PLIP.
PLOP.
The sound of water, dripping seemingly endlessly, echoed through the hollow passages. A putrid smell of human waste, culminated since the founding of Musutafu, wafted from every inch of these sewers.
A place fitting for a rat.
He tried to convince himself that he wasn't one as he trudged through with a destination in mind. His heavy boots splashed against the murky waters. The ground soon rose, enough so that the brown sludge faded into concrete, and he now found himself in front of a series of U-shaped bars embedded in the wall that served as a ladder.
His teeth, stronger than stone, bit his lip as he shakily clutched a bar. He tried to shrug away the lingering anxiety and faint guilt.
Surely, they would not follow him into a crowd...?
An odd sense of unease filled Izuku's heart. To his side, his mother seemed to be plagued by the same illness, the woman scanning through the crowd as she tried to discover why she felt this way.
"...Mom?"
Her hand clenched tighter onto his. "What is it, sweetie?"
"How about we go to the food court?"
"Yeah... good idea. I'm suddenly famished."
With that, the family of two spun on their heels to make their way to the door a dozen meters away... only to freeze in place as a cacophony of screams suddenly erupted from the deep reaches of the mall. Not a moment later, gunshots joined the fray, further heightening their fright.
Inko's pace hastened as she led him by the arm, practically running and shoving past the similarly restless crowd.
She was not the only one with the train of thought to escape.
Like her, a few others who were quick on their feet have made their way to the sliding doors. But just as their outstretched fingers brushed with salvation, their hopes were dashed thin when several figures impeded their path. Four in total, they all wore brown leather coats and had matching tattoos on their foreheads — that of a single eye, so realistic it almost felt like it bore down on everyone there with a cold gaze.
"Thought you could run away, eh? Ya punks?"
The four threw back the closest of the fleeing civilians with reckless abandon. They had no sympathy to spare for the people they deemed with a mix of hate and smug gazes.
Izuku bit back a curse as he quickly took Inko to a small, diverging path covered in darkness. Now silent as a mouse, the two waited with bated breaths as the four Villains pushed the crowd deeper into the winding halls.
He rarely found himself hateful, but right now, he certainly held a level of irritation at whoever designed this mall.
It was essentially a ring within a ring, separated by a lush garden. The outermost building served as a food court, luring in pedestrians with their delicious scent. After, they would be baited to the garden by the litany of advertising banners there, billowing in the end. Ultimately, it was a strategy meant to bring an influx of customers to the innermost structure: the commercial and entertainment centre.
As a result, however... in the event of an invasion occurring within the innermost building, patrolling officers or Heroes would not be able to see it in progress.
Of course, many months after the incident, the mall would be made to experience major changes. Mainly, a part of the outer ring would be cut off, letting the inner building be easily visible to patrolling enforcers of justice.
Keyword in after.
As Izuku and Inko backed away, they felt themselves bump into something behind them. The green-haired mother quickly turned and was about to push her son back, but the aforementioned was evidently quicker, and he instead took that role.
Fortunately, their worries were soon proven to be unwarranted as the 'wall' they bumped into turned out to be a familiar face for one of them.
"Yotaro...!" Izuku brightened, noticing the rock-skinned boy.
"You know him, Izuku?" His mother asked warily.
"I do. He's a friend I made a couple of months back."
"I'm not–" Yotaro shook his head, deciding to hold back whatever he was about to say.
Inko instinctively sniffed the air around him only to be sent reeling from the exceedingly putrid smell that stabbed her nose. She was pretty sure even a year of never showering wouldn't smell this bad. Out of a mixture of worry and annoyance, she just wanted to reprimand her son's friend and dump some soap-littered water on him, but this wasn't the right time for that.
Her son, judging by his tight smile, had gone through the same train of thought.
Izuku blinked, noticing the folders held tightly to his chest. He was curious... but he had better worries. "We need to figure a way out of here." He whispered, glancing back to the four Villains that were herding the crowd. "Or find some way to contact the Heroes outside. They'll come crashing down on this place in minutes..."
"No, that's suicide." Yotaro immediately interjected.
"How about we try to call the police?" Inko offered another option, which was shot down just as quickly.
"I tried earlier, but the network was disabled. Must be one of their Quirks." He explained. "We should just wait–"
A heavy weight suddenly bore down on the very air around them, sending them into a deathly silence. They slowly glanced beyond the darkness and again into the crowd; this seemed to be everyone from the inner mall — having been gathered by more than a dozen Villains — all of which were left breathless from the same pressure the three felt.
Like the Red Sea, the thicket of raggedly-dressed Villains parted. From the gap, two figures stepped forward.
The first was a woman, decked in a similar brown coat to the others as well as the tattoo on her forehead. Her teal-coloured hair was tied in a ponytail. However, what differentiated her was the firm wooden mask that covered the lower half of her face, as well as the surprisingly sterile scent that even Izuku noticed from this far away. She scanned the crowd with a judging gaze.
The other...
Izuku felt a shiver go through every fibre of his being.
The aforementioned was draped in a hooded coat, his entire face covered by a plain wooden mask that left no openings. Rats seemingly swarmed around his legs, their eyes glinting red with a madness that seemed contained when near him. But that was not what held his attention the most.
No...
It was the mana that churned around him, so thick it seemingly manipulated the very space surrounding him.
'I-It's equal to Frieren-sensei...' He gulped. He has only ever seen his teacher's full mana once and it was enough to make him want to shrink and hide. Now, not only was that same sight attributed to someone else... that 'someone' was a Villain.
Perhaps even the leader of this group.
Dragging his gaze across the line of Villains, Izuku quickly noticed something he had not seen before; it was a sight that rapidly drained the colour out of his face. Blood splattered across the faces of many of the Villains, splotches of crimson that he knew did not belong to them.
His mother had noticed that, as well. Her breathing grew increasingly uneven as she instinctively nudged herself in front of her son. "We-We should get out of here, Izuku."
The boy took a deep breath before he nodded. "I'm... fine, mom. Don't worry." His eyes flickered over to who he assumed was the leader of the Villains. "We need to get out of here and go find some Heroes. What do you think?" He whispered while looking over his shoulder to the rock-skinned boy.
Yotaro appeared rattled by the sight. His eyes were wide as if fixated on the crimson stuck on the Villains' faces, the boy's firm grip on the folders tightening.
Izuku reassured him as he lay a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We'll get back at them."
Just as he said that, however, the crowd rang abuzz with commotion. They peered out of the darkness once more...
A fight had broken out. One of the gathered civilians had apparently been a Hero — a man with dark blue hair and a muscular yet lean figure that befitted a runner, as well as powerful calves with protruding exhausts, blowing out billows of smoke — and was now blitzing across the hall, fighting off much of the Villains.
The masked figure watched on, wordless and unmoving.
Beside him, the woman stood silent as well, mimicking her leader. Her gaze occasionally darted over at him in anticipation.
As more and more of his goons were taken out, the leader let out a deep sigh. He raised his hand and pointed to the Hero in silver armour... a second later, rats scurried from every corner of the mall. Their eyes burned with only a single purpose: to tear away at the body of flesh their Lord wished death upon.
The Hero narrowed his eyes at the incoming horde. He could admit that he felt a touch of fear at the sight...
But as the cheers of his brother filled his ears, he found that sense of fear dashed away.
Quickly realizing that his kicks would not be optimal, Tensei twisted on his heels and, instead, used the sprouts of flames from his calves to scorch the pursuing rodents. It would have been a viable strategy if not for the time limit of that particular technique.
He narrowed his eyes. With only one option left, he charged right through.
Tensei stopped for a brief moment, his figure quickly crouched into the starting stance of a runner. He let out a breath as he closed his eyes, the literal wave of rats momentarily forgotten.
His head hung low, his knees bent with one foot in front of the other. His palms faced the ground, his fingers pointing out.
Far within the bloodstream of his body, his very cells began to hasten. His exhausts, steel and glistening, heated the air around them.
His head snapped up, staring forward intensely. He tightened his muscles up further as he raised his hips.
A deep wealth of power gathered in his legs. From within the hollow tubes of his protrusions, bright blue flames bursted out.
Tensei rushed forward, cutting through the mountain of rodents in his way. With rapid zig-zags, he zoomed through the expansive mall and held a single-minded focus on the masked man; even at a glance, he knew he was the leader of the Villains. With him defeated, Tensei should be able to manage to follow up with the rest of his underlings.
The teal-haired woman narrowed her eyes at the incoming Hero. She moved quickly to stand in front of her leader, grasping the air and pulling up. Suddenly, a wall of water rose in front of her, rows of sharp spikes pointing straight at the costume-less Ingenium.
The Hero grunted as he came to a screeching halt before blitzing to the side, just in time as the spikes grew and penetrated the ground he was standing on.
"You think you can try to attack my leader and get away with it?" She snarled. "As long as I stand, you will never be able to do anything."
"Shut your high and mighty attitude, Cecile. You're being an annoying tramp, ya know that?" Another voice echoed from one of the goons, a man with lime-colored wild, spiky hair.
The woman narrowed her eyes. "Don't you dare talk to me that way, Jinshi. The Messiah values me far more than he does any of you." She spat.
"I was a gang leader once, ya know." Jinshi snarled. "You were just a shrivelling orphan when the Messiah first found you.
She narrowed her eyes, about to say something more before she was interrupted by the sound of a cracking stone. Both colleagues turned their heads as Tensei arrived in a burst of speed, catching them by surprise. Cecile could only raise her hands to guard her face, the muscles tearing and the bones shivering as Tensei's full-powered kick sent her flying away into a wall, forming spiderweb cracks in its wake. Jinshi bit back a curse before he suffered a similar fate, his figure spiralling into a store.
The man with a plain wooden mask, supposedly the 'Messiah' that the two had referred to, stood lackadaisically in place.
A breath rapidly escaped and went into Tensei's cavernous lungs. He stared with slitted eyes at the figure. 'There's nothing left standing in my way.' The closest of his guards were already thrown to the wayside, while the man's horde of rats was still far away. For all intents and purposes, the Villain leader was wide open.
So why did he feel something was off, still...?
Trying his best to shake away those intruding thoughts, his muscles tensed and exploded with energy, his blue-streaked figure heading straight for the Villain. He jumped, flying through the air and his legs, firm as steel, cut through the air straight for the masked man.
As his leg approached unimpeded, Tensei's confidence grew with it... only for it all to suddenly be dashed away when he hit something solid.
At the next moment, he was thrown back by a seemingly invisible force, sending his figure ragdolling across the floor. The pure white surface was stained with specks of crimson.
"Nii-san!" A yell echoed from the crowd, the worried face of a younger-looking Tensei peeking from it.
The Hero kneeled on the floor, the commotion around him smeared into a dull hubbub as he stared uncomprehendingly at the Villain. Hexagonal shapes shimmered in the air where Tensei had kicked before the blue motes of light dissipated into wafer-thin air.
'...That's new. Were those rats a disguise all along? But what ties in that shield and whatever pushed me away? Some sort of energy-manipulation Quirk?' His mind ran as the Villain moved his hands like a puppet master holding together a bundle of strings, the rats swarming around his feet. Tensei narrowed his eyes. 'Yet the chance remains that he is doing all of this, still.'
The fight from then on became utterly one-sided.
The horde of rats continued to chase after the speeding Hero. Whenever he tried to attack the masked man, the translucent shapes around him would always shield his figure, leaving him unscathed. Having quickly realized the futility of his actions, he tried to shift to the other Villains, hoping one of them was responsible for the force jamming the network within the mall.
However, as he tried to do so, he clashed against an invisible wall. He was bound and left with no other choice...
But to have a battle of attrition against the Messiah; a battle where his defeat hung like an inevitable omen.
Izuku's breath grew uneven at what he had witnessed.
If the Villain's mana — so potent and overflowing — wasn't enough to go by, then whatever he had just used to blow the blue-haired man away further hammered in the threat he posed.
'He's controlling the rats using magic. It's thin, but I can see each one controlled by his mana. And when he repelled that guy... I didn't see or sense any mana. So he has a Quirk, to boot.'
He whispered out a tense sigh as he turned back to Inko and Yotaro. "Can I ask you a favour?" He said to the rock-skinned boy.
"What is it?" Yotaro replied, trying yet failing to hide his anxiety. Or was it some other emotion?
It matters not. For now, Izuku only wanted his mother to be safe. "Can you protect my mom out of here? I... I don't want to go. I can't go."
"Wha-What do you mean you can't?" She whispered back before Yotaro could say anything, her face addled with worry. "You're coming out of here with me, Izuku, and no buts!"
"These people are in danger, mom. I can't– I won't go when I could do something for them."
"Please, Izuku. I-I'm not letting you out of my sight. S-Stop being foolish!"
"I'm not being dumb. This is what I want."
"For the love of...!" She sucked in a deep breath. "T-To w-what? To... j-just d-die out there? T-Think, love, please..."
"I'm... I'm not powerless, mom. Besides... this is what dad would have wanted."
"Your dad died, Izuku!" She grasped his shoulders with a wide, desperate look in her eyes. "He died because he fought someone far more powerful than him. I... I can't lose you too."
Izuku understood where her worries came from. He truly did. So he carefully and gently shrugged off her hands, holding them in his. "Don't worry, mom. I'll be safe. I promise that."
Her face turned ugly, tears prickling the edges of her eyes. "You..." She bit back a sob. "N-No." She said with a sense of resolution, wrapping her arms around her boy. "You're not going anywhere. You're going with me."
Yet... even if he understood, it was difficult for him to accept it.
He tried to tear her off of him, but her hold was unexpectedly firm, like a band of thick ropes wrapped around him. His brows scrunched up at her insistence; when screams in the distance began to echo, louder and louder, he started to put more strength into his struggle. "Mom...! Please— I need to—" As he spoke, he turned back to the crowd, only to feel his eyes widen at what he saw.
The wind rushed past her lithe form.
Dressed in a samurai costume gifted to her by some lord several centuries ago, she flew through the air with stunning speed. Fortunately, she had used a very specific magic to make the samurai armour — and literally only samurai armour — weigh lighter.
She tried to calm her breath as she gazed upon the towering pillar of mana.
After so many centuries...
After so many fruitless endeavours...
Finally, she has found another remnant of her past.
A way to break the Curse that permeated her being.
The blue-haired man lay bloodied and defeated, held beneath the masked Villain's foot. A strangled yell escaped from someone within the crowd as the others looked on, their gazes dark and resigned.
For once since the beginning, the masked man spoke.
"Pitiful." The voice crackled, distorted from within. "So bound you are by self-made rules that, even witnessing the fall of your brother, you dare not step forward." His bespoke words reverberated through Tenya's mind, further rattling him. "Compared to you..." He widened his hands to the other rugged Villains beside him. "we are free of such restraints."
"You..." He shuffled in place, nervous and jittery. All he wanted was to kick the vile man off of his brother, and he almost did— if not for Tensei's gazing boring into him, past the running blood. Even though he said nothing, as his brother, Tenya Iida knew what he was saying.
"Don't come here. You won't stand a chance against him."
He clenched his fist tightly, his nails digging into his skin as lines of red dripped down onto the floor. Of course, he knew that was the truth... and yet...
The Messiah snorted, having noticed their wordless message. "As if I will allow anyone to escape here alive." He clicked his tongue. "I bore of this. Traitor! If you value the life of this Hero, if you value the lives of those standing before me, you will come forward with your white flag raised in the air. You will give what belongs to me... and I spare everyone who stands here." The Villain's voice rang out through the crowd, searching for the one guilty of his accusation.
Behind Izuku, Yotaro let out a shaky breath, his eyes darting between the masked man and the bloodied Hero. Guilt and nervousness filled his being...
...yet he did not step forward.
He closed his eyes shut as he looked away, trying to comfort himself. 'I can't let him know who I am...'
As the seconds ticked and no one stepped forward, the Messiah let out a deep, audible sigh that stabbed right into Tenya's rapidly beating heart. He raised his fist right above Tensei's prone form and, slowly, opened it...
A distance away, in an indoor garden, flower petals bloomed from within the soil...
Each petal flew towards him, creating a mesmerizing blanket with seemingly ever-changing colours...
Only to unite and form a deadly spike of steel, raised in the air like a guillotine ready to drop upon the prone Hero. Barely giving the crowd time to react, the Reaper's blade fell.
A blur of colours went by, too quickly for most of the people there.
The lumpy weight of iron was kicked away, sent spiralling into the air and embedding into the ground a few meters away. Quickly shifting his foot to the point where it strained his muscles, he hefted up his brother and ran back into the crowd.
As Iida turned, only then did he realize that someone else had charged alongside him.
A boy with flowing green hair stood in front of the crowd, his body nervous yet firmly in place. He thrust what seemed like a staff forward and, in an instant, spurts of high-pressure water blasted from the ground and towards the masked Villain. "Wasserspitzen!"
Unfortunately, it was quickly intercepted by a wall of water that rose, the water droplets clashing against each other.
Cecile narrowed her eyes as she stood protectively in front of her leader. Like a veil opening, the jets of water that acted as a wall parted as she stared daggers at the boy.
"To attack the Messiah like that... you truly are courting death." She whispered with a hateful edge.
He grunted. What on earth was he doing? At that moment, when he saw that blade falling on the man's head, it was as if his body moved on its own. Even now, he still heard his mother's disapproving words, echoing with a constant reminder.
He clicked his tongue as he stared forward; this was not the time for such intruding thoughts.
The teal-haired Villain moved first. She punched her fist forward and the water, commanded by her Quirk, rushed forward like a wave.
As the water built up and towered over him, Izuku slid away on the smooth floor, his movement propelled by the water churning around his ankles. Cecile quickly turned her palm to the side as the wave shifted, following Izuku.
'She doesn't compare to Frieren-sensei... Not at all...' Izuku found little comfort in that thought. For even if it was true that she was vastly weaker than his teacher, the woman had one advantage: she wanted to kill him. It could be compared to sparring with a world-class champion and fighting a regional champion to the death.
Continuing to escape the grasp of the wave, Izuku pointed his staff forward. Jets of water cut through the floor around her, threatening to penetrate; having already sensed the trembling pipes beneath, however, she jumped away in time. As she escaped, she maintained impressive control over the rush of water following after him.
As their fight continued, Izuku felt the truth of their fight dawning on him.
By the smirk on her face, the Villain did, as well.
"What's the matter? Is that all you got? 'Cause let me tell you..." She grinned. "That's not the case for me!" With a yell, she brought her hands together.
Instantly, every corner of the hall was littered with sharp jets of water, quickly turning the mall into a place filled with deadly landmines. Through it all, the wave continued its chase.
Izuku's desperation grew exponentially... until his eyes widened.
Inko, still nestled in the darkness, could barely hold back her scream as she saw the threat looming over her son. She thrashed in place but the stone-covered hands holding her there were far too firm for her to move.
"Let me go...!" She whispered. She tried to use her Quirk, tried to manipulate the hands wrapped around her. "I can't let Izuku go into his death like that...!"
"What can you do?" The boy, who she was aware was named Yotaro, grunted. In spite of his words, guilt filled his face. "I... I can't do anything to help him, either. Directly, at least. But I can make sure his wish to keep you safe is fulfilled. I only want to make sure I can at least do that for someone I admire. You yourself know that, right? That's why you've been keeping your voice low."
Faced with the truth of his statement, Inko began to quiet down. Her eyes were filled with tears as she stared forward, the boy's form starting to overlap with someone else...
She shook her head. No— her boy won't end up like that. He promised her, didn't he?
Her breath slowly came to a halt as her eyes widened.
Witnessing the brutal battle between two water users, Tenya did not hesitate to rush forward and save the boy who had graciously helped him. However, he found himself unable to do so as Villains blocked his path. Among them was the spiky-haired Villain from before, the smirk on his face promising a world of hurt for the Hero who had knocked him unconscious.
He let out a growl. "You scums! You would hurt a downed Hero? Where is your pride?"
Jinshi laughed at the boy's words. "As the Messiah already said before: we are not bound by your self-made laws. Pride, included."
"You—!"
He truly was in a pickle.
He could only sit there and grit his teeth, unable to do anything else but watch as the green-haired boy found himself in increasingly more trouble. When the walls and floor began to spurt out jets of water, strong enough to slice through the stone around, the scrunch in his brows further deepened.
Tenya looked away, a silent promise filling his heart. 'Even if I don't know your name, I swear... I will avenge you.'
As he waited, he did not hear the squelch of the flesh nor the final, strangled scream he subconsciously expected.
Instead, he only heard the gasps of both the crowd and the Villains around him.
When his eyes darted back to the scene, only then did he realize why. Izuku stood there, his figure unscathed. The jets of water now flowed around him, as if they were the planets that circled him, the star that radiated an unseen power.
As deadly blades of water surrounded him, Izuku's eyes glinted with a sudden realization.
While it was being controlled by the woman's Quirk, natural mana still radiated off of every droplet. Mana that he's already learned to control and bend to his very will...
Was it truly so easy?
Was that the one, vital advantage he has over the fearsome Villainess before him?
Without wasting a second thought, he expanded his mana, encompassing even the very pipes the water spurted out of. He felt as if he could tug at it... so he did. And, to his widened eyes, the high-speed jets came to a slow halt. They circled him, every bit of their movements easily controlled by him.
Now, to be fair, he needed a long time to be able to take over the leash of the water around him. He still needed to sense the natural mana, separate it from the motes permeating the air, integrate it with his own, and finally take control of it; he hasn't been able to finetune that process for it to be a viable way of deflecting her attacks.
Yet even with all those setbacks... it was a vital advantage, nevertheless.
Not giving the surprised Villainess a chance to react, he swung his staff forward. At the same time, the water that drew a circle around him churned and rushed straight at the teal-haired woman. Biting back a curse, she tried to take control of the incoming wave, only to find herself unable to.
She turned on her heels and carefully positioned herself beside the Messiah. "I'm sorry but you need to move away." After his nod, she gently wrapped lines of water around their feet. She briefly mulled over the fact that the boy had thought of this technique before she did, turning her livid. A moment later, they slid away to a cluster of other Villains.
"Hey, boss!"
"The kid's pretty impressive, to overpower Cecile's Quirk."
"Silence!" She hissed. She glanced at her leader, trying to see his reaction. "Even if his water Quirk overpowers mine, I can still defeat him. I assure you that."
"...You should be quicker with your attacks. The boy can control your water but it is obviously something not yet familiar to him." The man explained with folded arms. Seeing the logic behind his words, the Villainess gave her thanks before she looked back at the green-haired brat.
"You think your circus show will save you from me?" She scowled as she walked towards him. "If so..." Her palm formed into a fist. Raising it, the puddles gathered and blasted in a single, powerful burst towards Izuku. "you truly are foolish."
The staff-wielding boy grunted as he leaned to the side, the jet of water grazing past his cheek. It did not take long, however, for the rest of the volley to join in.
His figure danced across the hall, giving a performance of life and death. It took all of his concentration just to be able to avoid her onslaught, much less start his own.
The crowd watched the increasingly desperate fight with bated breaths. Tensei, now awake — albeit barely — watched the scene alongside Tenya. The valour, courage, and skill Izuku had shown was enough for a glimmer to appear within their eyes... The Hero groaned as he tried to stand up with shaky hands.
Noticing this, Jinshi snorted. "Go ahead and stand up. I'll murder you when you do."
It was clear that the green-haired boy would not last much longer. Yet, even with that knowledge, they found themselves helpless to do anything about it; that realization hit Tensei especially hard. The boy was drowning in front of their very eyes but he was already far too deep for them to save.
As the seconds ticked by; as the young boy grew more desperate; as his injuries began to pile up — the frustration within their hearts only grew.
Yet it would never amount to the sheer fear Inko felt, still held within the darkness.
As memories began to surface in her mind, she bit her lip until she drew blood, hoping — desperately — that the past would not repeat itself. Unfortunately...
"This is it!" Cecile let out a yell as, at the same time, dozens of sprays came for him at once. Izuku swiftly dodged as best he could, swerving on the floor continuously until the attacks finally came to an end.
He kneeled on the ground as a satisfied breath escaped from Cecile's chest. "Took long enough."
Izuku slowly looked down. His mind was rattled and his breath was uneven, a usual sign of complete depletion of one's mana reserves.
Yet within his core, a portion of mana still flowed.
'Izuku's mana is growing weaker.'
Frieren clenched her staff tightly. The wind rushed past her even faster, to the point where a loud bang shook the very air surrounding her.
She just hoped she wouldn't be too late.
Inko could not seem to find her voice.
What else could she say? Scream, wail, or curse at the culprits? That would have done nothing good for her.
Even if she wanted nothing more than to rush in there and save her boy... she knew she could not do anything. That was what her rationality kept repeating. Truly, the sensible choice would have been to fade into the darkness and bide her time.
But as the scene of her dying son — splayed prone on a puddle of his own blood — reflected on her green iris, it was as if all that rationality escaped her. With Yotaro's hold on her weakening, a result of his own shock, she pried open his arms and stepped into the light. She stretched out her adrenaline-filled hand, covering them in a green hue...
And covering her son's, as well.
Before Cecile could land the final blow, his figure was slung across the room and landed in the hands of a woman with a similar appearance to the boy. Feeling tears prick the corners of her eyes, she pushed down her panic as she blotted out the holes in his body with her Quirk. She let out a breath of relief when she no longer saw the blood pouring out.
"Ah– damn it..." Yotaro grunted as he continued to remain hidden. Looking around, his eyes glinted as he barely noticed a murky shape within the darkness.
Chaos bathed in the light, the Villains clamouring towards the mother and son.
"These people seem to be dedicated to ruining my day." Cecile clicked her tongue as she trudged towards them. As she did, she tried her best to ignore the mockery echoing from the mouth of her infuriating 'colleague'.
"The high-and-mighty Cecile, having failed not once, but twice?" Jinshi cackled. "Oh, how you've fallen."
"I have not–" Her jaw tightened. She stepped forward with greater haste, leaving the lime-haired man in her dust.
Noticing the Villainess's approach, Inko directed a protective glare. "Stay back!" She barked.
That only seemed to spur her smug lips to further widen. She brushed off a line of blood on her cheek with her thumb, gazing at the red orb. "In the end, all he managed to do was this. Well... credit where it's due, for a brat, this is impressive." Her gaze sharpened. "This is where that ends."
As she raised her hand, liquid strings began to seep into the air. They straightened into a litany of white lines, ready to launch at a speed enough to make water deadly.
"Move away," Cecile told to the green-haired woman. She was met by a fierce glare, the woman's form unmoving.
"Go to Hell."
Not at all reacting to the insult, her face remained stoic. "You're a good mother, at least. I'll make sure you join your boy painlessly."
Just as her hand began to fall, a figure dashed from the side. Their fist stretched out, a gloved fist barreling towards her face.
She clicked her tongue and stepped out of the way. Her hand still raised, the strings hovering in the air, she glared at the man. "Who are you supposed to be? And what's with that ridiculous get-up?"
The figure was covered from head to toe, covering his identity utterly. A dog's mask hid his face; black boxing gloves hid his hands; a hooded coat, dark blue jeans, and heavy boots finished his ensemble. He raised his arms to the sides of his chin in a crude fighting stance.
Seeing this, her eyes narrowed. "My only target is that green-haired runt... and the blue-haired Hero back there." She stabbed her thumb in the general direction of the crowd, where the aforementioned and his brother were contained by the other Villains. "So scram if you don't want to die."
He raised his arms further.
Seeing his firm stance, she manipulated one of the strands to worm its way past him; only for the boy to block it with unexpected agility.
With that attempt failed, she let out a deep sigh. "...Very well." Cecile dropped her hand, letting all the strings of water strike true.
The figure, while remaining unknown, had his intrigue quickly stripped as he was taken down to his knee. Holes quickly litter arms and legs: soon enough, a familiar red would peek out of those injuries...
Cecile hummed curiously. No blood seemed to pour out; in fact, it was as if bits and pieces of black dust besmirched the floor instead.
Before she could question his identity further, the Messiah's voice rang in their ears. "That is enough. We must leave, immediately."
Protests quickly grew from his fellow Villains.
"Aw man, c'mon boss! I haven't had a taste of flesh since I came here!"
"Can I at least kill those huddling kids before we go?"
A distinct voice cut through the cacophony. Cecile, having already abandoned — temporarily — her previous goal to stand by the Messiah's side, prompted a curious inquiry. "What's wrong? We should be able to find the traitor here."
"Someone is coming here. Rapidly."
Hearing those words, Jinshi raised an eyebrow. He turned to a plain-looking boy with black hair and black eyes. "Ya sense anyone coming here, Arata?"
"No," She shook her head. "My jamming is still working."
"I'm still communicating well with the security in the outer building." She continued. Arata was a Villainess with various pieces of technology jutting out of one side. Her fingers crawled like a spider across the keyboard. "I don't sense anyone coming here, either.
"This one is... unique." Spoke their masked leader.
"In what way—"
Almost on cue, the sound of exploding rubble echoed throughout the mall. All of the Villains simultaneously twisted their heads to gaze upon the broken ceiling and the figure hovering over it, their forms illuminated by the piercing sunlight.
They only heard a single word before their world was rained down upon.
"Zoltraak."
In an instant, dozens upon dozens of translucent rings formed in the sky. Pillars of light flew from each and barreled right at them, like a stampede of bulls a human would have no chance at stopping.
The Messiah simply raised his hand before a wide wall of hexagonal lights filled the expanse. They stood firm as the attacks peppered their surface.
"We need to go." He nudged his head. Their previous confusion had been replaced by a sense of respect, seeing as his words truly did come true. With that said, they huddled together with the Messiah right in the centre; he simply snapped his fingers and they all turned into swift blurs.
A second later, a fist made of stone shattered the shield and crashed against the floor they had been standing on, sending up a cloud of dust and rubble. As the grey cloud dissipated, there was no trace of them to be seen.
...Well, that wasn't truly accurate.
'Jilwer. A faster version.' She closed her eyes. 'I can still sense the residual mana. If I chase after them now, I can still catch up... but...' Frieren looked over her shoulder.
Inko clutched her son tightly, her arms aglow. She was trying her best to stop the bleeding by using her telekinetic Quirk, but obviously, it was merely a temporary solution. The elf in disguise walked closer to her, something that did not go unnoticed.
"Y-You... get away!" She barked out with a fierce glare, her arms wrapping themselves protectively around Izuku.
Frieren paid no heed to her words. She trudged closer, stopping briefly when she felt something firm wrap around her ankle. Looking down, she noticed a fallen figure that donned a dog's mask. 'This mana signature: it's... Yosharo? Yokari?'
Noticing his injuries, she placed the edge of her staff on his mask. Nudging the piece of wood out of the way, she pressed it against the stone underneath. After a few seconds, his injuries closed. 'Seems like this works even on a Mutant-type.' With the adrenaline fading, his hand began to slacken as well.
She moved forward and kneeled in front of the mother and son, greeted only by Inko's growl. Seeing her distrust, Frieren's hands reached up and took off her samurai helmet; enough to show the desperate woman her face.
"You... Frieren-san?" She whispered, her eyes wide with disbelief. "You were the one to..."
"We don't have time for that." She answered as she put the helmet back on. "While I was flying, I saw many red and blue lights on the road. I don't want to be here when they arrive, so let me heal your son quickly. Please."
Inko's eyes darted from Frieren and back to Izuku. Her face softened, the previously present wariness now fading. "...Okay."
Giving an appreciative nod, Frieren pressed her staff against Izuku's forehead. A moment later, his wounds closed entirely, a sight that made Inko's eyes widen with disbelief.
Right then, blaring sirens began to be heard faintly in the distance. The police were coming and the Heroes were likely already closer, the elf thought ruefully.
"This is goodbye, then."
"Ah– yeah..." Inko murmured, staring up at the wide, toothed grin and slitted eyes of her samurai helmet. "...Thank you."
"You're welcome." Her voice smiled.
As the sirens slowly grew, her son's saviour turned away and quickly flew out of the gaping hole in the ceiling. Not just Inko, but the eyes of the crowd followed the enigmatic samurai as they flew away, seemingly never to be seen again; amongst them, a few had even pulled out their phones, back in working condition now that the Villains were gone.
A groan alerted her to Izuku, awakening from his slumber. Once again, her gaze brimmed with worry.
"How do you feel, Izuku?"
"Mom?" He grunted, pushing himself up. She helped him rest against a nearby pillar. "I... It's weird." The boy said as he scrutinized the gashes in his clothes.
"It was your teacher, Frieren-san." She elaborated. "She pushed back the Villains and healed you. Though, she left as soon as you were fine."
His eyes widened. "Frieren-sensei? She was here?" Now that he thought about it... 'My mana is already filled. Did she have something to do with that?' A feeling of giddiness arose within him. That was another thing he'd ask when he saw her again.
Inko's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "Izuku. About what you... did—"
Her words, low and careful, were suddenly interrupted by a resounding yell. "Excuse me!"
Simultaneously glancing to the side, the two witnessed another duo approaching. It was the blue-haired boy who was colleagues with Izuku in age, while his Hero brother leaned on him for support.
"Oh!" Inko stood up and bowed. First to the Hero, then to his younger look-alike. "Thank you so much for what you two did earlier."
Ingenium smiled placatingly. "It's fine, it's fine. In fact..." He offered his hand to Izuku. "I should be the one thanking your... son, right?" Seeing Inko's nod, his already genuine smile turned wider.
"But we won't find ourselves in trouble, right?"
Tensei shook his head. "I don't usually operate in Musutafu, but as a Hero, the police will trust what I say." He said. "They'll still ask around, sure, but nothing to land you two in trouble. There are specific laws to make sure civilians are allowed to use Quirks, if only during dire situations."
"I see." The bespectacled youth turned to Izuku with a wide smile. "As my brother already said, I must thank you for what you did! If not for your actions, I fear I would not have gotten away unscathed." His eyes roamed the green-haired boy's body. "What happened to your injuries?"
"Fr— uh, that samurai from earlier: sh— they healed me."
"I wonder who that person was..." Ingenium hummed, tilting his head in thought. "I don't recognise any Vigilantes who look like that."
"Food for thought: perhaps she's new on the scene?"
"Could be." Tensei nodded, not denying that possibility. "But then why would those Villains from earlier run away when she came? In fact, it seemed as if the masked man — the person they call the Messiah — had anticipated their arrival."
The two brothers looked down, their creased brows bellying their confusion. At that moment, they looked like practically the same person.
An unimaginable amount of footsteps echoed faintly in the distance, eliciting a smile to adorn Izuku's face. "Well... we survived today, at least. That's what matters."
A silent Tensei glanced at him for a moment. "Yes... we survived." He repeated. He looked over his shoulder, his stare seemingly piercing through the walls and straight at the other side of the building.
The stench of iron, overpowering all else, continued to echo within his mind.
After they — mainly Ingenium — were questioned by the police, the four went their separate ways. Izuku had tried to find Yotaro but the boy had seemingly disappeared into thin air, having walked away the first chance he got.
The sun shone brightly in the endless blue sky. Birds chirped and a cool breeze blew through the parking lot.
Walking down such a scene, it was as if nothing had happened.
It seemed to sober him up, allowing him to finally come to terms with the fact that he almost died. If not for Frieren, he certainly would have.
As Izuku sat next to Inko in their car, an oppressive silence seemed to weigh on them. The mute air continued as they made their drive home. Each yell and honk resounding from outside continued to highlight their sheer quietude.
Soon, as the noises faded and the city lights began to dim, they arrived at the gravel surface of their apartment's parking lot. The car bobbed up and down on the uneven ground. After Inko haphazardly parked the vehicle, the tyres bleeding out of the white lines of the lot, the pair made their way out and into the apartment lobby. The blinding lights sprayed them as they were greeted by the old and kind security guard stationed there.
Offering the man a strained greeting, they filled the small elevator and went up. The silver doors dirtied by faded stains and ripped stickers eventually slid open, and they trudged on towards their apartment.
Throughout their journey, none of them had spoken up.
Only now, as the soft, familiar hue bathed their bodies, did they finally talk.
"Mom, I–"
"What was that, Izuku?" She spoke, still not looking at him as she sat on the couch. She patted the empty space next to her. "You didn't tell me you had a Quirk."
He quietly made his way to her side. "I... I got it r-recently. When I fought that Villain, i-it appeared just t-then."
She turned, her gaze finally fixed on him, and he almost recoiled at the intensity within them. "I know you're lying, Izuku."
His lips went shut. At first, he wanted to deny her words, to say that her accusation was baseless... but he knew that would have truly cemented him as a liar. After a moment, he looked down.
"...Yeah. That's not the truth."
"So let me ask you again, Izuku: what was that?"
"It's... something related to my teacher. She helped me learn these things; these powers."
"So you were never truly just studying, then? All this time, behind my back, you were out there honing your Quirk?"
"Yes. And... it's not exactly a Quirk." He shook his head. "Anyway– with this, mom, I can finally be a Hero! Just like–"
"Absolutely not."
"What?" His eyes widened. "I... But you saw what I was capable of, mom. I almost beat a Villain by myself!"
"No. You... You only managed to cut her cheek. You weren't close to beating her." She shook her head, vehemently — almost desperately — denying his statement. "And you almost died, Izuku! Did you forget that?"
"That was because I was still inexperienced, mom. I'm sure I'll be able to beat her when I train harder, when I understand my powers better, when I become a Hero–"
"But that's not an assurance, Izuku! How can I be sure you'll be safe? Even if you grow stronger, even if you're All-Might himself, there will always be things capable of hurting– killing you." The couch shifted as Inko fully turned to face her son.
"That applies to everything, mom." He retorted, feeling his frustration slowly grow.
"And it will apply even more when you get a job as dangerous as being a Hero is." She spoke with a desperate, longing tone, her fingers stretching out to cusp his cheeks. "Please, Izuku. Just pick a safe job. I... I don't care what it is, as long as you're safe."
He gently pried her hand off of him and shook his head. To that end, a frustrated breath left her lips.
"I will never approve of you becoming a Hero, Izuku. You are the last thing I have... and I won't lose you; not like I did your father."
"I don't want to lie to you anymore, mom."
"That's good." She quickly nodded.
"But... if I live life as you tell me to, if I keep on sacrificing what I want to just live life safely... my entire time on this earth would have been a blatant lie."
As she stared deeply into her son's eyes, something told her he spoke nothing but the truth. In fact... the only thing stopping her from truly admitting that was her reluctance to admit it. And she knew that.
Yet, even if the hypocrisy bit at her, there was a larger fear that threatened to consume her.
"I..." She let out a shaky breath. After a short pause, she continued. "I won't budge."
With those words made known, Inko stood up and left, wishing to stew within the cauldron of her thoughts. Regardless of how it all will turn out, of what the final brew will be, there was one thing she was sure of.
She was a hypocrite; a selfish mother; a terrible person.
Yet, as long as her son was safe, she did not mind it at all.
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