This is your reminder that this is a Warframe fic.
CW: Moderate blood and gore, psychological torture, thoughts of suicide.
Some lines from Ballas are quoted from the game. Warframe is owned by Digital Extremes. Ordan's story is going to be much more in depth than his fragment lore, which I justify as him being an unreliable narrator due to his fractured mind. With him restored he has everything back.
"The emergence of quirks turned out to be a blessing in disguise for those of us in the business of keeping the supernatural under wraps. Admittedly, we didn't know what we were dealing with at first, and acted accordingly to cover it up. At first we assumed it was the effect of a Stand, but everyone could see these abilities, and they didn't manifest spiritually."
She took a long sip out of a cup of red liquid.
"But we were wrong. Quirks were here, and soon the world was thrown into turmoil. Riots, wars, lynchings. All rife opportunities for monsters to come out of the woodwork to take advantage of the bloody chaos. We had our hands full the first few decades, but it all worked out in the end. Nowadays, if someone spots a monster they assume it's a quirk. We can classify monsters as villains when they do appear. The fact that we have a quirk registry makes it harder for those that are hostile to humanity to hide, and to keep track of those friendly to us."
-Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, Hellsing Organization Advisor, 2320 [Hellsing Archive]
[Might Tower, May 6th 2242]
Toshinori took a sip of the herbal tea he had just brewed. It was a special blend made by Recovery girl that was supposed to help with infections. All the blood he coughed up had to come from somewhere, after all. The last thing he wanted was to die by allowing a wound to fester.
'Young Midoriya should be at school right now. Now that I think about it, he never really talks about what he does there. I know he said he had it rough because of his quirklessnes, but hopefully he has a friend or two there. I should ask him about it sometime.' Sure, he donated a lot of money to quirkless charities, among others, but he hadn't seen much of what the day to day life was. Being the number one hero was busy work. How much had changed in the forty years since he had inherited One For All?
It wasn't like those in charge would tell him. That was one thing he disliked about being the Symbol of Peace for the world. Small scale things weren't important enough for him to worry about.
Or at least that's what the people in charge thought at least. To them, he was just someone to point at the bigger threats. He could punch villains, but he couldn't punch society's problems away.
Toshinori was never someone who liked to throw his influence around. He did this because it was the right thing to do. Of course, the pay was good, as the massive tower penthouse he lived in would suggest, but it was more out of convenience than anything. Hell, he only owned the upper floors anyways, and most of it was for his staff. Most of his vast fortune went to helping those in need. Plenty of people said they owed him favors, from businessman to politicians, but he never cashed them in.
The Symbol of Peace had to remain apolitical. He needed to be unbiased and unrestrained, despite some of his own beliefs. All Might was an example to follow, not a leader.
In truth, he was afraid of what he would do if he got that much power. After all, the road to hell was paved with good intentions. If he started fixing things, would he ever be able to stop? Would he even know when to stop?
Sometimes he wished he had made different decisions during his rise. He was the Symbol of Peace, yes, but he was the ONLY symbol. In his crusade to take down All For One, he'd forsaken any help from his friends across the world. Zhongli, Varka, George, Seras… they all could have helped him during that fight five years ago.
But he didn't want to put them in danger. They had children of their own, families to look after. He didn't have anyone to leave behind. 'That's a lie. You have Sorahiko. Mirai. Dave. Melissa. Naomasa.'He thought to himself. The ice pack on his torso shifted a bit as he walked toward the one way windows to gaze out over the city. It was a peaceful Tuesday morning. A morning where people didn't have to fear the Symbol of Evil.
He smiled and took another sip from his mug. Lamenting about his past mistakes wouldn't help him. All For One was gone. His followers were arrested and scattered. Toshinori could live with regrets knowing that the future was safe for his successor.
A PHONE CALL IS HERE! A PHONE CALL IS HERE!
The sudden ringing of his phone startled him. He almost spilled his remaining tea as he fished the phone out of his bathrobe pocket.
'Nezu is calling? I wonder what that's about?' He accepted the call."Hello? Is everything alright Principal?"
"Ah, All Might. I hope I didn't wake you, but knowing your habits I assumed you were up already." He squeaked. "Unfortunately, the purpose of my call is… potentially unpleasant. It is in regards to our mystery guests."
"The ones from the beach?" He asked.
"The very same. I was holding off on this call until I had more information." He heard the Principal take a deep breath. "One of them has managed to learn Japanese, so we are ready to interview him…" He trailed off. "Normally we would do this with just Detective Tsukauchi, but during our medical examinations of our guests, we discovered that two of them have multiple quirks."
Nezu heard the sound of glass shattering on the other end of the line.
"You think they are followers of him?" He asked, hands shaking.
"That remains to be seen. They have been extremely well behaved during their stay, barring the one you fought. I wanted you here when we begin the interview, just in case." He heard Nezu sigh. "I apologize for keeping you out of the loop, but I didn't want to cause you any undue stress on pure speculation. I trust you will be able to make it?"
"I'll be there within the hour."
[U.A. Multipurpose Emergency Center, May 6th 2242]
Ordan may have fudged his estimate a bit. It took him ten days to get the language down, not a week. Natah could start a conversation and understand some of his, but she still needed work. Haylee was struggling a bit more.
In between studies and meals, the Tenno told the both of a bit more of what had happened. The deal she made with the Void entity. He was skeptical. There were… a few legends about the Man in The Wall. He'd listened to the tale of Albrecht Entrati that Haylee had recovered from Deimos. The Entrati patriarch was terrified of something lurking in the Void, warning to not let it out. The Red Veil had been dedicated to fighting off the entity's influence, until their founder Rell's death and the decimation of a majority of the syndicate's members.
After Haylee had freed Rell from his torment, Ordan had noticed psychic disturbances aboard the orbiter from time to time. They usually lasted seconds, but always around Haylee. Other cephalons in the weave had reported similar disturbances around their operators as well. Eventually they discovered it was the Man in The Wall, toying with the Tenno. And there was nothing they could do to stop it.
Why would such a powerful entity just give up all that power? Was it telling the truth about its death, or was this just another attempt to gain control of Haylee? While the girl slept, Natah shared his concerns. She didn't trust most of what she'd been told, but she could tell in her heart that the rest of the Tenno were gone forever.
Out of sight of Haylee, Natah had wept in Ordan's arms for the first time. The others may be gone, but he still had a duty to his Operator, and Natah was still his superior. He would follow her to the ends of the Earth if it meant protecting Haylee.
They were all that poor girl had left.
They had more questions than answers in regards to what happened with the Void. It was possible they would never know, assuming that the avatar of the Void had been telling Haylee the truth.
But today, Ordan could do one thing, and that was get answers on where they were now. That was why he was currently cuffed to the table of what seemed to be an interrogation room, facing a one-way mirror.
Tsukauchi and Nezu were already waiting when Toshinori Arrived, dressed in his hero suit. The detective had a grim expression on his face, likely expecting the worst from the interview.
Nezu broke the awkward silence. "Now that we are all here, we can begin. Currently, all we know about this man is his quirk, which seems to be the ability to grow extra bones from his skin. He told Midnight that he was ready to talk and hasn't said a word to anyone else since. Our objective here is to find out who these people are affiliated with, and their intentions." He summarized.
Toshinori looked through the glass. The white haired man was drumming his fingers against the table with an otherwise calm expression on his face. The woman and the man he fought were the ones with multiple quirks, but from what Nezu had told him before he hung up, this man didn't seem to realize he had a quirk when he first used it.
Could they be followers of All For One? The quirk thief had some operatives that operated on a global scale, but they should've spoken the quirk thief's native tongue at the very least if they served him.
But Nezu said they didn't speak any known language on the planet. Were they faking not knowing? He needed answers, and he needed them now. He puffed up to his hero form and followed the two inside.
The door to the chamber slid open and they all sat down, Nezu on a slightly raised chair. The detective set his briefcase out and pulled out a recorder. He turned on the device, set it down, and began to speak to the man.
"My name is Detective Tsukauchi. The two next to me are Principal Nezu of U.A. Academy and Pro Hero All Might." He gestured to them respectively. "Before we begin, my quirk lets me know if what you are saying is true or not. We will be able to tell if you are lying."
'There's that word again. Quirk. Is that what powers here are called?" Ordan thought. "I understand, I think."
"Please state your name for the record."
"Ordan Karris."
True
"Age?"
At that moment, Toshinori began to take a sip of water.
"Hmmm… I'm not sure. I stopped counting after four centuries." 'That's counting my time as a Cephalon too. I think that applies?'
"Pfffft!" Toshinori spat out his water and looked over to Naomasa. Nezu glanced over at the detective as well. The man was deathly pale.
True
Nezu's mind raced. Karris had a quirk, but quirks first appeared in the year 2050. He was claiming to be far, far older than that. The Detective's reaction let him know that the white haired man was telling the truth, or at least truly believed in what he was saying. He had focused so hard on the aspect of multiple quirks, his worry that they were agents of All For One clouding the idea of other possibilities.
From their shocked reactions Ordan could confirm his suspicions. They didn't know that the five of them weren't from this world.
All Might was the next to speak. The fact that this man was older than All For One, and had a similar hair color to the man hadn't eased his worries at all. "What is your relation to the villain All For One?" He glared at the man who looked confused.
"All For One? That's an -what kind of dumbass- odd name. I don't know who that is."
Toshinori was a bit taken aback by the answer, looking to Naomasa for confirmation. He nodded. Nezu on the other hand, had heard from Midnight about the man's outbursts. This was simply the first time they had been able to understand him.
But the whole reason for this interrogation was to confirm if he was affiliated with the long dead villain. If he didn't, then who exactly was he?
"I'm guessing from your expressions this wasn't the answer you were expecting." He leaned back in his chair. "It seems you have a misunderstanding about our situation here. I'm not exactly in a position to bargain, but I'd like to propose a trade in information. I tell you everything about me, you tell me what's going on here. Sounds acceptable?" If they wanted answers, he was going to be getting some in return.
The three looked at each other. Nezu nodded to Toshinori and Tsukauchi. As long as the man's questions weren't too compromising, he would be happy to answer.
Seeing as he was the one to agree to Karris's terms, Nezu asked the first question, perhaps the most important one. "Who are you, Karris Ordan, and why are you here?"
Ordan sighed. "That's a long story. I hope you have some alcohol on hand. You'll probably want some when I'm done."
Thus began the tale, the tale of the Beast of Bones.
[Origin System, Hundreds of years ago]
Ordan stood over a burning village. Piles of rebellious Ostron strewn across the street. Men, women… children. There was no honor in this wholesale slaughter. The villagers didn't even have a chance to fight back. It was a massacre.
He stepped over the body of a mother, lifeless hands still wrapped around her child even in death. Two of his men awaited him with the head of the village. The man had spoken out against the local lord of the sector, who took it as an insult. The price for his transgression was to be paid in blood.
"Was it worth it, all this to spite your masters?" He kneeled down to the balding man. "Your people paid the price, and now the time has come for your punishment." The lord wanted the chief alive, probably for some sick torture that would drag on for weeks.
He pitied the man. Were it up to him, he would be handed a knife and allowed to fight for his life. But he had his orders. It wasn't the first time, and it wasn't the last. A long trail of bodies leading toward his goal.
The chief was hauled off, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He felt a warm sensation in his throat. His illness was getting worse. He removed his mask and coughed up a glob of bloody phlegm.
"If you're lucky, you have maybe two decades left. The last few years you will be bedridden and in agony." The Lorist had told him.
He wiped his hands clean onto his ragged robes. The hourglass that was his life was emptying fast. He needed more time, more renown.
It was one and a half decades ago when his plan was conceived. Before, he was loyal to the Orokin, yes, but above all else he was loyal to his battle brothers and sisters. Bound by blood, together till death.
For the past few weeks, they had fought in the bowels of Mars. Rebels, deserters, traitors to the Orokin united under a single banner. But did their golden lords send their Dax? No. They sent their mercenaries to do the dirty work. Apparently the insult of insurrection was not enough to garner that kind of attention. For months, they had fought an intense guerilla war against Ordan and his men. They were crafty, luring his people into ambushes and traps.
He gazed over the scene of their latest triumph. One of his brightest, Akali-Harik, lay splayed out, surrounded by the corpses of a pack of desert skates. The ray-like creature's tails impaled through her heart. In her hands were her bone plugs, ripped from the base of her skull in a last ditch effort to fight her way out. Her faded lifeless yellow eyes glinted in the light of the cavern.
He reached down, drawing back her hood, closing her eyes. She died a warrior's death. Defiant till the end in the face of a cowardly ambush. Above them was a hole leading to the cave. She had been drawn into a pitfall trap, right above a den of the creatures. Alone, she hadn't stood a chance.
Tonight, they would feast on skate meat. At least then her death would not be meaningless. Her sacrifice would fill the bellies of her brothers and sisters in arms.
"Wrap the body, we will burn it at dawn." He told the retrieval team. Masking his rage, he left with a swirl of his cloak.
This was the third time this week that his people had been led into ambushes. It was like the enemy knew they were coming. How? It couldn't be any of his comrades, they were just as loyal to each other as to him. That left only one option. Someone was spying on them, reporting on their movements.
That would end today. No more meaningless deaths.
His comrades had found the spy. He heard the hollers and jeers as someone was dragged into his tent. He wasn't prepared for what he saw.
It was a child, face burnt and looking like he was on the brink of death via starvation. The boy was small enough to sneak through the narrow crevices, watching their patrol routes. That was how the enemy had known when they were coming and where.
He stared at the child in silence. The boy couldn't be more than twelve years old.
"Boy." He asked. "Do you have a name?"
The child was silent. He raised his head to glare at Ordan. One of his guards raised the butt of his rifle to hit the prisoner, only for Ordan to raise his hand, signaling for him to stop.
The child glared at him with a feral look in his eyes. He looked like a starving feral kubrow. A pit dog in a salvage yard hunting to survive. Ordan removed his mask and caressed his own scar. The boy's face was burnt on the same side as his.
They were the same. Beasts trying to survive in a harsh world. They served the Orokin as a means to an end. It was the only way to survive long in this galaxy. Even then, most fell in combat. It was only through sheer skill and determination that he had lived two centuries.
Ordan felt no hatred for the boy, for he was the boy. Well, not entirely. He had become a mercenary after his face was scarred. Orokin society thrived on beauty, and his scar marked him as imperfect. His imperfection made him an outcast, and he was quickly forced out of his philandering lavish lifestyle.
"Feed the boy, and lock him in the brig on the ship. Without their spy, we will be able to move them. Send a scout drone through the tunnels, retrace his steps back to their camp."
The child's eyes widened in fear. He tried to yell, but his throat was too parched. But there was one thing that he could do, one last beastial action. With a raspy howl, he leapt at Ordan's desk, grabbing a sheathe with a gilded Fang blade, a gift from a grateful Orokin lord. The boy would go down fighting, and his goal was to take Ordan with him.
The blade never made it to Ordan's throat. He had seen the glint in the starving child's eyes. The boy had been eying the blade since he entered the room. His Boltace caught the blade in its spines, and he kicked the would-be assassin to the ground. He felt some of the whelp's ribs break under the force of his kick. Not enough to kill him, but he would need medical attention.
His men dragged the whimpering child out of the tent. He never saw that boy again. He never found out his name. But he always remembered his face.
It had been months since their victory on Mars. Every night he would have the same nightmare. A dog with the face of that child staring at him, surrounded by a field of skulls. Around the child were shadowy figures, and like a starving hound he pounced, devouring each and every one of them. With every kill, he changed. He grew, face morphing into a silver mask. The mask of Ordan Karris the Beast of the Bones. Ordan couldn't move as his copy approached him, grabbing him by the neck and lifting his paralyzed body high, before driving a sharp blade into his stomach.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" He awoke screaming.
Ordan couldn't bring himself to train. Every time he raised his blade to the simulated target, he saw the face of someone he'd slain.
Why was he faltering? He hadn't hesitated for decades. Deep down in his heart, he knew why. It was because of his guilt. After the encounter with that boy, he'd had a revelation. They were all dogs to the Orokin. They fought and died purely for the amusement of the Orokin. Once Ordan fell in battle, he would be replaced by another hound.
It was pointless. He was a monster in the skin of a man. The Beast of Bones was a mocking title, one fitting for the Orokin's attack dog. He was one of the strongest warriors in the Empire, but his name carried with it no respect.
Was it worth it? All the lives he took? And for what? He killed to survive, the same as those he had opposed. The guilt gnawed at him every day.
Drip.
He felt a wetness in his nose. Bringing his hand up, he noticed a drop of blood on it.
"It's a blood disease. I've never seen anything like it before." the Lorist looked up from the screen. "If you're lucky, you have maybe two decades left. The last few years you will be bedridden and in agony. The only thing I can give you are some suppressants. It may buy you a few more years, but you won't be able to fight anymore."
Ordan always thought he would die in battle. He never had expected to last this long. The only thing that kept him alive was his desire to keep living.
And now he was dying. He didn't know how he got this disease. It could have been the side effect of a chemical weapon he had endured, or simply bad genes. In the end, it didn't really matter.
He returned to his room, staring at the stand holding his armor. All this service to the Orokin, and for what? To keel over and die?
No.
It was all because of the Orokin. There was no other way to live in this galaxy with them using everyone as their sick playthings. The immortal gods cared for no one but themselves.
But were they truly gods? He'd heard rumors that the upper royalty of the Orokin had changed a few times. That meant that they could die. They acted like gods, but they were still men. And men could be killed.
He watched the broadcast highlights. A scientist named Perintol was being elevated to the station of Archimedean. He was Corpus, a sect of merchants followed by Parvos Granum. Apparently his burgeoning research in robotics had caught Executor Ballas's eye. It was rare for someone to rise through the ranks, especially with how the Orokin viewed the merchant cult. They followed the ancient economic and political system of capitalism, which the Orokin despised as it allowed those to rise above their birth station. He must be truly special to receive such an honor.
An honor he desired above all else. Not for the prestige, or the rewards. It was for one, simple, selfish reason.
His goal was to kill the gods. Show the people of the Origin System that they were not invincible. All his work, all the lives extinguished either by his hand or his orders had led him here.
He grasped the invitation in his hand. In a few months' time, he would be summoned before Executor Ballas, one of the seven, to receive a reward for his long service to the Empire. Coughing up more blood, he smiled. He did it, with five years to spare.
The attendants brushed his wet hair, smoothing out the ratty unkempt mess. A hand brushes against some protrusions on his skull. They gasp as they see the lumps of his bone plugs. They know not what they are, curled hooks of bleached bone jutting from the back of his head. He tells them to leave them be.
A hand reaches toward his face with makeup in hand, something he could not afford all those years ago to hide his scars. His own hand rises up and swats it away. He will not hide who he is.
They dress him in fine robes of silk and crystal. A few dozen pins and medals to honor his victories shine on his chest. All unwanted and undeserved. Ordan grits his teeth. It is time. Decades of effort and planning. Thousands of lives discarded, friends, brothers and sisters in blood sacrificing themselves for his dream. He wouldn't survive this day, but he would change the system forever with his actions…
At the beginning of the story, Toshinori couldn't help but feel disgusted by the man admitting to his genocides. Every word is verified by Naomasa's grim face.
But as it went on he couldn't stop the feeling of pity from growing. Could he really judge the man for his choices? Everything he had heard was horrifying. These "Orokin" were utter monsters. Even All For One had reasons for his actions. But these… no, not people. Monsters. These monsters did it all for kicks, or because they were bored.
Karris may be a monster, but he was also a product of circumstance. The time he came from seemed like something out of a dystopian nightmare. He had only killed to survive. His actions were out of desperation, not malice. Toshinori couldn't even call him a villain. Karris was a victim, despite his atrocities.
But one thing was bothering him. Ordan's plan was suicidal. From what the white haired man said, these bone plugs he planned on using would kill him.
Nezu asked the question he was thinking. "If you really did carry this out, how did you survive."
Ordan stared back, hands trembling with rage.
"I didn't."
He can hear the ceremony from down the hall. A female voice sings a song about him, glorifying his actions to the adoring crowd. It fills him with disgust. He wants to scream, to tell them all how his actions made him feel.
But he stays silent. He puts on a mask of calm over the raging storm of hate inside him. The dream is only minutes away. All he needs to do is remain composed. They will get to see the "Beast of Bones" from the song soon enough. Hopefully they will be entertained.
He pays no attention to the praises of the crowd. Ignores the platitudes and congratulations. By the time he regains his focus, he is kneeling before Executor Ballas himself. The closest he's ever been to someone of his ranking. Ordan stays silent, waiting for the song to end. Dax guards and royals surround the members of the Seven. He won't be able to kill the Executor, but he will make sure that the man never forgets what he does today.
The song ends, and he hears the unnaturally silky smooth voice call out to him. "Rise, Ordan Karris."
He gazes into the man's golden eyes. "You have served, faithfully and with all your heart for centuries." Ballas raises his arms, addressing the crowd. "Such loyalty deserves a reward!"
Ordan cares not for what the gift is. Riches? Useless to a dying man. A solar rail named in his honor? Slaves? It doesn't matter. Whether his illness won or not, he wouldn't live long enough to use anything the Orokin had to offer him.
Ballas reaches into his robes. "No greater gift, no greater prize, no greater love... we can give you, Ordan, than this." A red vial is produced. Kuva.
He'd heard rumors of the substance. It is the source of the Orokin's immortality. The crimson fluid that grants eternal life. He didn't expect this at all. "I can think of no greater honor than to become one of us."
The ceremony was to be recorded. Likely to scrub the secrets of the Orokin and show the public only the highlights. Just like the ceremony with Perintol. But they wouldn't be able to hide his slaughter. Rumors would spread faster than the Orokin would suppress them about his actions here.
But none of that mattered to Ordan. He was overflowing with rage. The sheer insult to make him an Orokin. The source of the system's problems. He came to kill the immortals, not become one himself.
He moves quickly. He can't just kill one. He needs to send a message. The Dax can already sense his killing intent as he reaches behind his head and yanks free his bone plugs.
Earlier, Ordan had explained what these plugs were to the detective, who was confused when he first brought them up.
"My warriors would remove bones from our thighs. We grew them into sharp, ragged blades and implanted them into our skulls. They were meant as a last resort for battles you knew you wouldn't survive. Ripping them out put your life on a timer."
The Dax rushed him. He threw one plug into the first guard's eye, killing him instantly. He would give them quick deaths. They were blood-bound to protect the Orokin. No need to make them suffer for their failure to protect their masters. His life was a rapidly emptying hourglass measured in seconds. The faster his heartbeat, the less time he had to accomplish his mission. He grabs two nobles by the throats, crushing them in his powerful hands. They die instantly. He doesn't get to savor whatever expression of shock they might have on their faces.
All this the death dealt over his long life would be avenged today. He would strike a blow for all who suffered under the golden lords. Penance for all the lives he snuffed out to earn the trust of the Orokin. He expected no praise. He was not a martyr, nor a saint. Simply a man with a dream.
He sheds his robes, bare chested for all to see. His final bone plug was buried in the eye of another guard. Ordan's vision blurs. Blood sprays from the back of his skull like two crimson ribbons rippling through the air. Grabbing one of the fallen Dax's mag shields, he hurls it into a group of nobles. He hears the crack of a skull, maybe two.
It's a pipe dream to make it to Ballas. But he would fucking try. He feels a blade pass through his gut, and grabs the offending Dax by his table shaped helmet, snapping his neck. The guard's sword cleaves it's way through three more Orokin standing in front of the dias before he falls.
Ordan is surrounded by blood, most of it his own. The sound of blood rushing through his head fades away. He awaits the screams of panic from the Orokin in his final moments. He smiles. The dream is complete.
But that smile falters when he hears applause. He can barely see, his vision fading as he lays dying. Is this a hallucination? Why are they applauding and cheering? He won! He has slain gods! ' SO WHY? WHY?! WHY ARE THEY CHEERING!?'
The sound of applause fades and all he can feel is the burning shame of failure. Do they not care about the blasphemy he has committed? He hears the sound of footsteps approaching.
Ballas's blue face leans close to him. "'How simple and pure you are, you idiot beast. We have died countless times! Yet remain eternal!"
They have died before? How? He rages. He wants to scream but lacks the energy. The executor grasps his head and parts his lips.
"Drink!" The metallic liquid pours down his throat. "You rejected our gift, bathing in our death. Your punishment is... eternal life!" The last thing he hears is Ballas's amused laughter.
Toshinori, Naomasa, and Nezu are pale, although it is hard to tell with the latter's fur. The chimera has already downed his entire cup of tea that he seemingly materialized out of nowhere.
"I slaughtered them, and they thought of it as nothing but fucking entertainment!" He seethed. "All that effort, all the lives I had set aside in my goal, THEY MEANT NOTHING!" Ordan screamed. Toshinori flinched, the cuffs on Karris's wrists snapped off as he brought his fist down on the table, making a large dent in the reinforced steel.
The only reason his hand wasn't broken were the plates of bones that had formed around the knuckles, something that the man himself didn't seem to have noticed. The plates faded back into his skin, which he did unconsciously for the first time.
"Sorry… it's -pretty fuuuu- difficult to relive these memories. Can we take a quick break?" He panted, removing his fist from the table.
Tsukauchi shaikly stood up, glancing at his watch. They had been there for two hours and it felt like this was just the tip of the iceberg. "Yes… I think a break would be good. Would you like any water?"
"Yeah… I think I'd like that." Ordan replies.
The leave the man uncuffed and with a plastic cup of water. They don't rescue him. He's not going anywhere, nor do they feel that it is necessary after listening to his story.
Naomasa leans his face up against the wall. "Fucking hell."
The others share that sentiment. This was… a lot to take in.
"You believe him, don't you Nao." Toshinori asked.
"Either he's telling the truth, or he's completely delusional. I don't believe he's lying. You saw his eyes as he told us. Those were the eyes of someone completely serious." He pinches the bridge of his nose. "I can't submit any of this. I'd probably be dismissed for a psych eval, or if they believed me that man would be locked in Tartarus. And we don't even know anything about the others yet."
They all needed a moment to process Karris's story. It was beyond horrifying. Everyone in the room had the sinking feeling that it only got worse. The man had died, his sacrifice meaningless in the face of cruel gods. The look of soul-crushing anguish in the white haired man's face was burned into their minds.
So how was he alive now? Did they even want to know? It didn't matter. They were going to find out one way or another.
"I believe after all that you have told us, you deserve some information as well, Karris." Nezu says as he sits back down. "What would you like to know?"
He thinks. He has shared so much, and now they return the favor. Whatever "Quirk" thing the detective has lets him know if someone is telling the truth. Ordan has no way to verify the information on his end like they do.
He simply has to hope they are honest.
"As you can tell, I don't particularly know what these "quirks'' are. Your assumption that we already knew this information was no fault of your own. First, let me clear the misconception that we are from your future. Something like quirks would have been present in our history books." He clarifies. "We are from an alternate universe, where these abilities never existed. We had some people with powers, but they came from other sources."
Toshinori breathes a sigh of relief. It may be selfish, but he thanks whatever higher power there is that Ordan's future is not the future of this Earth.
"But the tests we ran showed you all have quirks, in fact, that woman you arrived with and this Hunhow man have multiple from the looks of it." Nezu asks.
"Can you clarify what quirks are for me?" He replies.
"About three centuries ago, in another country called China, a baby with glowing skin was born. He is the first known person to be born with a quirk. There may have been others with less visible ones, but it is commonly accepted that he was the first." Nezu continues to explain. "Soon after, more and more people with these "meta-abilities" as they were called at the time began to emerge. I can lend you some history books if you would like to know more, but the short version is that quirks are an evolutionary genetic mutation that affects a majority of the world's population, giving them fantastical abilities, like Tsukauchi's Truth, or your bone manipulation."
Ordan stares at the creature before him. "So, your quirk made you look like some sort of -smelly little pobber- small animal?"
Nezu chuckles. "No no no. I'm not human. While quite rare, animals can manifest quirks as well. Mine is called High-Spec. It grants me intelligence that far surpasses a human, as well as the ability to speak."
Ordan notices that Nezu never specifies what kind of animal he is. He looks at his hand and creates a little rod of bone, separating it from his skin and setting it on the table. "So, do these powers manifest from birth?"
"Only visible mutations are present at birth. Most quirks in the emitter and transformation categories usually appear in early childhood, around four or five years of age." Nezu says. "But you have remarkable control for someone who manifested it only a week ago. First you could only create them and separate them from your body, but today you were able to absorb them back through your skin."
Ordan gave the Principal a look of confusion. "When did I do that?"
Nezu gestures to the dent in the table. "I didn't realize that I did…"
They discuss quirks for a few more minutes. He flies away important information about types, mutations, quirklessness, but most importantly that people aren't supposed to have more than one quirk. The way the Principal worded it was suspicious though. He said they weren't supposed to have multiple. Not that it was impossible.
"Is there anything else you would like to know before we get back to your… story?" Tsukauchi asks.
"I suppose my biggest question is where are we? You said you were the principal of some school, correct?" Nezu nods in response.
"Currently, you are being held at U.A. High School, of which I am the principal. It is primarily a hero school, but we also have business, general studies, and a support course. I doubt those words mean muchh to you though." Nezu explains.
"Hero school?" It was an odd concept to him. How do you teach heroism?
Toshinori speaks, since it is his field of expertise after all. "Yes, U.A. is one of the world's finest hero schools. I graduated from there myself!"
Ordan glances at the bulked up All Might. He was the same man who took down Hunow. "So is your quirk to transform from that -skeletal looking- skinny body to that muscly form?"
'Shit. He remembered that.' Toshinori cursed internally. He would have to roll with the assumption. He nodded.
"All Might is the number one hero in the world, as well as the Symbol of Peace." Nezu added.
"Damn, that must be why you were strong enough to take down the Destroyer of Worlds." Ordan casually replied.
"I'm sorry, what?" Sputtered Tsukauchi.
Ordan Glanced at the bug-eyed detective. "I guess I'll continue my story now, seeing as how I'm just creating more questions. I was at the part where I died, correct?"
Nezu nodded.
"So remember how I said that the -disgusting red goo- Kuva was the secret to the Orokin's immortality? I didn't know how it worked, but it didn't grant them true immortality. When they died, or their bodies started to give out, they simply got a new one. They had a ritual called "Continuity" where they would…" He hesitated, face noticeably disgusted. "Barter for new bodies. Usually the most aesthetically pleasing children were selected. Of course, the ritual was also possible after the body had died, making my efforts worthless." He seethed.
Tsukauchi had to leave the room after that, green at the face and promptly vomited into the trash can outside.
"Dear god." Toshinori gasped.
"But they didn't put me in a new body. I had dared to slay the Orokin elite. Execution would have been a mercy, and Ballas was very petty." He shuddered at the memory. "The Orokin liked to be… creative in their punishments. If they happened to feel merciful you would be vaporized by the Jade Light. If not, there were other ways they made you suffer. Once, I saw a slave accidentally touch a noble without permission. He was slowly flayed alive over the course of days, and when the noble got bored, he left the man there until he succumbed to his wounds."
Toshinori was glad he had a light breakfast, or else he probably would've joined Naomasa outside.
"But for me, they subjected me to a fate far worse. My punishment would be eternal. I was to be made a Cephalon."
He wasn't sure how long he was gone, but he came back to a system at war. Ballas was a busy man, and had kept the rebellious mercenary in stasis for centuries.
Ordan had no memory of who he was. No name, no memories. Ballas had taken a mallet to his mind, shattering it.
"Who… am I?" His digitized voice said. The radiant form of Exeutor Ballas looms over him, golden eyes glowing.
"You are Cephalon Ordis." The man tells him. Yes. Ordis. The name makes him happy, the last fragments of his former personality fall into a vault, long forgotten.
He is a Cephalon. An artificial intelligence designed to serve. "What is my purpose, master?"
Ordis pays no mind to the sadistic smirk of the Executor, pleased at how submissive the Cephalon is. He presses a button on the console. "You are the Controller, Ordis. This is your ship."
Suddenly he is thrust into a new body. The schematics for the Orbiter flood into his mind. His lungs, the air filtration system. His blood, the power conduits. He has complete control over all ship systems. Does he have the honor of being Ballas's personal Cephalon?
He hears the Executor mutter. "This is your sentence, Karris." Who is Karris? He thinks. It doesn't matter. He doesn't recognize the name. Ballas smiles again. "Excellent. Begin test flight."
The orbiter exits the dock, passing by hundreds of other similar ships. He soars through the stars, experimenting, calibrating. He is one with the ship.
Months pass. He is one of many Cephalons made to support the new warrior caste. The Tenno, against the threat of the invading Sentients. Ordis feels Ballas contacting him with new orders as his new charge arrives.
She walks in, an Excalibur Prime. Organic steel-skin with the signature golden accents of the Orokin lining the frame. He can sense the power of the Void flowing through her.
Ballas's message continues. "This is your Operator, who you love. You will protect and serve them, but above all else you serve me." The image of a woman with a purple helmet appears. "This is the Lotus. You will report to no one but her and myself."
Ordan watches his new Operator walk around the ship. He feels the tamed infestation of her Warframe. It should disgust him, but he feels nothing but love for his new charge. It's a strange feeling, something he's never felt before.
Why did he say it like that?
Decades pass. The Old War rages on. When she is injured, he brings her to that dreadful Helminth creature to patch up her Warframe. She isn't always on the front lines against the hordes of Sentients, sometimes she stands guard over important nobles, protecting monuments to the empire. Tenno replace Dax at certain events as honor guards
Ordis watches in fascination as Operator Haylee leads a charge of Dax and armed Grineer slave troopers. She tears a bloody path through the horde of adaptive invaders, her gleaming blade held high as she impales the core of the commander. Cheers echo throughout the battlefield littered with the corpses of both sides. The tide of the war is turning.
He scans the carnage of the battlefield with his sensors, and feels something long forgotten.
They orbit Lua. Haylee is staring down at the golden spires of the moon. She is longing for something. The Tenno rarely speaks to him. His precepts implore him to care for her, find out why she is so sad all the time. He has never seen her face, but loves her all the same.
In the beginning, there had been other Tenno stationed with her. Several Dax that served alongside her. One by one, they had fallen by the hands of the invaders. She was one of the last of her squadron.
The alarms sound. Hunhow approaches for one last desperate push on Lua.
The war is over. Hunhow retreated after his failed assault, limping to Uranus with the empire nipping at his heels. He is brought down, sinking into the depths.
The Tenno have won. They are heroes to the empire. Celebrations are planned as the last of the enemy forces are mopped up. Haylee leaves for the Terminus of Pluto, where several high ranking Orokin gather, including the Seven Emperors, as well as a few Executors who are the true power behind the Empire.
Some gnawing feeling eats away at him. Something that he wishes he could do, but he doesn't know what it is.
Weeks before the celebration, he feels Ballas sever the connection. Lotus tells him to lay low and await instruction. He feels restless. The ceremony crowning the heroes of the Old War begins
[Warframe OST: Drums of War]
The honors are bestowed upon the Tenno. The seven Emperors themselves come to drape them in fine silks. Ordis can feel something coming, an eerie feeling that sweeps throughout the whole system. The Tenno are not here for honors. They are waiting.
Ddum dum duh dum!
The beat of the Naga drums begins.
Ddum dum duh dum!
The Orokin begin to notice something is very wrong. One of the Emperors raises his hand to summon the guards
Bdum-
The Tenno move as one. Seven heads roll. The Emperors are dead. The Dax mobilize and rush their so-called war heroes that they had fought beside for generations, bound by blood to defend the Orokin. Against the might of a small army of Tenno, they stand no chance.
Three Orokin Executors are present. Tuval, Avantus, Karishh, and Ballas are all offworld. Two are killed before then can run, gawking at the sheer audacity of the Tenno. One manages to flee as the rest of the Orokin are slaughtered.
He can feel it across the weave. Alerts of various Cephalons as Tenno not in attendance attack their Orokin masters. Across the system, the Orokin Empire falls. Why does he feel… a sense of pride?
"They finally got what was coming to them." The treasonous thought comes to his head. Why is he happy that his masters are dead?
The system burns. He picks up Haylee from the Pluto Terminus. The Lotus has ordered all Cephalons to recover their Tenno and put them into cryosleep throughout the system.
Toshinori and the others share the same horrifying realization. The Tenno he is talking about… she isn't a distant ancestor of the girl in the medical wing. She IS that Tenno. A child, sent to fight in a terrible war.
Lua is gone. Earth's moon, the capital of the Orokin Empire, has vanished without a trace. Throughout the system, the Tenno mop up the last of the Orokin, save the Entrati. They were always good people, despite their position of power they were never as bad as the other Orokin.
On Earth, Haylee makes a last stand against Grineer clone slaves and Dax guards. She and two other Tenno using mass production Warframes drive the enemy into a full retreat, and enter the crumbling Orokin tower. There, she sends him one last message from the Lotus, promising that she will return. He will wait for her.
Her Excalibur kneels, and its transference signal cuts out. She does not move for centuries.
The landing craft of the Orbiter stays parked on Earth. The main body of the craft remains cloaked in the Void. Every few years he awakens to run diagnostics. He must keep the ship clean and tidy for when his operator returns.
He listens to the Cephalon weave. Most have gone offline as well. Years pass, and the Corpus create their own artificial Cephalons. The technology to create new ones is buried or destroyed.
Ordis begins to wonder, what is a Cephalon?
Under the seven principles of the Orokin, true artificial intelligence was strictly forbidden. The Sentient were not supposed to develop the true sentience of their namesake, and were meant to be terraforming tools, nothing more.
He supposed the Orokin had been correct in their fears. But it was their own actions that made the Sentient turn against them.
But why would his masters create Cephalons if that is forbidden. He is a thinking machine, the antithesis to their law, but created by their highest office. He asks the other Cephalons in the weave. They tell him that he shouldn't question something he won't like the answer to.
But his curiosity is piqued.
Ordan remembers watching his Operator participate in battle after bloody battle. Every time he felt some sort of familiarity with the carnage. Something long dormant within him. Today, he searched for that feeling.
What he found, he wished he never did.
Perhaps this was Ballas's true punishment, or a total fluke in his reprogramming that led him down this path. He finds the hourglass shaped mirror, floating his cubic form up to it. The mirror is not truly a mirror, but a door to a vault. He passes through the glass like it is liquid. On the other side, he sees nothing but pale white sand.
Only this isn't sand. It is powdered bone. The wind picks up, and he finds himself with a body. Bone dust swirls around him, filling his lungs with death. He remembers what he is.
He looked into the pit, and found the Beast of Bones. With his enhanced digital mind, he relives every life he ever took. Every comrade he watched die.
He sees the monster that he was.
Ord(an) (Karr)is has no mouth but he still screams. The speakers on his ship threaten to burst with the sound of his anguish. He remembers it all. HE REMEMBERS IT ALL.
WHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHY!
There is no place for a monster like this. He is in a hell of his own making. With everything he lost, everything he sacrificed, he has nothing left in this world but his torment.
Self Destruct Sequence Activated
The rage at himself he feels is unbearable, the lives he took streaming continuously into his mind.
5
He cannot be allowed to live. He doesn't deserve to live, if you could call what he is now living.
4
All he has ever brought is pain, and he cannot live with it.
3
He has nothing.
2
Nothing to love.
1
Except her.
0.0021s
The timer stops milliseconds from his self-termination. Haylee. He loves Tenno. He cared for her like she was his own.
"I will return."
He has to wait for her. She doesn't have anything else to come back to otherwise. He can't just abandon her. Were the feelings real, or something implanted by Ballas? It feels real to him.
But he can't let her see him like this. The Beast of Bones is a monster. He could… hurt her! He will never hurt the ones he loves.
Spectral hands grasp at his cubic form. He grasps the memories of what he was, peeling his mind apart to tear out the monster. The shards fall back into the pit, and he is happy once again.
He doesn't notice the large crack on his digital form.
He awakens again. There are more cracks on his form. He isn't sure where they came from. The Liset is covered in overgrowth from the mutated forests of the planet. He has no way to clear them off other than taking off. He tunes into the interplanetary communications.
The former slaves of the empire, the Grineer, have rallied around two queens. They spread throughout the system. The merchant cult of the Corpus gains power as well. Most of the Tenno that stayed awake are long dead, finishing off the remnants or defending the citizens during the collapse.
He needs to make sure the ship is ready for when the Operator returns. He has a lot of free time as the ship is cleaned. He begins to think.
Ordis begins to wonder, what is a Cephalon?
He finds himself back in the pit. There is a message waiting there for him. It is him, in the past, telling him to turn back, that this will be the sixth time he has done this.
In his foolishness he doesn't listen.
Soon, Ordis is happ -angry- again. He returns to sleep. He doesn't awaken for centuries.
Filthy Grineer scour his ship, hiring Corpus to strip his segments out, leaving the ship with only its flight and navigation functions still intact. Ordis buries himself in the systems to avoid being taken as well.
These Grineer are different. More machine than man, rotting beneath all the cybernetics. They spread their blood and oil all over his pristine metal. This will not do.
But then, he hears gunfire. The familiar sound of bullets hitting flesh and armor. Something accesses the restraints sealing his ship. Does one of those clones want to-
It's no clone. He recognizes the signature after all those centuries.
His operator has finally come back to him.
Years pass. The Tenno start to return to a ravaged system divided by conflict. They keep the balance the best they can, not allowing either side to gain too much power. Fools on both sides re-release the ancient Infested plague on the galaxy once more, adding even more for the Tenno to deal with.
Haylee has amassed a large collection of weaponry and recovered many different Warframes in her fight. She has allies across the system now, but no friends.
Since they have been asleep for so long, they both have scattered memories of the Old War. That comes back to bite them when they discover a spectral blue drone on Uranus. Tyl Regor has awakened something. The tomb of the Sentient Destroyer of Worlds, Hunhow. His body is buried in the deep, and when Regor reaches it, they realize the Destroyer still lives.
He awakens. His gravelly voice asks The Lotus why she didn't finish the mission. Her secret is revealed. She is a Sentient spy, sent to destroy the Orokin, and the Tenno. But she never finished her last objective. She let the Tenno live.
Hunhow is buried yet again. Sealed, but alive.
Lua reappears in the sky, shattered. Ordis waits for Haylee, hovering outside the ruined Orokin capital. She is coming back, he knows it.
Suddenly, something breaches the ship. He can only watch as the Stalker descends into the belly of the Orbiter, into the never used back room. He is waiting for his Operator, and Ordis can do nothing but watch as the Warframe returns to the ship carrying a teenager in a sealed black bodysuit.
He cannot warn her, and can only watch as they struggle to reach the chair in the back of the ship. It is only when the teen is separated from the Warframe that he realizes this: that child is his Operator. A miracle saves her. The Warframe rips the assassin's greatsword in half, and Stalker flees.
His systems are recovering now that Hunhow's shadow is gone. He needs to get his Operator to the chair. She is too weak to reach it by herself. The Lotus, freed from her lunar prison, arrives on his ship. She helps Tenno where he could not. After hundreds of years of service, he sees his Operator's face for the first time.
Haylee speaks to him more frequently now. It is refreshing to have a face to see instead of expressionless metal. She is slowly beginning to walk again. In her free time, she has been trying to fix his damaged programming. He can feel her poking around in his head. A feeling of dread appears as she sifts through the fragments.
"Don't let her in. You could hurt her!" Why is he so afraid? She is only trying to help.
She finds the Beast of Bones. Ordis begins to remember the monster he was yet again. He screams in anguish as he remembers what he buried oh so many times.
The Beast will hurt Haylee in its sorrow and rage. It needs to die, permanently. He prepares to shatter his mind one final time. This time, he will not recover. This final crack will destroy him. She will be alright without him. She has friends, should she choose to open up. It's better this way.
He stops as she hugs his console, tears in her eyes. She begs him not to do it. Even though it's impossible, through his metal and circuit body, he feels the warmth of her Void-touched heart. She gives him back all the love he gave her, and spends her time finding another way to take away the pain.
A few more years pass. Despite being freed from Lua, Haylee hasn't aged a day. She is still just a child even after decades of war. All that was stolen from her, and he can see it in her eyes. She keeps closing herself off from the other Tenno, only partnering up with them when necessary. Her relationships with the people of the system she helps is purely one of protection. Despite all the kindness they try to show their savior, she politely declines. That doesn't stop her from filling her personal quarters with stuffed animals she purchased from the vendors though.
He gives a distorted chuckle as she buries herself in a pile of floofs. She's earned this. They've been through hell together. Haylee has saved him from himself multiple times, made him accept who he is, and who he was. It took a few years, but the bond between the two is nigh unbreakable. She has put her life on the line for him. The warrior long dead within him wishes to be able to do the same. She smiles from her pile.
But the smile she wears is a fake one. She remembers more now after her encounter with the twin queens. All he can do is be there for her, like she was for him. She falls asleep laying on his console that night.
He notices the distortion again. A brief burst of psychic and Void energy has begun to appear on the ship every so often whenever Haylee returns from her missions. Does she see something that he doesn't? At first it seemed like it, but now she acts like it isn't even there.
"The other Cephalons have been reporting similar things. It is quite possible that I was mistaken about what Rell was doing…" The Lotus tells him. Something is out there, watching the Tenno. Something terrifying.
The Lotus has been gone for months. Ballas took her somewhere. He thought that -fucking bastard- the Orokin Executor had been killed, but they were all played for fools. The only clue that they have as of late is a fragment of an ancient Warframe they found. The data they require is somewhere on the moon. They find a Vitruvian data log in one of Ballas's old labs.
There are consequences of him seeing the data. His vestigial precepts are offlined for a bit, suppressing his emotions as they learn of Ballas's betrayal of the Orokin. His plot to destroy the empire in retaliation for the execution of his lover Margulis. He doesn't buy it. Ballas could never truly love.
They don't win, and the biggest blow is The Lotus's betrayal back to the side of the Sentient. All they come back with is another damaged soul in the form of Umbra.
They lost. Badly. Two years of preparation were not enough to stand against the invading Sentient forces, or the rise of Narmer. Everyone in the system was hit hard. The remaining Tenno are scattered, and enemies turned allies are either enslaved to the Veils or in hiding.
But the worst part is Haylee is gone. The one he knew at least. An older version of the Tenno shows up, carrying a decayed Lotus in tow. It is just him, the Drifter and the Eidolon Lotus for months as they rebel. Umbra stays behind to guard their belongings while they are out searching for a way to revive the Lotus. He holds out hope that his Operator is still alive.
Ordis had watched Haylee depart for the Sun, and that was the last he saw of her with his sensors. All he could do was pray for her return.
But something goes horribly wrong. The Void opens up. It keeps opening. The shields on the Orbiter fail.
SCREAMING.
FALLING.
CHANGING.
The sound of waves awakens him. He opens his eyes to the clearing night sky, a storm has just finished.
He remembers everything.
He does not scream. His mouth is parched by saltwater.
"After that… I think you know the rest." He slumps as his story finishes. It is late afternoon now. He has spent most of the day in this room. As evidenced by the tear stains on his cheeks, this has all been emotionally draining.
The three interviewers don't know what to say. They had a feeling it would be worse, but couldn't have even imagined how bad this would be. Even Nezu is shaking. He's gone through four cups of tea in the past hour alone.
"I think it would be best if you were to get some rest, Karris." Shakily says with newfound respect for the man. "Telling us all this must have been difficult. If there is anything you need, all you need to do is ask."
Ordan wipes the tears from his eyes. "Thank you… I think I'll be ok."
Originally the plan had been to interview Karris today, and have him translate for the one he called Natah tomorrow. After hearing all this… they could wait a bit longer.
After returning Ordan to the medical wing, they all make the long walk to Nezu's office. Once they arrive, Detective Tsukauchi collapses against the wall with a haunted look on his face. It is a look shared with all but Nezu, whose beady little eyes betray nothing but anger.
Nezu knew what it was like to be experimented on by someone, but this was far, far worse than anything he could have imagined. "Trapped in a digital prison for hundreds of years after death, made a slave, having his memories altered just to make him obey…" The tiny pencil in his paws snapped. He calmly reached and grabbed a tiny stress ball shaped like the HPSC President's head.
The principal wasn't human. Sometimes he struggled to understand their logic and emotions. But he was also a hero, and had lived beside humans for a few decades now.
"Karris Ordan. You may believe yourself to be a monster, but I know too what it is like to kill just to survive. You are no villain. You are simply a man who had no other choice."
Toshinori felt the same. They had no right to judge Karris's crimes. Everything he had heard today was horrific beyond his comprehension. Would he have had to resort to the same thing if All For One was a foe as great as these Orokin? The only thing Karris could do against these god-like beings was commit genocides to get their attention.
And it hadn't achieved a thing. Children were the ones to strike down these monsters. He could feel bubbles of rage begin to form at the thought of forcing literal children, no matter how powerful to commit such an act.
Karris hadn't told them much about Natah and Haylee. He said it wasn't his story to tell. Toshinori would have words with the woman who forced children to bear the weight of all that bloodshed.
A PHONE CALL IS HERE! A PHONE CALL IS HERE!
He looks at his phone. 5 unread texts, three from Inko, and two from Izuku. He'd been so distracted that he completely forgot he was supposed to be at the beach training young Midoriya.
"I'm sorry Principal, Nao, I must be going. The Midoriya's are expecting me down at the beach."
They see the look on Toshinori's face and nod. "Go, after all this, you need the distraction." Naomasa tells him.
There will be more information to be discovered when they interview Natah. But for now, each of them needs time to cope with what they learned.
Tonight, Tsukauch Naomasa buries himself in his work. Sansa brings him some food and a drink. He's lucky to have a co-worker and friend like him.
Tonight, Yagi Toshinori trains his successor. The boy's mother lays a hand on his shoulder, asking him if he is alright.
Tonight, Principal Nezu sits alone at his home, worrying about the future. He looks at a photo of the U.A. staff taken at last year's graduation party. He smiles and lets his worries fade for now.
Tonight, the otherworlders find comfort in the ones they love, even in the face of an uncertain future.
Love keeps everyone from falling apart.
I think that was the most emotionally draining thing I've ever written. It's also like ⅓ the size of the current fic for just this chapter.
Obviously Ordan didn't reveal everything in this chapter to them, some of it was just an expanded backstory. I really wanted to flesh out his character more than they did ingame, since most of the time he's comic relief outside of serious situatoins despite how fucked up his backstory is.
It might seem unrealistic that they don't want to lock him up for what he admitted to doing, but they also realize that him doing this was purely to survive in a world where things like this were normalized. He knows what he did was horrible, but he had no other choice other than to roll over and let the next monster take his place. All he could do was try to put an end to it, even though it ended up failing. That is the tragedy of Ordan Karris.
This fanfic is all about second chances and redemption. Some will take advantage of this new universe to redeem themselves. Others will see opportunity to change themselves for the worse.
Next chapter will be Natah backstory focused. Hunhow and Haylee will get their own but not for a while.
o/ i finished this at 1:33AM lmao im going to bed