Before we begin: sorry for the long wait, had to figure some things out.
First thing, the name and cover change. Why? I read the reviews you know, and usually I barely acknowledge over the yap sessions especially if the comments were rather, you know, rude, out of pocket, so and so forth. But I do infact read them, and they helped me come to a realization:
The story lost its premise.
It ain't about pizza anymore. Hell it was barely even about it!
So I decided a rebrand was in order. So thank you for the feedback, I welcome all reviews or suggestions you may have that could potentially better this story.
So without further ado, let's begin!
~~~~~
Vs. The Hero Killer
Izuku Midoriya was a boy of pure heart. He always saw the absolute best in people, regardless of how they showed themselves. Always reaching out in an effort to help, not harm. It is such thinking that led many people to infer that he was simply naive, allowing himself to bear with the struggles of being Quirkless without an ounce of pushback, especially against his childhood friend.
Some would say he is too nice and meek for his own good, a simple doormat for anyone to walk all over without a second thought. However, it was this characteristic that made him a true hero.
Fighting for people even though he himself was weaker than the people that needed saving.
Such a natural reaction, when he dove into the flames of hell in his and Bakugo's darkest hours. A boy of pure heart. So when he heard of the news that Jason Mendoza wasn't who he thought he was, he tried to justify it in his head immediately. Surely… there was a reason, right? It didn't make sense for the man who had lifted him up when he was down multiple times to be so cold and cruel… right?
~~~~~
It was some time before the exams, Midoriya was talking to Jason for any tips, if he could give any. He sat before him on a small stool, having eaten another calzone, which was surprisingly good for his whole muscular bulking. It was rather empty too, nearing the end of the night.
"Uh, well kid, I only really boxed for a little while." He lied smoothly "But… don't be afraid."
Midoryia looked… confused? He thought that that was sort of basic…
"Let me put it to you this way, how would you react if, let's say, I started to get aggressive," He said, standing up straighter and looking dead into Midoriya's eyes.
"I was acting restless, and violent, and armed to the teeth," His eyes hardened as he leaned over the counter, his face taking over the poor boy's field of vision.
"Before pulling out a weapon while threatening to gut you with it, what would your first reaction be!? Hurry and answer!" He yelled out.
"AaAhHhH!?" He yelled in confusion, shielding his face. Jason immediately started laughing.
"Your first reaction says everything, you know that, right?" Leading to Midoryia sheepishly chuckling.
"What if there isn't a person to save, like with that one friend that was covered by the slime guy? What then? Can you beat the odds and save yourself while taking care of the threat? Some villains are cold enough to kill you even without any dialogue, you know…" He explained to the boy, as he nodded with resignation.
"Ah, don't worry kid, that school should teach you all of those things anyway…" He said with the wave of his hand, before going back to retrieve a pizza from the oven, before boxing it and giving it to the waiting customer.
"You say that like you know I'll get in…"
He hummed, his hand on his chin, before breaking out in a smile.
"What can I say, I know it when I see it. I've been known to have good intuition." He says with a chuckle.
"Say, how's that one bone guy? Y'know, scraggly looking and half a stride into the coffin" Midoryia chokes on his spit, his eyes wide at his… description of his mentor.
"Oh, uh… wait, why do you ask me?"
"Took a walk once, seen you at the beach with skelly over there. I must say, lifting all of that stuff is impressive, I wish I could at my age, heh…" Jason says, wiping over the counter with a towel.
"He's doing alright, thankfully…" He mutters, being reminded of his mentor's condition. It was far from ideal, but they needed to get what they needed to get done before his… He didn't even want to think about it.
"Well, besides that, I feel you got a good shot at this hero thing, yeah? Just focus, really. Focus on your why, your reasoning to go into the depths of this world of heroes and villains. Your reason to fight. Your reason to do the things you need to do. Trust me, once I found my reason, everything followed suit, because I knew I'm doing this for something. Fight for something, someone, anything, and you'll find yourself even stronger than ever… Forget the saying to never fight a man with nothing to lose… Never fight a man with everything to lose, for he will exhaust every single option, stratagem, tactic, and exploit to take you out for that everything… it can be a person, a family, or even a thing held dear to your heart… Fight for your reasons, the right reasons, and don't look back. Never hesitate, and strike." He finishes, before noticing his rant went a little too deep. He looks towards the now awe-stricken kid, his mouth slightly agape.
"Don't mind me, just saying things an old man would say…" He says with a laugh, before he stops as he doesn't receive a response. He waved his hand in front of his face, no response.
"Uh, kid-"
"Thank you, Mr. Mendoza!" He says abruptly, surprising the man.
"No problem…" He says as he looks on with a wry grin as Midoryia quickly gets up, a face of determination clinging onto him. That disappears when he sees some of the customers look at him quizzically. He said that too loud, he thought…
He goes to leave before he hears Mendoza behind him.
"You got it, kid, quirkless or not, put those doubters to rest, yeah?" He says with a large grin.
Midoryia follows suit.
~~~~~
The lashing of chains and the striking of metal is heard from the alleyway, its walls being lit up by the bright orange sparks of the clashing metal. They were too fast to see… too fast to even tell what they were doing. They were even bouncing off walls!
"Come on!" His goading can be heard as he parried the Hero Killer's blitzing strikes with unwavering precision, before responding in kind with an attack of his own.
Far cry from being a restaurant owner, Midoryia thought not so calmly considering the situation they were in.
"P-please! Stop this fighting, this is… my fight, as the heir to the Ingenium-"
"SHUT IT KID! Are you seriously making it about yourself right now when lives are at stake? Huh? Don't get any more pitiful than you are now!" He yelled out as he continued his battle.
Jason lands a good punch on Stain's face, and uses the brief moment to grab his head and bury it into the ground. Stain, however, kicks his legs up, intercepting and sending Jason flying over Stain's head.
He spits some blood out of his mouth as Stain shakily gets up.
"Iida, right? Kid… focus on the real things that matter… the need to defend the Ingenium name, or the once in a lifetime, unique lives that need to be saved. What would a hero do?" He states calmly, not moving as the Hero Killer approaches. Stain immediately jumps back to avoid a kick from above. The green lighting coursing around Midoriya's body as he gets in a battle stance.
"Kid… back off." Jason says as he gets in front of the boy.
"It would leave a bad taste in my mouth if I let kids get involved." He asserts.
"Mr. Mendoza, I'm sorry, but I won't listen to you!" He says, steadfast. To that, Jason chuckles before arming himself once more.
"Then watch out, I might stab your heart. Keep up." Before he boosts off towards the hero killer, low to the ground as he turns his body, slinging his blade at the villain. Midoryia takes the above, looking for an opening within Jason's onslaught. They exchange in quick CQC action, as Stain tries to stab at him to no avail. They exchange fists and kicks as Jason targets his knees and elbows. Only barely ducking under a stab, he grabs the exposed right arm, before sending a ferocious palm towards his shoulder while pulling the arm towards him., dislocating it and tearing his rotator cuff completely due to the sharp force.
To really go all in, he uses the same arm he used for the palm, jutting out and throwing an elbow at his face in rapid succession.
It was like getting stun locked into a combo in a video game, with the way Jason relentlessly made up attacks out of his ass, each with precision and damn near lethal force.
Stain felt like his head was ringing. After that slam into the ground and now the elbow, he felt his sight become foggier… Nonetheless, his ideals pushed him through with bestial rage. He sends Jason away, after skillfully pulling out his sword with his other hand, slashing the space in front of him. Jason looks over himself to see no bloodstains… His injuries so far are due to the blunt attacks he endured. His ribs ached, the same spot Mirko decided to wreck. Nonetheless…
"It seems we still have more in the tank, huh, Stain!?" He didn't respond, only glaring at him as-
FWOOOSH!
The heat of fire made itself known as Stain barely dodged a torrent of fire. This originated from a beat up Todoroki.
"I came as quickly as I could, Midoriya." He said, catching his breath before looking over at the unknown man.
"You… you're the Prophet. What are you doing here…" He said coldly. In response, Jason put his hands up in mock surrender.
"Easy now, kid, just being a good little hero by taking out this guy, right here." He said. Todoroki didn't take the playful jab in kind. Tenya began to feel himself move again as he began to stand up.
Stain immediately sent a knife his way, straight to his leg, before it was deflected by Jason's Kusarigama.
"No sneaking here, Stain!" He says as he begins his run before noticing the two beside him.
"You two sit this out, I got it."
"I don't know you. I don't know what you're truly capable of, so I doubt you can take him on alone." Todoroki said nonchalantly.
"I need to rectify my mistakes! I can't sit this out!" Iida said with determination. Jason's eyes twitched as a tick mark formed on his head.
"Stupid brats, trying to insert themselves in things they shouldn't be in!" He yelled out as he clashed with the villain.
He refused to let the kids get hurt.
They engaged in CQC again, this time more intense than before. Jason slips a knife as he fires a quick jab to his nose. With him being open, Jason pulls his guard up to his chest as he receives a kick right there. Stain down a limb practically switches the grip on his knife, aiming for the back of Jason's head before it is evaded as he ducks down. Responding quickly, he fires off a quick and deadly heel kick, which Jason barely gets out of the way of. As he dodged, he turned towards Stain's side, the side where the injured arm was, before running by and cutting a gash into the shoulder, even further tearing and severing the muscles within it. Stain yells out in guttural anger.
"You ruin it! Heroism, you ruin all of it!"
"Heroism? What's that? This day in age your little fakes screwed that for you, huh?" Jason mocks as he dodges back, seeing into a future with an incoming attack. This was followed by a blow from Izuku across the chest, a kick from Iida, and a spike of ice from Todoroki.
"But killing is a little extreme, don't you think?" He said before running up and sending full kick to the chest, sending him flying across the ground.
"But… there's true heroes within that pile, and here you are trying to kill off the good few." He says as he stands next to the heroes in training, all with determined expressions on their faces. (A/N: holy shit put that in a stupid PG-13 action/comedy movie and it will BANG)
…
"He's not movi-" Before Iida can even finish his sentence, a knife comes flying out of the darkened part of the alleyway. Jason's mind works in overdrive, as he sticks his hand out… and catches it. Well, more like let it stab all the way through his hand.
"A man never changes, you fake Ingenium… Pathetic"
"Shit… heat of the moment mistake, huh?" He chides himself for letting the attack draw blood as the other students race off towards him.
"Midoriya!" He looks back, reading his expression before nodding.
"WORK IN TANDEM! DON'T LET THE OTHER GET HIT! IT'S ONE AGAINST THREE! OR FOUR IF YOU COUNT ME THERE TOO!" He yelled at the group.
Jason bends down low as he watches the kids utilize their quirks. He watches as the three fend off blows directed towards their classmates, before responding with counters. He watches as Midoriya sends him flying right towards Mendoza with a searing kick. Jason grabs him out of midair gritting his teeth hard as he feels his hand ache severely. He grabs Stain's right injured arm as he slings him up in the air in pure strength.
"Come one now, Shake the Heavens!" He says as he absolutely lets loose his weapon, creating a fierce whirlwind of slashes and blunt attacks as he dances, twirling and generating momentum as his weapon whips upward. Stain is completely covered in slashes and bruises as he falls down.
Jason grabs his shirt as he falls to him, dazed. The Prophet tosses him to the entrance of the alleyway as he storms towards him, Kusarigama blade in hand, but is forced to block a blow from the bloody killer.
"Still standing?" He strained out, blocking the strong blow.
"Nothing will stop me, not even your pitiful selves!" He completely lost it at this point, as he slid his blade along Jason's and…
…
Stabs into Jason's chest.
Right in the middle.
Stain is immediately surprised, seeing how Jason has been avoiding attacks until now… Was it a blunder? He uses this moment to his advantage and drives it in further.
Jason coughs up blood. The area around them seems to dim as he watches the blade drive deeper and deeper…
"Another down… These brats are next-"
"You know… I saw every single possibility… Everyone of them were less than ideal except this exact scenario, actually…" he coughed up blood. Stain grinned wider as he went to lick it before his head was sent reeling from a blow.
"You wanna know why I chose this future!?" Another punch.
"It brought me a lot closer to you, didn't it!?" Another punch.
"I can even see that you used your left arm!" He grabs his hand with a crack as he looks at the Hero Killer with eyes of pure malice, his teeth and hair covered in blood. "You can't lift up your right arm, after I tore your shoulder, huh?" He immediately gets a kick aimed at the head as he is forced to block it with his free arm. Stain immediately follows up with a kick from the opposite leg, kicking the life out of Jason's head. Jason grips his wrist so hard that he breaks it completely as he head butts the Hero Killer.
With his free hand, he beats his face in, a sharp, dull thud echoing into the alleyway as he continues his relentless attack.
Instinctually, Stain keeps frantically kicking as he hears the clanking of chains before being smacked over the head with the weight.
"Hear me, Stain!" He says as he reels back a devastating punch, letting go of the chain.
"You got done in by the "fake", Jason Mendoza!"
The punch lands with a wet smack.
The trio behind stare in utter horror and shock. They couldn't exactly do much with Jason being so close to the adversary… Todoroki would rather not burn alive or freeze someone to death, Iida couldn't kick the two of them over the head, and Midoriya was in the same situation as Iida.
That and that this all happened in about 10-15 seconds after Jason ended his "Shake the Heavens" attack.
Well, they were also horrified by the blade sticking out of his body. Jason coughed up blood profusely as they all went to his aid.
"What are you thinking!?"
"We need to call someone!"
"Mr. Mendoza!"
"Children, please, please… are any of you hurt, or, have gotten hurt?" He mutters. The three mention several injuries apart from the severe injury Iida's stab wounds.
"Ah… man, I was trying to go on a no hit run, y'know. I can't do everything… hah… I'm glad that it's me on death's door, then you guys… Even if I don't know the two of you…" He states before he coughs again, more blood spewing out as they all hold horrified expressions.
"He's rambling…" Todoroki grimly points out.
"That was fun… I limited your guy's interaction with him as much as possible because I felt that as the adult here, I should be in the direct line of fire, not you guys. Yall are only 15, 16 years old? That's crazy, doing shit like this. That guy was fun to fight though. He hit me in that one spot on my ribs kind of good…" As he continues talking, two of them tie up Stain while the other supports Jason as they walk out. Iida makes sure to grab Native as well. Todoroki reaches for the blade in his chest before his hand is swatted away by Jason's bloody one.
"Pull that thing out, and all my futures are practically gone, kid. Plus, the blood would start to pour out." He explained why. His gait is unsteady as he is helped by the hot and cold teenager.
Jason, unsurprisingly falls to a knee as his eyes drift off, he barely hears Todoroki call out to him. Blood oozes out of his chest and mouth.
"You guys are safe… good…"
The last thing he saw was the flashing of lights and a small figure dressed in yellow…
~~~~~
[Jason POV]
I always had a weird sense of doom whenever I fought. I always had a feeling that something would go wrong in a fight, sometimes. It probably is due to the fact I can see these moments of doom firsthand, so I try to avoid those like a plague, but sometimes, those dark futures are a necessity to win.
Like letting myself get kicked in the ribs. Like letting myself get stabbed through the chest. How odd is that? Those being the most preferable of the ones I've seen, funnily enough.
Reckless is the word, I suppose. Yeah, you can call me that. Thanks to this gift I have, I can see outcomes just like that, within a time range of course but that means everything in a battle.
Battle hungry? Yeah, that too to be honest. Stain was quite the adversary with a lot of skill. I could barely squeeze in the attacks I could. I only suffered a few blunt attacks, as dodging his blades were easy to see with my quirk running the whole time. My head hurts…
Oh yeah, back to what I was saying. Yeah, feelings of death as I just barely brush by it. It's… scary, I will admit, seeing everything, anything that could happen…
Especially when the things that do happen are out of my control. You know how people say to not worry about the things you can't control, well, the problem is that I see everything, so it's a little harder to do that, thank you very much.
Nonetheless, I only hold a few regrets in my life that I kind of made peace with in a sense. I'm glad I did the things I did, the actions I took that at least saved one life, at least.
People are precious things, I realized, after I lost it all. There only will be one of them, well, ever. It would be hypocritical of me to say that I always follow this ideal, as I did snuff out the lives that were hurting other lives. What does that make me? Hypocritical? I guess so, I suppose.
I don't regret that, though.
Man, I'm all over the place, one day I'm in peace and the next I'm in shambles, having nightmares and all.
Do I need help?
Nah, too much work. I think I'll be fine with how I am now, right? Right.
Anyways, let's get back to the present here… My chest hurts a lot, along with my hand… Why didn't I just grab the thing? Man, I am stupid. Should have been more calm, damn it…
The light is super… Light?
I immediately groan as I open my eyes, shielding my poor sight orbs from the unrelenting brightness of hospital lights. My throat feels hoarse and my chest feels like it's on fire. Would you look at that, I am alive.
I take a look around me as I notice a nurse, fixing up something in the cabinets.
"Hey." I say intentionally startling her.
"What hospital is this?"
"Hosu General Hospital…" She mutters as she bolts out of the room. Well shit, what did I do? I groan as I sit up, while noticing the IV needle stuck in my arm. WIth a yank I take it out, I don't need that anymore. I look at my chest to see that its covered in bandages… Did Recovery Girl come in here? It doesn't feel as bad as it should… Wait a second…
I assess the wound… Did it not hit my spine? Seriously? I am lucky…
Until I feel myself throw up.
I throw up pure yellow bile as I convulse, my body feeling numb… Shit, now I feel bad for making a mess. Now that that is over, the headache sets in. I wince as I feel my head get beaten down like a drunk dad breaking down the door to his kid's room. Okay, this is not good, the blade hit something along the way.
I hear the door open as several doctors rush in, putting me back onto the bed as they scramble.
"What was hurt. Tell me now." I practically command. Who I assume was the head honcho came up, sweating slightly.
"Well, the blade never hit your lungs or heart, but it did slash through the top of the liver and the diaphragm… Your rib bone right there was severed completely, and started to poke against the liver even more, damaging it further. We managed to perform a surgery to suture the liver, but it is going to hurt for sometime… If we could, we would refer you to Recovery Girl-"
"I can just go over there. Don't worry. Keep talking."
"W-well, as far as your hand goes, the tendon for your middle finger was severed, so a surgery would be needed to take place for that, along with the muscles that were stabbed through. The bone will heal on its own. You experienced a major concussion as we have seen through the blunt force trauma experienced in the head area as well. I don't see you coming out of bed anytime soon…"
That… well shit, that explains the vomit…
Man, I wish I had plot armor…
"Hey."
"Excuse me?" He gives me a stupid look.
"Get me a drink."
~~~~~
Ah, yes, This one dog guy came into my room after I was given my non-alcoholic drink, much to my dismay. I sip at the water, trying to soothe the headache kicking my ass.
"Good morning, Mendoza, my name is Kenji Tsuragamae, the Chief of Police Force" The dog fella said with a small bow.
"Uh… Jason Mendoza?" I said, a little put off by his professionalism.
"First off, I have some questions to ask that need answers from you personally."
"Shoot." I mumble out, recovering from puking my guts out.
"Well, to first start off, the Hero Killer Stain has been nearly mortally wounded, as he had experienced several concussion inducing blows and burns, but he is alive."
"The boys… how are they?"
"Alive, but that brings us to our next point," He says as he clasps his hands together.
"You allowed three minors, heroes in training, to face off against a villain. Such lack of action and care for this is severely irresponsible. What do you have to say to that?" Right out of the gate, huh?
"I couldn't stop them if I tried. They were stubborn. If I had spent effort trying to get them away, it would've led to his escape or worse, an attack on the boys… Sounds like you guys have a lack of faith." I said with a small glare. I was prepared for this grilling…
"Despite that, you were the only adult there, so the responsibility of their safety fell onto you, seeing as you are in fact a hero," He probably knows about the whole deal with the HPSC, I could assume.
"Based on what we know, however, under your attention, they received minor wounds. Wounds are still wounds, however, due to your action. The children have already been reprimanded for their reckless behavior."
"Shit, they helped me take him out! If there's anyone to blame here, is me, okay? I let them fight or whatever, but don't discredit them!" He claps his hands, before looking at me again.
"We're off topic. The three accomplices used their quirks without permission, but one was given such permission. The three obtained wounds during this fight, with or without your involvement, and also, you let them fight in the first place. These are laws you are toying with here!" I scoff in response. This isn't my first speech, dog man.
"Yeah, yeah. So cool, let him kill Iida then, I guess. Super illegal for them to interfere, right? If they weren't being taught by UA out of all places, then I definitely would've sat them out, but they were ready, I haven't seen such coordination from a team in a while." I said, trying to reason with this guy. However, he sticks his hand up.
"An opinion as the Chief of Police… it is my duty to let you know all of these things before I really speak upon this. I personally thank you for your protection of these young students." He says as he bows? Quite the turnaround…
"It is obvious, you took the brunt of all the attacks Stain had let off, almost losing your hand and your life in the process. In this context, with the boys mostly unscathed and you severely injured, it is easy for us to decide who to give credit for this debacle." I just… sat there, digesting these words while trying to make sense of whatever the hell he was on about…
"When you were found, our forces and heroes Gran Torino and Endeavor were quick to give you medical attention. With this, only several witness reports of you… You have been given the credit of taking down Stain, the Hero Killer!" Was that supposed to make me feel good? More attention? Great! Awesome! Fan-fucking-tastic!
"Yeah?" I only have that to reply as I scratch my head.
"We are only doing this to protect the three students who decided to fight, as they have bright futures for them, it would make more sense to pin it on a hero as yourself. Of course that would be fine if not for the controversies surrounding you…"
"Why the hell didn't you think of that? Just give it to Endeavor or something…"
"We would have if not for him outright refusing. As verbatim he said "I will not take the effort of some fake hero! It wasn't my fight!" Thanks, Endeavor. To finish off, the dog guy bows once more.
"Once again, I thank you for your effort, putting your life at stake in order to stop this threat."
"Uh, no problem?"
With a nod and a turn, he takes his leave, leaving me alone once more. Well shit, ain't that something? More importantly, how long am I gonna be here… Before I could get into my musing, I heard several knocks on the door.
"Come in, whoever you are."
The door opens, revealing the three stooges. Midoriya, Iida, and Todoroki, all having bandages and Iida wearing a cast. Their eyes slightly widened at the amount of wraps and needles in my body (The pesky nurses stuck them back in!). Hell, I would've seeing how sorry my state is.
"Hey."
They all… just stand there. I mean, what are they supposed to say to a guy they barely even know?
"Mr. Mendoza…" Midoriya speaks up.
"Yes?"
"Are you… okay?" I only smile and nod.
"It'll take a lot more than that to really get me down. You know that." To which he solemnly nods.
"Sir, if I may," The robot guy speaks up. You don't need permission kid… He then executes a perfect 90 degree bow. Damn, someone bring a protractor in here…
"Thank you for what you did for us! Thank you for saving me from the knife Stain had thrown, that would have killed me! Thank you, sir!" He finishes as he stands back up straight.
Todoroki looks around, before giving a small bow.
"Thank you." I think that's the best I'll get from the boy. We sit there awkwardly. I'm sure they know of my… past tendencies.
"If you have anything to say, speak now, or forever hold your peace." I state. I can see the gears turning in their head, but before then, Midoryia speaks first.
"Mr. Mendoza, are you who they say you are!?" He blurts out.
"Yeah." His eyes widen a little more as he begins mumbling.
"Mr. Mendoza, I never thought you would have such a past! It's crazy thinking that, but it all makes sense! The scars, the wisdom, the weariness, everything! I never thought I would see you move like that. It was insane! Were you a hero at some point? A police officer? A fighter?" I put a hand up, trying to ease his mind.
"Relax. Yeah, I was a vigilante. I killed people. Bad people. I don't necessarily regret it, either. Do with that what you will." They all sit, thinking before Todoroki speaks up.
"Usually, I wouldn't pay people like you no mind, but… What I saw was different… I can't label you as a criminal, nor a hero…" He says, squaring me up with his eyes.
"Are you misunderstood? Are you like a fighter for justice-" Iida begins before I interrupt.
"Ah, ah, don't go there. Like I said, I was a vigilante. I'm no fighter for justice or anything, I go on my code, my rules, my faith. Not for justice or whatever load of bullshit people pull out of their asses these days." I say, watching as his head tilts in confusion.
"However, I do have something to say for you guys, if you don't mind listening." Midoriya, used my ramblings, nodded, while the other two squinted skeptically.
"You guys, your class, hell the youth in general are the future for us. Nowadays, you see corruption, betrayal, backstabbing, killing, you name it under a guise… Both heroes and villains. I can't say it happens all the time, but I have seen it myself… I have faith, is what I'm trying to say. You boys tried to take on a literal serial killer, knowing that you could've died to such a man… I give you my praise, really. So all I can say is, from a man like me, be strong. Strive to be the best you can be, Stay true to your values, on what heroism really is: saving the lives of the people. That is what this whole thing is for, yes?" I say, letting what I am saying sink in. They all seem lost in thought as I continue.
"You may find yourself in situations you don't want to be in, situations that require sacrifice from you or someone else. It will come. You may find yourself squaring off against people too far gone, so deep in evil that you can't save them, truly, without some level of sacrifice. There's always a price to pay in this world, whether it be your mental state, your emotional state, or your very own life. Tread lightly boys, you have only seen a glimpse of what this world has to offer, it is up to you on how you navigate its treacherous waters. I can't tell you how, so I can only warn you." I finally finish off, leaving them something to think about. They all stand there, Midoryia rubbing his arms as Iida looks down in… serious contemplation, meanwhile, Todoroki just stares at me.
"You are a criminal." he simply states.
"Yeah. That's me." His face scrunches up at my nonchalant behavior.
"You killed people."
"Okay, are we doing a recap or-"
"Did… you find yourself in one of those situations?" I see what he was getting at. He's trying to dissect me! I lean back in my bed, scratching my chin as I thought.
"Well, I guess. In return for offing some scum of the earth," I looked him in the eyes as I spoke my next few words.
"My innocence was forever lost. And I can never get it back." I said simply, letting him think about what I said. I notice the mood has become more dreary than it should be…
"Enough of that, I'm sorry. Let me actually introduce myself here. My name is Jason Mendoza, also known as the Prophet. Pleased to make your acquaintances." I said with a smirk.
"Todoroki Shoto." The red and white haired boy said.
"Tenya Iida… I don't really know my hero name at the moment." I give an understanding nod.
"Midoriya Izuku, and I go by Deku!" I quirk an eyebrow at this.
"Ain't that, like, derogatory or something? I don't know…" I say, ruminating on that thought as I scratched my chin. I'm still trying to get the niche parts of the language.
"W-well it is a name that I, uh, grew to like… It's like saying 'You can do it'" He says, making me smile slightly.
"Well, that's pretty cool, I suppose. You impress me everyday, Midoriya." I manage to rasp out, making him flush.
Man, my chest feels like a bunch of hot coals right now... This ain't gonna be good...
I look around the room, the tension slightly dissipating. The boys don't trust me. I can accept that, hell, they really shouldn't to be honest. These boys… These people… Aizawa, Nezu, and all the other people I've known go through my mind as I come to a conclusion:
My time is up. The youth is our future, and how we raise them is how our future will be. It is up to them to protect, just like I tried to do. So, I think I'll be satisfied if the heroes of tomorrow were to come and protect, and be true heroes…
In My Steed.
I smile to myself as they start to conversate, before someone barges into a room! That being Aizawa, looking rather upset…
"You three out of your bed? I can treat you like I will treat any trouble maker in class!" He says as his hair rises, making them stumble over themselves trying to explain themselves. I guessed they weren't even supposed to be here… He glances at me, offering the smallest of smiles…
Wait, smile? Aizawa? What is he about to say-
"You have a press conference tomorrow."
"WHAAAAAAAAAT!?"