the best of friends when we were younger. Before your father asked me to marry him, my family usually went to the States every summer. Honestly, I'm surprised your sister never mentioned him..."
Fuyumi blushed in embarrassment. "I-It slipped my mind, sorry..."
Her brothers chuckled at her, but stopped when they saw how nervous Perry seemed so suddenly.
"I..." Perry started, only to fumble, hanging his head in shame. "...I tried to keep tabs on Rei. Heard some rumors about Endeavor and wanted to make sure they weren't true. But, then I became a father myself and... Well, you know the rest."
"Well, he never BEAT us..." Fuyumi said. "Despite what some rumors said..."
"Wouldn't have made much difference if he did." Natsuo scowled, getting an eblow in the gut from his sister.
The Falcon-headed man suddenly fell to his knees, placed his hands on the ground, and hung his head in shame.
"Shoto...I'm so sorry.."
The youngest Todoroki rose an eyebrow in confusion.
"I'm the reason you got scarred in the first place!" Perry said, apparently admitting to something. "I was the one on the phone with Rei and your grandma that night! I was the one that asked the question that got you..."
"Stop."
Perry looked up, tears racing down his face.
"You couldn't have known and you wanted to help my mom. If anything, like she's probably said, you were a father yourself then. A far better one than mine, too."
Fuyumi, Natsuo, and Rei couldn't help but smile as Shoto continued.
"I'm...actually kind of grateful. I may have gone about it the wrong way, but that night? Your apparent actions? They made me swear to never be like Endeavor."
Memories of his fight with Izuku in the Sports Festival played through his mind, especially those fateful words:
"IT'S YOUR POWER! NOT HIS!"
Perry excused himself to clear off his tears, allowing Shoto to give his mom and older siblings a summary of the day's events. Their attention was rapt with interest, especially when Perry's daughters and this Quirkless boy he had taken a shining to came up.
However, Natsuo ended up regretfully dampening the mood a bit with his next words.
"Mom...He's the #1 Hero now. They haven't officially announced it yet, but it's coming."
"Natsu..." Fuyumi worriedly said but her brother continued.
"The world still doesn't know the truth about him. About how he's treated our family... I can barely remember most of it myself, he was like this perfect stranger but...what he did to Mom, to Shoto...to Toya...I just can't pretend it didn't all happen. It's been ten goddamn years and he hasn't come to apologize to you, not once. It's like he wants to leave everything behind now."
Rei listened to her son vent before placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Natsuo...that's not true." The Todoroki Mother said. "My favorite flowers...not all of them are from Perry."
"I noticed..." Perry said, having seen he wasn't the only one who brought his best friend her favorite flowers.
"Back when we first met, I told him. Only once." Rei said, fond reminiscence in her eyes. "Apparently he's come to give them to me but he never showed up in person...Honestly, I can't blame him, I was scared myself. And my doctor says it's not a good idea."
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!
"I'm so sorry, but visiting hours are almost done." A doctor frowned, genuinely regretful to cut this short; it was a wonderful sight to see Mrs. Todoroki in such high spirits.
"You kids need a ride?" Perry suggested. "I've been told I'm way better than a car."
Surprisingly, Perry was able to perfectly carry all three of the siblings to their home and they had the time of their lives as he flew through the air.
Walking back to the hotel, he got a text from Brittany and Riley:
'Had dinner with your date and her nephew. Kind of sad, but a happy day. See you at the hotel. PS; Bobby proved himself father material.'
Perry smirked and shook his head.
MHPP
Nemuri, clad in her nightgown, poured two drinks and placed them onto a tray, trying to subtly catch a glimpse of Michelle as she changed out of her armor.
"Elly, you're fine no matter what, you know?" She smiled, swaying her hips as she offered her love a drink. Still behind the door, Michelle took the drink and stepped out, revealing her firm and toned body decorated with stars, suns, constellations and the occasional comet.
"Even like this?" Michelle teased as she and Nemuri clinked their glasses. Nemuri took a sip and then placed her lips onto where Michelle's would be. The American's eyes widened, but she melted into the kiss and took her love into a bridal carry, carrying their drinks and placing them onto a bedside table.
"God, I missed you." Nemuri managed as she got lost in Michelle's eyes; like two pools of pure white, but they carried power and care.
"Not as much as I missed you." Michelle managed, snuggling against her girlfriend. "This? This here? Is perfect."
As they dozed off, their memories returned to their first year at UA and Kirby, and a certain event that they hoped would be brought back….
MHPP
Tomura Shigaraki was in deep thought. For as long as he could remember, his Sensei had raised him to be his successor, the next Symbol of Evil. He had been taught the arts of backstabbing, phrasing, and reading people to get at the core of their character. It had meant knowing where and when to call it quits...and detecting traitors.
This brought him to Puppetress.
She was beautiful, intelligent and powerful. Ruthless as they came and more than able to make and clean her own messes. She came from great lineage and had been born with a silver spoon in her mouth, yet had risen above those in all her life. On top of that, she had actually KILLED heroes. And brought suffering to her arch-enemy's life.
Him? He was a nobody Sensei had found on the streets. His Quirk may have been perfect for villainy, but he was immature, impatient, and still learning. He simply stole and edited ideas. The one time he had done something original, Bakugo rejected him and the others
"...What do you really want?"
This caught the attention of the entire League/Guild, Eniwa especially.
"What?"
"So far you've been buttering me up. I've seen enough movies and read enough history, now's the point where you reveal..."
She cut him off, hints or anger and pain in her one eye as she used her Quirk to pull him towards her and force him into a chair..
"What if all I want is you? Do you see this room? I paid for it myself. I have more money than I could ever spend in a thousand lives even without Grandpa's inheritance. My plans are mere imitations and don't go beyond a single country, yours are world-changers."
"But your..."
"My minions? That's what set this off?" She asked, shocked. "I've known Nemo, Predator, Carbonado, Feedback, Mudslide, Nightmare, and Chemistra all my life, of course, they follow me. Besides, yours are far more powerful than mine. And yet you strive to be better... God, I love you.''
"Hey, some of us resent that, you know..." Nightmare groaned.
"Your drive, your hate for heroes, your mad plans...you have been my inspiration, Tomura Shigaraki!"
Her passion and tone made it clear. She was telling the truth. Just like that, all doubts left Tomura's mind.
"Can...Can I show it?"
She smiled before pointing to the hand that covered his face.
"May I?" She asked. "This one seems more important than the others..."
She was nervous asking this. Something that he normally would've noted didn't fit a villain of her caliber. But not today; he understood; she had lost someone she loved too but had nothing to remember her by. He did.
With a nod, Tomura saw and felt his father's hand lift from his face and float onto a nightstand.
"Now...show me." Puppetress challenged.
"Preferably when we leave the room, please!" Spot pleaded as he formed a large spot hole leading to the lobby of the hotel.
"I need something to block that out of my head!" Twice said before switching. "WHOO-HOO! GET SOME, BOSS MAN!"
As soon as everyone had left, the two villains fell onto the bed before lust overcame the young man. His lips were rough, cracked and he moved like an animal. But there was no doubt how much he was savoring any contact with her.
Her fingers traced his body, which some would call it gangly, but she could feel the muscles. Besides, his looks were not what had drawn her to him.
Down in the lobby, the League/Guild were all having drinks, some stronger than others.
Chemistra and Twice were mixing whatever they could into a shot while Toga and Predator shared a float under Sundown's watchful but happy eye before Qutal pulled him outside to enjoy the stars, trying to find constellations or make up their own.
Carbonado and Spinner shared a snack platter and she scared off several people who gave the lizard looks.
"Its fine, I'm used to…" Spinner started.
"You shouldn't be." Carbando cut him off.
Dabi and Nightmare had a shots contest…to which they both collapsed after a single shot, so Void helped himself to the rest.
Mudslide and Feedback performed guard duty for their friends, being rewarded with old fashioned on the rocks.
And throughout it all, the two butlers watched the unfolding scene.
"Shall we reminisce/lament how fast they've grown up?" Crunch Chomp asked Kurogiri, who nodded.
"Indeed."
Knightmare Lord A/N:
Some lore about Bobby's backstory and his family as well as some about Ben and Megumi. As well as some Todoroki Family Drama that all of us BNHA Fans love to see.
Not much to go for this chapter, but things are gonna be exciting in the next one. It's one that both Mrotrax and I have been looking forward to. Because for one thing...Colonel Cash isn't the only overseas friend All For One has.
Take it away, buddy!
Mrotrax A/N:
The calm before the storm begins to wind down. Next chapter, a MAJOR change from the original story.
Also, the 'Revenge of the Mad Bomber' story is canon to the Reboot universe and will be updated/finished shortly, so give it a read! Hopefully, it lives up to the hype.