This is the fastest I've ever written and turned out a fic. I tried to fix it everyone. I really tried. I dropped all my other fics to write this. I hope that this reads sincerely and doesn't feel like me just heavy-handedly ripping on the series. Maybe a little. I hope the title makes sense once you read it.
I couldn't bear to write an AU where just "lol it's fine nothing happened," so I had to find a way to make it fully canon compliant...permanently. As we likely only have a few chapters left, I didn't want to write something that would just be instantly undone by the actual canon in a week.
Thank you so much to my test readers Beajou and Wordsdear, who helped me figured out if this concept could actually work.
"That was absolutely terrible! It was awesome!"
"That does rather seem to be the general consensus," said Mister Compress, looking up from the paper. "While some folks don't seem to mind the ending, I would say the former of your comments is the one I'm hearing echoed most often. It was…absolutely terrible."
He sighed, folding down the paper.
"They should be here shortly," he said, glancing at his pocket watch.
It was a sunny day, and Atsuhiro Sako and Jin Bubaigawara - better known to Japan as Mister Compress and Twice - were sitting on a bench outside a small park. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom but despite the pleasant weather, the pair found themselves mostly alone. A sparrow briefly landed on a nearby stone marker, before flitting away among the rosy petals.
It was an area many people avoided, even so many years later. Mr. Compress was perusing the afternoon news, and Jin was smoking a cigarette over the latest issue of Jump!
"I just don't understand how they messed everything up so bad," said Jin, furrowing his brow over the manga, as if rereading for the fifth time that hour would somehow change the panels. "It's perfect! Absolutely flawless!"
"Well I'm sure there will be a lot to discuss when everyone arrives," said Mr. Compress.
"Jinnnnn-kun! Mister!"
The two of them looked up from the bench to see Himiko Toga running towards them, waving her arms. She was wearing a vibrant red and black lolita dress, scarlet ribbons swinging from her wild buns.
"Toga-chan!"
She flung herself at Jin, who grabbed her and hoisted her into the air, beaming.
Jin still struggled with staying grounded, but around Himiko he never felt more whole .
"Toga-chan, you look absolutely beautiful!"
"Jin-kun it's so good to see you!" she beamed.
Twice spun her around wildly, the ribbons on her dress whipping about her; lacey skirts billowing. She laughed, broad and full, her teeth glistening as she threw her arms around Twice.
"Why Toga-chan, it is ever so good to see you, " said Mr. Compress, tipping his hat and bowing to as Twice sat her back on the ground. "You look positively radiant my dear."
"Oh, stop being so stuffy, Mister!" said Himiko, as she launched herself at Mr. Compress in a cascade of black and red lace.
"Young lady, I'm an old man! Go easy on me!"
"Mister it's been what now, fifteen years? Now we're all old!" said Himiko, her hands akimbo and cocking her head. She stuck out her tongue.
"Himiko-chan, in the face of your vivacious youth, I shall always feel a touch old," said Mr. Compress. "Now, might I say, what delightful ensemble you are wearing. Is this the latest in your collection?"
"Uh-huh!" said Himiko, beaming. She spun around, showing the full of her elaborate red dress. Red ribbons and black lace dripped across a skirt pattern of blood splatters and delicate sparrows. "We're still an indie brand, but just you wait! Sales have doubled this year and we have a fashion show next month! And I'm helping with the local blood drive, so the more publicity the better! And the more blood!" She giggled voraciously.
"I should have always known you'd be the enterprising type," said Mr. Compress, fondly, patting her shoulder. "Your scheming and cleverness did always put me to shame."
Himiko giggled, but her smile quickly faltered into a petulant glower.
"Did you both read the ending?" she said. "It's terrible! Can you believe it?! It's all wrong!"
"Indeed, Twice and I were just remarking on how rather… inaccurate the ending is," said Mr. Compress.
"Yeah, by the end, I don't think the mangaka was really interested in telling the real story," said Twice, rubbing the back of his neck. "He did a fantastic job!"
"The real story?!" snapped Himiko. "It's not even close! I didn't die! I got airlifted to the hospital with Ochako-chan! Why was that so hard to write?!"
"You're upset? The writer made me die like a hundred chapters ago!" said Twice, gesturing wildly. "I spent all that time in the hospital with Mr. Compress! Sure, I'd been stabbed a buncha times, but I was perfectly fine! I was dead!"
"I know, Jin," said Himiko, patting his arm. "I remember when we met up after. It was awful what got written about you."
She sighed, her bangs and ribbons fluttering. "I guess we should have seen this going in a bad direction when the mangaka starting making up random crap and deciding to just…kill people? I mean what gives?"
"Indeed," said Mr. Compress gravely. "While Twice and myself of course missed the big prison break that did occur on account of us being hospitalized, we were quite safe and sound in Tartarus during the final battle. We'd been released from the hospital by that point, into the greasy clutches of the police of course."
"Yeah he wrote that part with you," said Himiko, pointing. "But I don't understand why Jin got written out."
"Hey, don't forget about me! I got killed off too!"
The three of them spun around and Himiko squealed in delight to see none other than Magne approaching.
Her makeup was impeccably done, as were her nails and hair. She wore a loose top and long skirt that flattered her muscular build.
"Big Sis! You've grown your hair out so much!" said Himiko, running to hug her. "You look beautiful!"
"Toga honey, what a darling dress!" said Magne, opening her arms to accept Himiko's lacey hug. "Tell me, that shop of yours seems to be doing well!"
"Yep! We have a fashion show and a blood drive next month!"
"You're going to take me out in Harajuku next month, as soon as my schedule clears," said Magne, tossing her hair. "I have just one more followup appointment. So anyway," she sighed. "You all must be talking about that trainwreck of a manga."
"It was awwfullll ," whined Himiko, stomping her lacey-booted foot. "What was the point of paying us for interviews and rights and stuff if they were just gonna write a different story?"
"I mean, I ain't that mad," shrugged Magne, running a hand through her long auburn hair. "I was happy to take the paycheck. But I imagine you all must be pretty disappointed."
"You're not mad that the author just killed you off?" said Himiko, her eyes wide. "We were all shocked!"
"Well, I guess 'got arrested' wasn't a particularly exciting or climatic ending for little ol' me," muttered Magne, regarding her lavender nails. "The mangaka would have had to explain how I just vanished in between story arcs. Guess he wanted to write something more dramatic."
"It would have been such an easy fix though!" said Himiko. She mimed holding a cell phone to her ear. "Hey Mister, where's Big Sis Magne? Oh, she got arrested. Oh no, Mister! How awful! You be careful now, Toga-chan. Don't worry Mister, I've never been caught. That's it! Five lines!"
"Yes, but it's a shonen…gotta be dramatic I guess," sighed Magne. "Whatever, paid for the trip to Thailand when I got out of jail."
"Looks like you all beat us here."
The group turned around at the new voice.
"Daaaabbiiii-kunnn!" trilled Magne, waving a hand dramatically.
Sure enough, Dabi was sauntering up with Spinner in tow. Dabi was wearing a leather jacket and Spinner a graphic tee and jeans, his signature pink hair spiked up.
"Spinner! Dabi! It's so good to see you!" said Twice. "You suck! Go away! Wow, you're looking so much better. You look awful!"
"Aren't you trying to go by Touya more?" asked Himiko, tentatively.
Dabi shrugged. "Whatever. Touya's a great name, but Dabi's a great name too. They're both important, or something like that. I'm giving the whole therapy thing a shot after all this time. My therapist has me talking about different parts of me or some shit. I don't get it. Something about figuring out what these different parts did for me and figuring out what I want. Well I told my therapist what I want is my dad's corpse burning in a pit of flames, and I don't think they were thrilled."
The group laughed, and Dabi sighed broadly. "Enough about my family drama. What the fuck was that ending?!"
"Yeah, seriously what the hell?!" snapped Spinner. "I didn't turn into a freaking Kaiju! What was the point of interviewing us if they weren't even going to tell the story the right way?"
"I mean you looked reaalllllyyy cool in the drawings," said Himiko, giggling. "All fangy and spiky. Rawrrrr!"
"I'm Spinner! Defender of mutants! No, I'm Godzilla! This is now a Kaiju manga!" said Twice, stomping around dramatically like a dinosaur.
"I mean, it would be cool if I had been Godzilla or something," said Spinner, gesturing incredulously. "But that's not what happened!"
"Ah but Spinner, it is far more entertaining for the youths to read a giant monster battle where they don't have to think," said Mr. Compress, patting him on his scaly shoulder. "As opposed to a more complex story about discrimination. That would require all the shonen fanboys to think too much."
"I wouldn't have been much good at leading a protest or storming a hospital if I was some incoherent monster the whole time," muttered Spinner. "That's obviously not what happened. We didn't hurt anyone, we just walked in the hospital and got Kurogiri out. They couldn't even hit me with any assault charges, just a lot of crap about disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly. The big one was something about forcible entry into a healthcare facility."
"Yeah, I think you definitely managed the least jail time of any of us," said Magne. "You and I got out around the same time."
"Also, way to shoehorn in a discrimination plot you forgot to write about," muttered Spinner, rubbing his forehead scales. "How many times did I go over in my interviews about mutant discrimination and how that was a whole thing for the Paranormal Liberation Army? But this freaking mangaka could barely be bothered to throw it in at the end."
"He was too busy writing the "Endeavor angst" subplot," growled Dabi. "Fucking blows man."
"My parts were all wrong!" said Twice. "They were great! Super accurate!"
"Yeah, not only did he make up that Hawks killed you, but he then totally wanted to give Hawks an out and make it not his fault," said Magne. "Should've just made his little series about Hawks and Endeavor if that's the story he wanted to tell."
"Jin, I think you got too popular," said Himiko, pensively. "Lots of readers liked you! The mangaka couldn't have you stealing the spotlight from his precious faves like Hawks and Dabi's shitbag dad."
"Perhaps… he got mixed up," said Mr. Compress, gently. "If we give the mangaka the benefit of the doubt…Twice, you're not always the most accurate reporter. Perhaps the poor man just got a touch confused while interviewing you,"
"I told him I survived Hawks stabbing me!" protested Twice. "I told him I died! Kicked the bucket! Keeled over!"
"Annndddd that's what I'm talking about."
"How could Twice tell the guy he died…" said Dabi. "And still be alive to tell him that in an interview? That makes no goddamn sense."
"I mean, he only interviewed us a couple of times," said Spinner. "He was gonna miss stuff. We shoulda known. He spent all his time focusing on those freaking hero kids and their old teachers."
"I mean, he did call the series My Hero Academia, " muttered Dabi. "Not, My League of Villains."
"Yeah, that's not nearly as catchy," said Magne. "My Villain League? My Villain Family? My Villain Experience?"
"Oh No! It's Fifteen Years Ago and We're Stuck in a Superhero Society…But We're the Villains! My League of Villains Story!"
"No Himiko, it's a shonen, not a light novel…"
"I thought it was a good title," pouted Himiko. "To be fair, Ochako-chan did tell me she was worried it wasn't going to turn out so well. She said the mangaka asked her a ton of questions about her and Izuku. Like, they were friends, right? But she said he just asked her over and over if she had a crush, if she liked him, how close they were, blah blah blah."
"Well it's not a shonen if there's not a sidelined female character crushing on the lead," sighed Magne, tossing her hair. "And this is why I stick to josei and American soap operas."
"Yeah, I guess the author asked a lot of the girls Ochako-chan went to school with some weird questions, or even asked permission to draw their outfits differently," said Himiko glumly.
"Ugh, that's so trashy," said Magne.
"Yeah, and like…he made up that whole rule that my clothes transform with me?" said Himiko. "That makes no sense! Why would clothes require blood? Sure if I wanted to wear someone else's clothes I did have to change out of what I was wearing, but he made it seem like I ran around naked aaaaall of the time instead of like…occasionally," she added. "I told him about one time I took that Camie girl's uniform and he like, got obsessed with how clothes worked with my Quirk. Gross!"
"Disgusting," said Twice, shaking his head. "A real classy guy!"
"I mean, I guess at the end of the day it wasn't really about us," sighed Mr. Compress. "I think the mangaka wanted to make a nostalgic psyop about the heyday of hero society, instead of…I don't know, a non-fiction? A documentary?"
"I mean, I feel like that shoulda been clear from the get-go?" said Dabi. "They were making a manga, not sitting us down for a Metflix documentary."
"Hey, manga can still be educational and non-fiction!" said Spinner, indignantly. "They give kids in America graphic novels about history! And you know, the whole heroes and villains thing…what better way to tell the story than a manga!"
"Yeah if the writer knew what he was doing," huffed Himiko. "He should've just made his own superhero story if he didn't care what we had to say."
"Shitty heroes ruin everything," muttered Dabi.
"Alright, alright…I suppose not one of our brightest group decisions," said Mr. Compress. "But Shigaraki always did like comics."
As if on cue, they all turned to face the stone marker in the park. There was a collective silence that was broken only by the sparrows chirping. Himiko tentatively reached up to brush a cherry blossom petal out of Magne's hair.
"I suppose at the time we made the decision, it seemed rather 'in-character,' perhaps?" Mr. Compress ventured.
Spinner nodded solemnly. "Yeah. Shigaraki did like comics. Going with a manga seemed like the right thing at the time. We just didn't know."
"In hindsight, not the best we could've done," said Twice. "It was a great plan!"
"I imagine it's going to be a shock when any of these kids pick up an actual history book," said Dabi. "They're going to think we're all dead when we're all alive and mostly well, living out our villainous little lives."
"Yeah, they're gonna be hella disappointed when there aren't any photos from my epic kaiju battle," laughed Spinner.
"Oooooh, you know there's an old American musical like this," said Magne excitedly. "It's called 'Washington' or 'Remington' or something like that! Anyway they spend the whole musical singing and dancing about some old American guy and how great he was. Then you read the history books and none of it is true and he was a total scumbag like all the other old dudes who founded America. That's what this is. This is like Remington!"
"I am not entirely sure that's what the musical was called, my dear…" said Mr. Compress.
"Oh don't you be trying to upstage me, Mister!" said Magne, waving a hand. "I'll go toe to toe with you on musicals anyday, Mr. Magic Tricks."
"Speaking of America," said Dabi, sitting down on the nearby bench. "What the hell was the whole deal with Star?"
"Yeah, America never sent over any heroes at all!" said Spinner. "They didn't come over until after we were all in jail and the relief efforts started!"
"I can't remember," said Himiko, tilting her head. "I think the US wanted to send heroes but they couldn't get clearance to come or something."
"I think the American Hero Commission probably didn't like the optics that they were so absent from the situation," muttered Dabi. "Not a great look to show up after the battle was already over. Especially if you wanna sell a manga internationally."
Dabi chewed a hangnail of purpling skin, scowling. "I'd put money on that our mangaka friend was paid quite handsomely to create a story where America did show up to help…"
"… but then he wrote himself into a corner, cause if Star had showed up, Shigaraki would have been toast." finished Spinner. "Yeah, makes sense, I guess."
"See, what did I tell you? Americans love to rewrite history, just like that Washington musical," said Magne, waving a hand. "And kids in the west love their superheroes, gotta make it merchandisable."
"Yeah, exactly. Bet there was influence on all fronts to make something family-friendly they could sell to kiddies with lots of merch and figures" growled Dabi. "Instead of…I don't know, an actual examination of the ethical implications of a superpowered society."
"Fehh, easy for you to say! I got totally shafted in all the merchandise!" snapped Magne.
"Yes! I did as well! Perhaps this old man just doesn't have the face for figures…"
"Mister, at least one of the mangaka's assistants absolutely adored you," said Himiko. "That shirtless spread of you? Had all the fangirls swooning online. You looked soooooo handsome!"
"Now Toga-chan, you're making this old-timer blush!"
"Now Hawks, he had the fangirls," said Dabi. "Freaking bird."
"Do you ever talk to him?" asked Magne tentatively. "I thought you guys like, had a thing." She twisted a lock of auburn hair awkwardly.
"I don't know…something about him trying to kill Twice and then trying to kill you, Himiko?" said Dabi, darkly. "Look, I know I'm supposed to be working on my shit, but I just don't see myself hanging with someone who tried to murder my crew and used his high powered lawyers at the HPSC to walk away from attempted homicide charges, when we all did time."
"At least Hawks got his hero license revoked," chirped Himiko.
"Yeah, and he probably wanted that," said Dabi, shrugging. "Wanted to take it easy, that's all he ever said. Then went on a whole public campaign with the HSPC about rebuilding trust between heroes and the press and public relations. Bet that had nothing to do with a certain video," he added, smugly.
"I don't wanna be angry," said Twice, quietly. "I'm just relieved he's not allowed his license back. He's great! I love the guy."
"That video footage was actually really beneficial in stripping Hawks of his license, even if that was the only consequence," said Spinner. "His whole trial he kept claiming he was trying to deescalate the situation, but that's obviously not what's in the video."
"Yeah, I mean…the minute that I showed up as Jin back at Gunga, Hawks started screaming 'kill them all?' " said Himiko, shivering. "You know, what heroes do. Kill people. Wish I could've had a video of that...maybe he wouldn't have gotten off so easy."
"Yeah why the hell did the mangaka hate the press so much?" said Spinner, pointing a talon. "Every time he'd draw the press showing up, it would be a whole thing where they were just yelling and angry and the poor, poor heroes had to…talk about their actions having consequences? Like what gives?
"I think we'll be here all day if we ask why this gentleman made all the… ahem, literary decisions that he did," said Mr. Compress. "Why did he dislike the press covering heroes, why did he kill Magne and Twice, why did draw some of young ladies of UA in questionable clothes…"
"Why did he always make me naked…"
"Yes, why did he always make Toga-chan naked…"
"Why was he so freaking obsessed with my dad!" cut in Dabi, empathically. "Oh, Endeavor's so sad, Endeavor's so remorseful, oh no, Endeavor's really trying to do better by…continuing to abuse his children? I don't know what freaking sob story he fed that mangaka in his interviews. You know to this day he only ever got a fine for child abuse and had to take a parenting class?!"
"That's terrible," said Twice, shaking his head. "That's great! I'm sure he learned lots!"
"You know he was an old Endeavor fanboy back in the day, you know. He even wrote himself into the story, cheering Endeavor on," sniffed Magne. "It was rigged from the start, we were never gonna get a fair shake in anything he wrote."
"You can't blame him too much," said Mr. Compress. "He probably got caught up in the nostalgia. Everyone had a favorite hero back then. It was like having a favorite anime character. That's just how it was. You know, the hero rankings, the celebrity status, all of that."
"Yeah, thank god we managed to do something about that," said Spinner.
"Lots of people still think that way," said Himiko softly. "They talk about wanting things to go back the way they were. Maybe this author was like that."
"Shitty hero propaganda," growled Dabi. "Told you we never should've agreed. Told you we were all selling out."
"Oh come on man, you were all for it!"
"Yeah, you thought it was gonna be a big exposé on your dad!"
"You spent every interview telling him how shitty Endeavor was for this, and how shitty the hero system was for that, shitty Endeavor, shitty heroes, no wonder he wrote you like a total edgelord!"
"I mean, Dabi is a total edgelord," said Himiko. "That part was accurate."
"What the hell?! I am not!"
"Dabi, ask your therapist about your 'edgelord' part. I wanna know what he says."
"Fuck you!"
The group laughed, and even Dabi did, begrudgingly. Mr Compress produced a thermos of chilled tea and a blanket from somewhere, all with a great deal of hand waving and theatrics; while Himiko and Twice clapped and applauded. The group sat on the blanket in front of the stone marker, laughing and chatting over their tea, and continuing to pick apart the recent chapter.
Himiko was staring up into the cherry tree, watching the sparrows flit by.
"Are you looking for a snack up there, psycho?" chuckled Dabi.
Himiko laughed into her tea. "No, I'm just thinking…so much has changed. So much is gone."
"So much was destroyed," said Spinner, laying an emphasis on the word destroyed. His reptilian eyes flitted to the stone marker.
The group fell silent again, all of them knowing the heavy meaning of Spinner's word choice. As if on cue, they turned to face the stone marker.
"There's no more UA," said Himiko, as much to the stone marker as the group. "At least not the way it was."
"They shut it down after the final battle," said Spinner. "Tore the whole place down, citizens rioted about sending children into a literal deathmatch."
"Yes, though they did reestablish as a college some time ago," added Mr. Compress. "But you can't enroll in hero courses until you're eighteen. And you have to take a certain number of ethics courses."
"Oh! You know who teaches hero ethics?!" burbled Himiko, her cheeks flushing pink. "Staainnyyyyy!"
"Toga, he's like twenty years older than you," said Magne. "I thought you were dating Uravity-san?"
"It's just a liiiiittttllllleee crush," purred Himiko. "Ochako-chan doesn't mind if I occasionally pop into one of 'Professor' Stainnnyyyy's classes."
"Yeah, bet he loves you, freakshow," snickered Dabi. "Bet you're his favorite student."
"Yeah, you made out the best of anyone, Toga," said Magne. "Pro-hero girlfriend who's spent the last fifteen years ripping the whole system down from the inside-out?"
"Ochacko-chan is retiring soon," said Himiko, looking up at the sparrows and smiling. "She only agreed to the manga so she could take her royalties and help her parents retire."
She turned back to the stone marker. "She's going to work with Lady Nagant as a compliance consultant for best practices and ethics for incoming heroes, but she's not doing hero work anymore."
"The old hero system has been destroyed," said Spinner, also to the stone marker. "The teaching, curriculum, everything is gone. The only people who get hero licenses have been through significant ethics in combat training. No more fans and rankings, no more celebrity status, that age is over."
"The HSPC is gone too," Dabi said. "The scandal that followed Hawks and Lady Nagant's testimony put the whole organization under. Nagant now runs the Hero Compliance Board which monitors and licensing for all hero agencies. Any private agency is mandated to donate a portion of any profits to the community. Oh, and my dad had to quit," he added, grinning. "He tried to reapply but instantly failed the new background check law, for child abuse. So there's that."
"Tartarus was shut down due to unethical practices," said Mr. Compress. "We were able to work collaboratively with the remaining heroes at the time to rebuild a prison based on rehabilitation and quirk support. There's still much work to be done, but we were in a unique position where we were able to use our sentences to our advantage, to work from the inside."
"And we have new hate crime laws against heteromorphs," Spinner said. "They did away with county jurisdictions and made them illegal across Japan. Shoji and I led a public education campaign when I got out of prison."
"Quirk counseling has been banned," said Himiko. "All quirk education now focused on social thinking, social responsibility, and use of quirks in a healthy way. All quirks. I provided testimony about harmful counseling practices, even though I was still serving time."
"Well, look at us, aren't we all functioning members of society now," sneered Dabi, rolling his eyes.
"Well, in a way, there's no more villains," added Himiko, quietly to the stone marker. She tugged at a ribbon on her sleeve. "At least, not in the way that we were villains."
Mr. Compress nodded. "With the old hero system essentially disbanded, the Hero Compliance Board was also forced to reevaluate laws that mandated higher sentences for criminals charged with 'villainy.' When that went into effect, there were a lot of retroactive adjustments made to villainy sentencing."
"Helped out a lot of the work we were trying to do from the inside," said Spinner, solemnly. "It's how so many of us made it out."
There was a collective silence, as the group solemnly faced the marker bearing the name "Tomura Shigaraki." The weight of all that had been destroyed was thick and heavy in the air.
"It sure hasn't been easy," said Magne, her deep voice breaking the silence. "There was a lot of public backlash, especially around retroactive sentencing."
"Hey now, Mister here never left villainy!" said Twice. "He's completely reformed!"
"Indeed," said Mr. Compress, inclining his head. "With the hero system largely disbanded, that leaves major corporations, stock brokers, and greedy landlords with overflowing pockets in need of some… redistribution. That and the occasional crypto-scammer. It's nothing but honest family work."
"There's always something," sighed Himiko into her tea.
"There's been a fallback to police violence, since the hero system is so restrained now," said Spinner. "The police got over-funded to make up for the new lack of heroes, and now they're abusing that. And anyone who once had a 'villainy' charge is top of their list for profiling.'
"Yeah, I really wish cops would stop stalking my shop," hissed Himiko, her eyes narrowing. "That, and there's still legislation to try and reintroduce quirk counseling as a mandated part of quirk education. They change the language of it, and try to sneak it in through education bills, quirk legislation bills. And of course they have a lot of parents backing them, all under the guise of 'protecting children.'"
"And of course we've already talked about this nostalgia bullshit," said Spinner, running a clawed hand through his hair. "Fifteen years really ain't that much time, we've made a lot of progress, but of course there's people out there wanting things to go back to 'the old ways.'"
"Yeah, we got a couple of 'em running for public office, sayin' heroes need more freedom, pulling the scare tactics about crime and safety," said Dabi.
"Especially when a certain psyop manga was just released…" sighed Mr. Compress. "I'm sure we will have to contend with a renewed vigor for expanding hero privileges again. Still," he added. "I'm somehow compelled to give the fellow the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps the mangaka was just trying to close things up neatly. You know, the whole 'shonen' thing."
"Yeah well, actual progress, actual change, doesn't have a neat, easy ending," said Spinner quietly.
"You call that closing things up neatly ?"
Mr. Compress, Twice, Himiko, Dabi and Magne all turned to the new voice behind them.
The group seemed to collectively freeze, the air between them all suspended and still, save for the cherry blossoms in the breeze.
Tomura Shigaraki, newly Tenko Shimura, was walking towards them.
He looked gaunt and dry as ever, having had the longest sentence of any of them, but his face was glowing as he drew up to the group. Pink petals were scattered through his stark white hair, and he beamed as he approached the group.
"You're all sitting around like I died here or something," said Tenko, gesturing at the stone marker, bearing the name Tomura Shigaraki. "I mean, technically I did, but-"
He was cut off by the League swarming him.
"Wahhhhh, you made it Shiggy!"
"You're finally here!"
"We missed you so much! Go back to prison!"
It was Spinner who locked Tenko in a scaly embrace, tears streaming down his face. "God, took you long enough," he said, finally. "We've fucking missed you."
"Well, I managed to shave a couple months off the end," said Tenko. "But yeah, it's been too long." He returned the embrace fully, and not a sliver of Decay touched Spinner's scales.
Tenko sat on the blanket between them all, and Mr. Compress poured him a cup of tea.
"We all wanted to meet you at Tartarus instead!" said Himiko. "Or rather, what used to be Tartarus."
"Nah, I didn't think it was a good look, the band of villains all showing up outside of prison to welcome their leader back," laughed Tenko. "The press would have had a field day. Y'all didn't need that, not with that crappy manga just getting released. My social worker said she'd take me wherever I needed to go. She's helping with all my basics...housing, job placement, getting back into the world."
"That's good," said Himiko, nodding vigorously. "That's how it's supposed to work now. Izuku and Uravity helped Spinner and I implement a social transition system out of prison."
"Yeah, didn't see that in the manga," muttered Spinner.
"You must have been talking about that all day," sighed Tenko. "Man, if I had known it would have turned out like this, I never would have agreed to it. I'm sorry guys."
"It's not your fault!" said Magne, waving a hand. "Chalk it up to shonen demographics and nostalgia for the good ol' days. Maybe it will inspire at least one kid to pick up a history book."
"Yeah, maybe you should stick to fiction if you just want a happily-ever-after where friendship speeches fix everything and heroes jump in to protect the status quo," huffed Spinner.
"Don't worry," said Mr. Compress, twirling his cane. "With all the royalty fees I'm sure many of those former heroes are reaping, they'll need a little help… redistributing it to those who did not get such lucrative merchandising deals."
"How are you feeling about it all, Shig- I mean, Tenko," said Himiko quietly. "Not just the manga. I mean, everything. You're finally out."
Tenko looked at the stone marker and the reflection of the name Tomura Shigaraki. It had been the first thing Spinner had done upon his release from prison; to create something in honor of what had been destroyed.
"There's a phrase, when something out of nowhere saves you," said Tenko slowly. "I remember Kurogiri reading it to me. It's called a deus ex machina. An act of god. That's what this feels like. The fact that I survived and I made it here all these years later…it's thanks to him. A deus ex machina."
He stood up and looked at the sky.
"Tomura Shigaraki and his friends destroyed a lot of things," he said. "And in the end, Tomura Shigaraki was destroyed," he said. "But Tenko Shimura wasn't."
Spinner put his arm around him, and Tenko lifted a weathered hand to his scaly one, holding it with all five fingers.
"But that ending?" Tenko said, turning to face the League. "I mean, what the heck was that?! Are we all just dead now? And come on, the mangaka couldn't even leave in that Spinner is my boyfriend? What a drag."
"Oh, do you honestly expect a shonen manga to have good queer representation?" sighed Magne. "Please, at least One Piece tries. Sort of."
"Why don't we buy up all the copies of this week's Jump! and Dabi can burn them or something?" piped up Himiko.
"Nah, we'd have to track down every copy from all the people who've already read it," said Twice. "Let's do it!"
"Ohoho, I wouldn't mind a search and destroy mission! Feels just like old times!"
"Mister, you really think you can steal every copy of this week's Jump?"
"Why young lady, is that a challenge? I'll have you know this old-timer still has a few tricks up his sleeve!
"Anyway, who wants to play some League?"
"You bet! No! I hate League! Let's play Fortnite!"
"You know…maybe the anime will fix it…"
"No, I don't want to watch myself die in the anime! Watching myself die in the manga was bad enough! So unflattering!"
"Tch, all the anime fans do is complain about not liking the sky…"
"Say Magne, what were you saying before about musicals? I heard they made a musical about all this too…"
I have been very upset with the Final War Arc for obvious reasons, and then proceeded to neglect all sleep hygiene and write this in less than a week. I dropped my other MHA fics to write this. I dropped my Street Fighter fics for this. I dropped writing about the connection between Utena doujinshi of the 90s and Hellsing. I dropped working on a cosplay to write this. I dropped my One Piece fics for this. Thanks Horikoshi, you broke it and I had to fix it.
Twice lives with Mr. Compress, the two of them have become quite close. Toga visits very often. Mr. Compress has turned to hacking and goes after large corporations, with the occasional help from La Brava.
Spinner is a streamer and uses his platform for charity and to elevate other important causes.
Toga got a grant for individuals with villainy charges to open small businesses. She runs a lolita shop in Harajuku (see my other fics) and is happily partnered with Ochako.
Magne went and got gender affirming surgery and is a mechanic, also does some modelling on the side.
Dabi is still working on things, but he's getting there. He stays close to the League and has good days and bad days. (His therapist is having him do Internal Family Systems...that's what 'parts' means!)
I forgot to write about Giran.
I'm also aware that this fic is super idealistic about the repair of oppressive systems. I appreciate an anime like G-Witch, which posits that systemic change is not solved in a final battle or friendship speeches, does not end when the big bad guy is defeated, but is rather a concentrated effort of ongoing, unending work on the oppressive structures that created these problems in the first place. Sure, we get a final battle, but we get an epilogue of years of work around undoing the damage of corporate-funded warfare...and the work is ongoing. There's no neat ending. Go watch G-Witch.
My idea for this actually came from all the buzz around Jenny Nicholsen's Star Wars video. I have enjoyed her videos for quite some time, and was re-listening to her video on the Avatar park at Disney. If you attend the Avatar theme park, the staff will refer to the Avatar movie as "the documentary." I found this idea of creating a "canon within a canon" where the "source material" isn't really what it says it is, very intriguing. It then also made me think of something like, Hamilton (this is the musical that Magne is referring to if any of you are confused), which posits itself as a historical musical but is...essentially real-person fanfic and wildly inaccurate (fun music though!) I sort of crystalized this idea of the "canon" is unreliable, untrustworthy, inaccurate...or just not exactly what it says it is. (Thinking time, 9.5 seconds after reading chapter 424). It then sort of turned into the Ember Island Players I guess, but like...not quite as funny.
I'm tired.