Yavin Street - Green Cloud Restaurant -
Time passed after the mess with Gouki and Izuku's unlocking of his special fire; the questions asked had been many and pretty uncomfortable, but Saito's lawyer managed to pass everything as Izuku's "Quirk" finally manifesting in a Life-or-Death situation.
His ability was thus hastily recorded as "Fire Eating" in what was a very believable lie thanks to his father's own Fire-breathing Quirk, and that was the end of that part of the thing, or it was as long as Izuku pretended to not be able to spit fire by himself and just be able to use flames he previously inhaled; now he only needed to be present when Gouki and his granddaughter will face trial for their many crimes.
Nezu apparently got wind of it, and offered UA as sanctuary just in case Izuku and his family needed to hide from the many people keeping tabs on them.
"I won't bother to ask you to join UA as a student, with two Restaurants already opened and successful, leaving everything just to study Hero Stuff Full-Time would be unwise, but I am sure that if you ask Nemuri and Hizashi will be more than happy to give you pointers as if you were a student. In exchange of food of course! Yahahahaha!" Those were Nezu's parting words when Izuku asked why the Chimera offered him his help.
Sometimes Izuku wondered how far that small guy could reach with his fluffy paws...
All that though went soon filed in the back of young man's mind; as things were now, he was happily working with the Star Eating Turtle Wok and finally using it to cook; he had opened the retracted pointy legs under the pan and breathed under it a small ball of Heaven-Earth Obsidian Flames the size of a golf-ball that immediately hovered under the wok by itself like a small sun of acid-green fire, at random times a tiny arch of golden lightning would circle it and a faint growling of a wild beast could be heard coming from the small fireball.
"As expected from a piece of Divine Equipment! Any other normal cooking utensil pales in comparison!" Izuku muttered with a wide smile.
The wok was reacting as intended with the fire, the lowest ring of animal carvings had started glowing in faint gold light as soon as the Obsidian Flames touched the pan's base, signalling that its powers were now ready to be unleashed.
"I can literally feel the Ingredients cooking inside the wok as if they are an extension of myself!"
Hearing The Voice of the Ingredients was already a big help for Chefs in Zaus' world to become the best, but now Izuku could fully connect to the food he was cooking on a spiritual level, further increasing his precision in preparing them immensely.
"The more animal carvings rings shine, the more power the Wok unleashes, Host Izuku. As for now the Wok's powers are at a minimum, meaning that the Time Dilation inside the Wok is decreasing the time needed for the Ingredients to cook of only 5%. Be sure to train hard and master the Wok's many powers to their full extent, keep working hard, young man!" The System said with a victory jingle.
Among its many amazing powers, the Wok could decrease the time needed for cooking, literally push out scum from the Ingredients to purify their taste, let izuku control the Ingredients temperature down to the infinitesimal degree and much, much more. The young Chef had fallen in love with the golden pan the instant he had started cooking with it.
"Herb risotto ready!" He had said with a happy scream while plating many portions of rice emanating a mesmerizing herbal scent almost ethereal in nature.
Herb Risotto.
"Okay!" Himiko answered, collecting the plates to deliver them.
"Troublemaker! Pay the bill before leaving!"
"Oh…" Both Chef and Waitress muttered with a tired sigh as a dine-and-dasher went stopped by Whitey before he could run out for the Restaurant without paying.
"Or else?" The serial dine-and-dasher asked with a threatening tone.
"Troublemaker will be stripped as an example to others!"
"… Ah… Those were not just rumours?" The guy asked while paling considerably.
"No."
"But I forgot my wallet… So I thought I could just help myself to a free lunch and just… Leave?" The guy whimpered.
"If that was your plan, then you will be punished and the authorities will be alerted!" Whitey declared.
"NO! WAI-"
Strip! SLAP!
The guy went stripped naked and bitch-slapped outside the Restaurant in a high and elegant fly drawing an arch that ended with him landing face-down inside one of the big garbage bins at the opposite side of the road.
Sigh! "Whitey, collect his stuff, I'll call somebody to have him detained and the bill forwarded to his address." Izuku said, sighing and returning inside the kitchen.
"I'll help him!" Himiko offered.
"Thank you."
"… Okay! Bets are now officially open! How far did he fly? Remember, who comes the closest will have a dessert for free of your choice! Only one customer per table can participate!" Himiko declared once Izuku gave her a tired thumbs-up.
"Twenty-seven meters!"
"Twenty-six!"
"Twenty-five!"
"Thirty!"
"How can it be thirty?! You suck at gauging distance by eye!"
One after another, every customer present declared their bet, all for Himiko to note down.
"Okay! I wrote all of them down. Whitey?" She asked.
"The Troublemaker flew for approximately twenty-six meters and eighty-two centimetres and fifty millimetres. (26m 82cm 50mm)"
"Oh! New record! This means that Mister Nighteye won since he was the first to say it was twenty-seven, his number is the closest to the recorded distance!" Himiko declared, smirking.
"Oh, come on! I said twenty-six!" A guy still wearing a hard-hat said with a childish whine.
"And the distance was superior to that, closer to 27. Don't blame me, take it to the robot!"
"Troublemaker?" Whitey asked, scratching his dome-like head and looking straight at him.
"Oh, Hell no! I am not making somebody else eat a free dessert at my expenses!" He answered, laughing amused.
"Gauging distance is a skill on itself. I'll have a nice slice of lemon tiramisu, please." Nighteye said, smiling a tiny smile and adjusting his glasses.
"Of course! And congratulations for winning the bet!" Himiko answered, bowing and leaving to collect a portion of the dessert he wanted.
Lemon Tiramisu
Troublemakers were indeed annoying, so sometimes Izuku used them as a game of sort for his customers, as a way to not let those hooligans ruin everybody's day, he confided in Whitey to punish only the ones that tried to cause trouble just for the fun of it, instead of people actually in need, he had been clear to both Robot and System that he didn't want to add more misery on top of whatever mess the less fortunate had already piled on them.
Things for him were going on nicely, a quiet life deprived of the many messes Momo, Ochako and the other Hero Students that instead seemed to face on an almost daily basis, to the point the young Chef actually asked them if they were already Pro Heroes considering all the fights against Villains they went through, and gaining very unamused looks from his girls.
He was 'Punished' harshly by the four of them for that joke that same night, but that is a steamy story of wild adult fun for another time, he was just glad Gourmet Cells helped him recover at an accelerated rate from soreness and the nail marks, bite marks and any hickey he gained that night, and any other night after that one...
But while for Izuku things were going damn well, for his business rivals and everybody else wishing him harm, things were instead a nightmare.
Sushi Restaurant "Great Sea Palace" (1 Michelin Star) -
"NO! NO! NO! Why can't you match the taste!?" The owner screamed in mad rage and throwing an expensive-looking plate with a rim plated in real 18kt gold against the wall.
Crash! The porcelain shattered in a million pieces while the pieces of sushi remained stuck on the wall and slowly slipped down.
"It's the best puffer fish money can buy! The breeder we asked for the fish only sells the best 100 exemplars of every egg cycle, and we got the very best one of those 100! I as well did my very best!" The Restaurant Chef, a woman that had been working there for years and was universally known as a 'Sushi Genius', answered, distraught.
"YOU TASTED IT! JUST LIKE I DID!" The Owner screamed, frothing at the mouth like a rabid animal.
"That brat's Fugu tastes better like this! You can even feel the fucking waves of the ocean while eating his version! Firm and sweet and shining like a jewel! I chewed the goddamn thing for ten minutes straight and the taste was not going away! WHY CAN'T YOU DO IT?!"
"I TRIED!" The Chef answered, bitterness filling her veins at the memories of tasting Izuku's Fugu made with Puffer Whale.
It was a taste so heavenly and delicious that it left her speechless and at the same time tore a hole in her spirit; while eating it made her heart soar in happiness, but now the memory of the taste also plagued her nightmares, because she could not replicate the skills of Izuku or the taste of the dish no matter what she tried or how hard she worked on her version.
"That Midoriya kid makes it! In a common-looking Restaurant in the Touristic part of town! Why you cant?!"
"I AM NOT MIDORIYA, OKAY?!" The woman replied, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes in waves.
"SIR! Terrible news!" One of the Restaurant's waiters in casual clothing entered the expensive Restaurant in a hurry.
"What now?" The owner asked, annoyed.
"I just returned from Green Cloud… The kid improved again. By a lot, it's like a whole other world." The spy reported in disbelief.
Both owner and chef slowly fell on their knees and started weeping softly, with the rest of the Restaurant staff comforting them.
"That kid is a monster…" One of the waitresses muttered, shaking her head.
It was all o so dramatic...
Cola Factory – 'Sunny Japan' – CEO Office -
"So?" The CEO asked, apprehensive.
"It's cola, every test we could run confirms it…" The head of the factory production Team answered, uncertain.
"But?"
"… That's it. It's cola, the sugar content is a bit different from the usual, and that much we can imitate… But carbonation, body, taste and after-taste seems like being what we cannot copy. If we try it the taste comes out different." The guy wearing a lab coat answered, looking at his papers as if written in a Language he did not know.
"Different?"
"I sent one of my best Tasters to that accursed Restaurant, he swears he memorized the taste of that Mellow Cola Midoriya-san has, and he says that our copy still lacks something, but for the life of him, he can't tell what that Something is. It's like he is trying to describe something that can't be described by words."
"And the boy says he makes his own cola." The CEO said.
"Yes, every ingredient is apparently hand-picked by him in person, supposedly all natural ingredients, nothing artificial." The Researcher answered.
"Those shouldn't be difficult to artificially recreate!"
"I know! We have been doing it for years! CARBONATED WATER, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CARAMEL COLOR, PHOSPHORIC ACID, NATURAL FLAVORS, CAFFEINE, that's the usual trick! But nothing matches, so we also tried going the natural way too: we tested the quality of different lemons, limes and oranges from all over the world; tens of different methods of cinnamon preparation, bitter orange peel treated in many different ways, we even tried using coriander seeds and nutmeg! For the love of God, I even tried seeing if the type of water and sugar used were a factor!" The researched admitted, rubbing his eyes.
"Water and sugar?"
"From outside they are all the same, but speaking Chemically, there are some faint differences, nothing seems to match."
"And the boy's sponsor refuses to sell us that cola. No matter the cut of the resulting profits I offer, any mail I send to request us acting as intermediary to sell their Cola to the masses is answered by just a word: No." The CEO said, groaning.
"They really want it to be found in those two Restaurants only. I wonder why." The researcher wondered, curious.
"I have no idea… Try again to imitate that cola, try to get as close as possible…" The old man said with a tired sigh.
"I'll try my best, sir."
Wouldn't it be amusing to tell them that the infamous Mellow Cola they could not replicate was literally the tears of a monstrous creature of another world?
- Fusion Cuisine Restaurant 'Wanderer' -
"… What do you mean with 'I am going to Challenge him?" The old woman, the owner asked.
"I am tired of you and others putting me in comparison with that kid! Since I "apparently" can't match his skills, I will challenge him and force him to come working here if I win! Like that we will finally get our hands on that brat's Ingredients, especially that God-Forsaken oil of his! Because no oil I know of fries stuff like that! And I tried them all, goddamnit!"
"And his meat selection," One of the Kitchen staff members added.
"And that! Because I don't know what they feed their cows, but a beef steak is not supposed to taste like a fucking glorious orgasm!" The Chef shrieked in rage.
"I wonder how her husband feels at coming second after a steak in satisfying her," One of the waiters muttered to her friend, smirking while guy snorted in amusement.
"Silence!"
"That boy has two cabinets full of knives he took from Chefs that Challenged him… He has forty knives he took as trophy from other Chefs in each cabinet…" The old woman said, slowly.
"No issue! You'll see! I'll force him to hand over everything, Ingredients and recipes!" The Chef answered, marching away to grab what she needed for the Challenge.
"… She is screwed." The old woman muttered in dismay.
"Yeah." Her assistant answered.
"How was the boy's food? You went there yesterday to spy on him."
"He got even better, something about a new wok he has recently started using."
"Lovely." She muttered, sighing.
With Lady Nagant – Green Gourmet Garden Restaurant-
The former assassin was at the moment taking Cooking Lessons from Mako and the other 'Kings', with the students taking turns in checking her progresses whenever one of them could briefly step away from their respective workstations.
"This is harder than I thought." Kaina admitted with a small smile.
"Look at the bright side, the dishes you need to learn to make are way easier than ours!" Michiko said, chuckling.
"Oh, I am grateful for that! I have no idea how you others can make those sculptures inside a plate every time."
"It becomes a habit after a while, your body knows the movements almost subconsciously, so it's only a matter of not getting distracted and screw-up." Toshio answered, giving the finishing touches to what looked like being a big cigar on a marble ashtray.
"The hell is that?" Kaina asked with her mouth dropping open in amazement.
"Boss Izuku's new creation: a Cigar made with chocolate, the inside is filled by hazelnut-flavoured cream wrapped in a thin film of 75% dark chocolate, the ashes both on the ashtray and on the cigar are a sweet powder made mostly with white truffle. The ashtray itself is a small Amaretto sponge cake encased in a thin cover of sugar paste decorated to look like marble, it is served with a small glass of imported 'Caracas Club Honey 40°' honey rum next to the plate," He answered.
"It looks like a real cigar and ashtray!" The woman said in disbelief.
"Oh! This one is nothing, I am still learning actually, you should see the one the Boss makes instead, that's the real deal! Few customers actually tried smoking it for real the first time he served it!" Toshio answered, chuckling amused.
"I can't make that!" Kaina said with a long whine.
"And you won't need to! We will help Boss Icchan teach you how to work in an Izakaya Restaurant, it will be way easier recipes, promise!" Sadao promised, adjusting Nagant's cutesy apron with 'In training' written on it.
"Promise?" She begged, actually looking scared.
She could come up with dozens of ways to kill somebody, but making a fucking edible ashtray like those kids were doing at the moment? That was far outside her area of expertise!
"We Promise, we promise." Toshio answered, smiling.
"You just need to worry about making a proper Kara-Agé, Sashimi, Agedashi-tofu (Deep-fried tofu with soup), Yakisoba (fried noodles), Tako-wasabi (fresh, raw octopus with wasabi sauce), Dashimaki-Tamago (Japanese rolled omelette), Motsu-nikomi (stewed beef giblets) and any other dish people expect from an Izakaya Restaurant. AND prepare them with the masterful quality our Boss Izuku-san has become synonymous with! We won't let you ruin his reputation by preparing sub-par food!" Mako added, nailing the Assassin with a cold, and yet almost fanatical, glare.
"Okay!" Kaina squeaked.
"Forgive Mako-chan, please. She really, really admires him." Michiko whispered, sighing in dismay.
"You don't say…" Kaina answered, sarcastic.
"Hello? How's it going?" Goro the Lizardman asked while peeking inside the kitchen.
"Everything is right on schedule, Goro-san! We are completing the last dishes for the current orders!" Mako answered immediately.
"Very good! Our exuberant waiters as well reported 100% satisfaction from our Guests, keep this up and Master Izuku will probably trust you five with far more freedom in managing this Restaurant." Goro answered, so pleased his tail faintly slapped the floor behind him.
"Thanks!" The Kings answered, all flashing a wide smile of pride and satisfaction.
"I still can't believe you others got Gentle Criminal and La Brava as waiters here…" Nagant muttered in disbelief, shaking her head.
"Ah! That reminds me! Kaina? Can we talk a little?" Goro asked.
"Uh? Sure!" She answered, taking away the apron and following him outside.
"I have a favor to ask you… Something I wish Master to not know about." Goro whispered.
"I am all ears." The other answered.
"Over here…" Goro guided her to the offices in the back, inside Adelia's own, to be precise.
"Ah, you took her here, good." The Witch said, nodding, and drawing a triangle of light in the air with a finger, a purple aura covered the office walls.
"I guess that means we won't be heard?" Kaina asked.
"Yes. Please sit." Adelia answered, and nailing the woman with a cold stare as soon as she and Goro sat on the chairs in front of her desk.
"What is happening?" Kaina asked.
"A bit of a preface before that… You see, Young Izuku once upon a time wished to be a Pro Hero, just like All Might and many others." Adelia explained.
"I saw him geek-out a lot whenever a Pro Hero comes visit, yes. Quite the adorable sight, and?" Nagant asked, chuckling at the cute memory.
"You must understand that that "Hero Mentality" never really went away for good when he switched goal to become a Chef, and normally this wouldn't really be a problem." Goro added himself to the talk while crossing his arms.
"… I don't like where this is going." Kaina admitted.
"And what we mean with normally, is that a normal Chef doesn't have Villains and branches of the Japanese Government ogling his every move like a lovestruck stalker." Adelia answered.
"The League of Villains and the Commission." Kaina said, groaning.
"And few other smaller organizations, yes." Goro added, a growl surging from the back of his throat.
"As you may imagine, Izuku doesn't want to even just consider removing the problem at the roots… Me and Goro instead and more open to the idea." Adelia said, tone frosty cold.
"We are very protective of Master, and as such, we don't like the idea of some fool used to get whatever they want like a spoiled toddler coming to ruin our quiet life and endanger our best friend." Goro said, tail lightly slapping down on the floor.
"I hope you are not asking me to be your personal assassin," Kaina said with narrowed eyes.
"I assure you that me and Goro are more than able to 'Remove' obstacles by ourselves, without extra help." Adelia answered, conjuring in her hand a small ball of purple fire Kaina could tell by eye was far too hot to be normal fire.
"What we ask is for you to share what you know of the various people we are certain wish to use our friend as a pawn for their little games," Goro said.
"Only information?" She asked.
"Should things spiral out of control, we will take care of removing them, you can stay away from any battle if you want, but we would like to know more about our possible victims."
"You mean enemies?" Kaina asked.
"Enemy implies they will have a chance to actually make damages," Goro answered, his eyes and smile growing sharper, more animal than humanoid.
"… Fine, but I will also tell you about who is helping along because coerced or threatened, not everybody working for those monsters are doing it just because they enjoy it." Kaina answered.
"Thank you, dear. That too will be of great help." Adelia answered, grateful.
"But if Izuku asks, I told you nothing."
"Our lips will be sealed, Kaina. Promise." Goro answered.
"Good. Grab pen and paper, there is a lot to learn about the League and the Commission alone, then we will go through the other names you may have." Nagant declared, sighing.
Meanwhile – Hero Public Safety Commission HQ – Director's Office -
The woman at the head of the Commission was at the moment frowning while looking at the giant screen of her computer, tapping rapidly and keeping open dozens of tabs she randomly use for cross-references, often checking all of them at the same time.
Hawks and another Pro Hero under the direct orders of the Commissions were standing in front of the desk forbidden from using the two comfy chairs right in front of them, and both Heroes could not help wondering for how long the very awkward silence in the room will continue.
"I seem to remember giving the order of retrieving that accursed dog again after the last miserable failure." Finally, the Director talked, and yet her eyes never left her computer's screen.
"You did, Miss Director. But the guy you sent is currently in the Hospital-"
"I am aware of what happened to that cretin, Hawks." The Director interrupted him.
"What I want to know is why after he failed we didn't send another agent." She then said.
"We actually tried, many times." The other Hero answered.
"Hn. Then why I don't have an update on the dog breeding for us an army of Guard dogs with similar strength?" The Director asked with a frown, and finally glaring at the two.
"As soon as they wake-up from their coma we will get more details, I guarantee it, Miss Director." Hawks answered.
"Again?! Then why we can't demand the boy to get arrested! WHY!" The Director demanded, slamming her hand on the desk.
"Because the Restaurant has security Cameras outside that clearly recorded our team trying to break into the Restaurant, we were told that if we try anything, the video and every other proof will be shown to everybody." Hawks answered, by now unfazed by the woman's bad temper.
"Why was I not informed of all this!" She demanded.
"I sent you a mail with all this…" Hawks answered with an unsure tone.
"Don't lie!"
"It's true!" Hawks answered with a whine.
"Have you checked your Spam Mail tab?" The other Hero asked, rolling his eyes.
"Show me respect, H3271!" She yelled.
"You call us by the serial number we were labelled with when the Commission 'Made us' as if we were objects instead of humans, and yet you demand respect...Typical." Hawks thought, sighing.
"They were sent to kidnap a kid, an innocent girl that is barely nine years old to use her as leverage!" The other Hero said.
"So what? Babies are born every damn day, it's not like they are hard to come by! It's that boy's fault if we are forced to go the hard way instead of the easy way. He just needed to obey us and do as he was told." The Director smirked.
"..."
"He didn't follow instructions and refused to hand himself and everything else over, so now it's our right as the Japanese Government to take it. I am the Director, and if I say that something belongs to us, then they belong to us! And I want that-"
BANG!
Under Hawks' shocked eyes the other Hero's big punch slammed with inhuman strength and ferocity on the Director's face to interrupt her deranged rant, destroying her nose and teeth in a big splash of blood and sending her expensive glasses flying across the room while she went propelled backwards and rolling on the floor until she slammed against the opposite wall.
"…"
The awkward silence returned inside the office as Hawks and the now-panting Hero watched the unconscious Director lie on the floor unmoving and with blood slowly drenching her face while one of her eyes was already swelling closed.
"Finally she shut-up! God, I dreamed of doing this for so many years!" The guy said with a wide smile.
"You do know your life is over now, yes?" Hawks asked, worried, and stepping over the woman's glasses "by mistake".
"Oh! My life has been over for a while! I am just finally going through my bucket list!"
"Eh?"
"Final stage, Hawks. I have probably less than one year left to live." He said with a sad smile.
"But…"
"And she would have known that had she cared, had she stopped for just a second to consider what the world around her wants or needs. She never does, none of the people here care, Hawks. We are the results of their little project of Heroes answering only to them like obedient attack dogs, all for some absurd dream of taking over Japan as the leading Leaders… You do realize they are supposed to be the Good Guys and not the Villains, yes? That they are not supposed to plan a coup like in some cheap action movie? But here we are, kidnapped as kids to become their little toy soldiers to send to the grinder! But we are humans, Hawks! We are alive! We are not assets!"
"Too bad the guys that own us are a branch of our Government." Hawks answered, sighing.
"There has to be a way."
"Murder?" He joked.
"I am serious, Hawks… I don't know you, but we others are all looking for a way to leave all this behind and just be normal Heroes, with normal lives as free people."
"I spoke with Endeavor, recently. He says that his door is always open at the Agency… But honestly, I can't add my problems to his own, that's already a big pile of trouble by itself."
"I will just enjoy the few months I have left avoiding this spoiled brat, being on the run will at least give me a chance to see the world, finally, since I never left Japan… But you, Hawks, do try to break free. I said the same things to the others: we all deserve freedom, try to get free of this madhouse."
"You make it sound easy. They control my bank accounts and everything else I own… I will be basically penniless and homeless if I leave them." Hawks answered, sighing.
"It's exactly because it is not easy that you need to try. Do whatever it takes, but break free!" The other Hero begged.
"I'll try. Promise."
"Good, the others promised to do the same, and if you all work together, maybe what happened to us won't happen again."
"I hope so. You better go, the more distance you put between here and you, the harder it will be for them to catch you. Have you already removed the tracker?" Hawks said.
"Yes, back-alley doctors are expensive as hell, but the guy is an old friend so he made me a discount. I will throw it in the garbage bin right out of here. Good luck, Hawks." The man said.
"Good luck, my friend. Be free." Hawks answered, watching the man walk away rapid steps.
"…" The lone Pro Hero once alone looked at the still unconscious Director with uncaring eyes.
"If only I could snap your neck, I would do it. Too bad it would serve no purpose. Yet." He said to himself, he just gave a long sigh and prepared himself to play the part of the obedient puppy and help his 'beloved' Director in her time of need after this outrageous attack…
"Why Villains never slit the throat of these people instead of innocent civilians?"
Bing!
It was that his phone pinged from an incoming email, and the longer he read that mail, the more his eyes grew wide and his eyebrows rose, to the point even his wings popped-out rigid, all thanks to his surprise.
"… Talk about timing…" He muttered in surprise and with a very dry chuckle.
Around the same time – Secret Lab -
All for One was normally a patient man, although also the living definition of Megalomania and God-complex, reason why he wanted everything to be perfect for his grand return, in his mind he was literally a Demon Lord about to resurrect to terrorize the world and kill the Heroes; all was just a way for his deranged power Fantasy to come to fruition, and maybe a sign that Shigaraki was not the only 'Demented Manchild' treating the world as a game.
"Gigantomachia is getting restless lately, Sensei." Daruma informed him after the daily check-ups to assure AfO's body was still holding-up until he could go on with his precious 'Procedure'.
"He wants some action. Huhuhuhu! Poor thing, I almost understand him, all this waiting can get on your nerves." All for One admitted with a cold chuckle.
"Should we let him run rampant a little?" Daruma asked.
"Maybe, but not yet. I want everything to be perfect, the setting of the stage for my return has to be made properly! If All Might really is back to full health, I too must be presentable for our last showdown! The world has to tremble in fear as soon as I arrive and even more after I show them the severed head of their precious 'Heroes'!" The Villain answered.
"We can use Machia's rampage as the starting point, and steadily ramp-up our attacks until the climax that will be your glorious return, Sensei." Daruma offered, smiling wide and cruelly.
"Huhuhu! I like the sound of that. An escalation of chaos that warms the audience before the Main Villain arrives! Yes! Let the masses tremble in fear and their so-called Heroes show their incompetence before killing them, I want a clear stage for my return, free of any background, secondary characters! Hahahahaha!" All for One answered, laughing cruelly.
"Everything will be ready, don't worry, sensei." Daruma promised, he too excited at the idea, apparently.
Later that day - With Izuku – Yaoyorozu House – Kitchen -
Izuku was looking in pride as Rei removed from the oven a perfectly made roast-beef, not a burn in sight and the right scent filling the air as soon as she pulled it out.
"Simply perfect, Rei! You did it all by yourself, and you made absolutely no mistakes!" He said with an amazed tone.
"Miss Yaoyorozu! I am so happy!" The Family Chef at the same time was crying fat tears of happiness, with his hiccups wrecking his body heavily.
"I can't believe it! I did it!" Rei said, smiling blindly.
"I had no doubts about it, you worked too hard all this time to not get better!" Izuku answered.
"… So… The cut test?" Rei asked, turning
"The final test, come on. It's your right as the Chef that made it." Izuku answered, handing her knife.
"…"
"I trust you, Rei. Trust yourself." He said once seen eye the knife in fear.
"Here it goes…" She said, getting the knife and slowly cutting through the meat with trembling hands.
The knife easily cut through the tender cooked meat, and as soon as the outer slice delicately fell on the plate, juicy rosy meat was uncovered, tender and still faintly dripping juices that shone brightly in the kitchen light. It was perfect.
"… I DID IIIIIIIIIT!" Rei yelled in happiness, almost crying actually.
"Waaaaaah!" The Family Chef did cry instead, mostly in relief at seeing that maybe Rei will stop destroying the kitchen every time she tried cooking.
"Color is good, so is scent and consistency, what about the taste?" Izuku, smiling widely, said.
"Here!" Rei answered, cutting more to have a test taste for her, izuku and her personal Chef.
"…" The woman slowly brought a morsel to her mouth and carefully chewed, memories of her many failures before she started taking lessons made her cautious of possible new poisoning accidents.
"Woo! Very nice! Salt was used well, pepper too! Very good heat control too, you did it damn well! So? How does it taste to you?" Izuku asked.
"Tastes like victory!" Rei answered, crying comically-large tears of happiness.
"Smile!" The family Chef said, taking a picture of Rei holding the plate of food she made, she was smiling and 'Cooking Lessons: Graduated!' was written above her.
The picture was sent to Momo and Saito then, and unknown to them, both Momo and Saito started crying in happiness at the good news, especially Rei's husband since his stomach will finally start healing from years of unintentional abuse.
"With this, you are officially ready to cook by yourself whenever you want! I can say that when it comes to simple recipes, I got nothing else top teach you," Izuku said.
"I will keep taking care of cooking, but at least now you will be able to cook without accidents, Miss Rei." The Family Chef added.
"Thank you, Icchan!" Rei answered, hugging him tightly.
"So does this mean you will stop visiting?" She asked then, sad.
"I can visit whenever you want, Rei! You can come visit me as well!" Izuku answered, hugging her tightly.
"And cook together?"
"We can do that too, of course!"
"Good!"
The three of them chatted a bit more, until it was time for Izuku to leave and returning to his beloved Green Cloud Restaurant, walking through the street at a leisure pace to enjoy the peaceful evening.
"Host?" The System alerted him.
"Uh?"
"Now it would be a good moment to visit the location of your future Izakaya Restaurant."
"Oh! You found a good one? Nice! Where?" Izuku asked with an excited smile.
"Please follow the arrows." The Entity answered, making bright green arrows start floating in the air pointing towards the location, luckily only Izuku could see them, otherwise there would be far too many questions asked.
Streets -
Following the bright arrows, Izuku and Whitey made their way through the streets towards the area of the city where most of the offices were located, and the few small Restaurants and bars he passed-by did not miss his presence.
"Is that… That kid that challenged all those Chefs? Why is he here?" The owner of an Irish-themed Pub, leaning on the stereotypical, wondered aloud in dread.
"Why is he looking at that empty store? HE DOESN'T WANT TO OPEN ANOTHER RESTAURANT HERE, RIGHT?!" The owner of a small Restaurant shrieked in horror.
"WAAAAAAAAAAH! IT'S HIIIIIM!" A chef of another store, one that in the past had lost a knife to Izuku, started crying and sobbing as soon as he saw the young man, forcing his boss to hurry comfort the PTSD-suffering guy.
Whoever was even just remotely connected to the world of cooking was now following Izuku's every move in dread, horrified at the idea of a third Restaurant of his appearing close to them; honestly, from outside, they were treating Izuku as if he was the All for One of the cooking business.
With Izuku -
The young Chef was studying the empty store from outside, trying to see through the dusty windows to gauge how things were inside.
"… Ehm… Mister Midoriya?" A young woman in a business suit said, nearing him with cautios steps.
"Yes? That's me, how can I help you?" He answered.
"Mikoto Urashima from Sakamoto Real Estate. We have been called about you being interested in buying this store?" The woman asked, offering him her business card with a formal bow.
"Yes, nice to meet you, Miss Mikoto. I guess my Sponsor called you. Can we go in?" Izuku answered, accepting the card and shaking the woman's hand.
"Of course! Please let me unlock the door." The woman answered, and promptly opening the door for him.
As soon as they both entered, the rumor of yet another Restaurant of Izuku probably opening soon spread like wildfire in a giant area around the future Izakaya, making many store owners howl in despair.
"YOU ALREADY HAVE TWO RESTAURANTS! WHY IS IT NOT ENOUGH?! MONSTER!" many screamed while crying.
Later that night – UA – Toshinori's office -
Toshinori was looking at a thick folder with narrowed eyes, humming grimly at random intervals while checking and re-checking random pages, as if hoping to see the reports in there be different than what he had already seen.
"So a giant Villain is going on a merry rampage near the mountains," Toshinori muttered.
"And coming far too close to the small villages near there. There is also the sightseeing of several secondary members of the League of Villains in the city mulling about," Sir Nighteye answered, checking his own notes.
"After a long period of silence, with just minor attacks." Toshinori added.
"Minor attacks against the Wild, Wild Pussycats and two classes of students." The other corrected him.
"And the mess with Stein."
"Are you sure it was all to entice him?" Nighteye asked.
"He left me a note pinned to my car, assuring me he didn't feel the need to join the League of Villains since I did not retire." Toshinori answered, shrugging.
"Of course, why wouldn't he notify you of that." Nighteye answered, rubbing his temples tiredly.
"I would arrest him if he wasn't that good at slithering away."
"I know… I know…"
"Do you think All for One is planning something?" Toshinori asked.
"When does he not? Ever since you forced him into retirement he had been very likely been planning his return. Remember the Kamino Raid recently?" Nighteye asked, grimly.
"Oh, I do…" Toshinori replied, grimacing.
They thought they had the location, or at least one of the locations, the League used to plan their attack, so All Might, Mirio, Nighteye and few other Pro Heroes had decided to pay a friendly visit in the hopes of seein if the Villains there were kind enough to book a meeting between Toshinori's punch and All for One's face once again, for old time's sake…
They only found a smirking Kurogiri, going by the voice at least, sitting on top of a ludicrous quantity of explosives with their timer already counting down the last seconds, just enough time for the Nomu to mock them with a 'Sorry, gentlemen, your All for One is in another Castle' and then disappear inside a portal before the bar and everything around it in a thirty meter radius went engulfed by the explosion.
They all were alive only thanks to Mt. Lady growing huge and shielding them with her body, they survived, but Yu needed almost two months to recover from her wounds.
"They were waiting for us." Nighteye said, frowning.
"Confirming our suspects about one or more spies having tattled us out. Or at least that one of your informants sold the information to them." Toshinori answered.
"Still trying to find out who it was."
"I trust you, I don't believe they can avoid you forever."
"Mirio is itching to join us in the next raid."
"Should he join?" Toshinori asked.
"I am still worried of how wildly One for All and Permeation react to each other, but I know I can't hold him back forever… I need to trust him and believe in his power and skills." Nighteye answered, sighing.
"… You think he was telling the truth? That he saw Nana?" Toshinori asked with a longing tone.
"Either truth or just a dream, he said he met her but could not hear her voice. But he is sure she was very alarmed, scared even."
"A bad omen." All Might muttered, unsure.
"And considered All for One was the one that killed her, maybe it's a bad omen about his return?" Nighteye answered.
"A warning from beyond the grave… God, I hope not." He answered.
"Me too. But I am afraid we will need to be ready for things to go bad very fast."
"Right, we can't-"
Driiiiiiiiin!
Nighteye's phone's ringing interrupted them.
"It's Centipeder. Yes?" He said, picking-up the call.
"… Right away!" The man said immediately after just a short silence.
"Uh?"
"Gigantomachia is moving towards Hosu, tearing everything apart on the way! He doesn't look like about to stop anytime soon"
"What?! Let's go!" Toshinori was already to the door while saying that.
"Yes, Mirio as well has been alerted together with Hado and Tamaki. We will also meet Yu and Nemuri once there." Nighteye answered, following him.
"Midnight too? Why?"
"Nemuri's grandmother lives in Hosu, and Nemuri's mother is currently there to visit. Not even you could stop her from going there to protect her family."
"Maybe her Quirk can help too, let's go!" All Might rushed out at high speed, soon followed by Mirio and the other two "Top 3 Students" flying behind them thanks to their own Quirks.
"Mister All Might!" Mirio said.
"Be careful, students! Gigantomachia is a walking natural disaster, you must stay on guard at all times!" Toshinori warned them.
"Yessir!" The students answered.
"Our first priority is stopping Gigantomachia from even just enter Hosu, the damages will be incalculable if we let him reach the place! Fight smart, fight carefully and use his giant bulk against him!" Nighteye instructed them hurriedly.
"Yessir!"
"We'll tell you more along the way! Now hurry!" Toshinori added.
At the same time – Green Cloud Restaurant -
Izuku and Momo were standing alone in the middle of his kitchen and waiting for The System to initiate the teleportation that will bring them into another world for Izuku's sortie.
"Did Nejire say what the emergency was about?" Izuku asked, worried.
"She said she wasn't supposed to say, for security reasons, she could only admit it was something big and that it will happen in Hosu." momo answered, sighing.
"She will be fine… She will be fine…" Izuku answered, trying to reassure both her and himself.
"Yes, yes she will be. She is strong and capable, and thanks to you she even knows Enbu, she will pull through and get back to us." Momo answered, looking just as apprehensive as him.
"We will be away for seven days in that world, and only seven hours will pass here, by the time we will be back things will hopefully be resolved."
"God, I hope so."
"You can stay here if you don't feel like it."
"… No, I trust Nejire to be able to be by herself for a couple hours, but I won't leave you alone in another Dimension for a week!" Momo answered, unsure.
"Thank you, Momo." He answered, kissing her.
"Everything is ready. Teleportation Array scribing!" The System declared as a circle of mysterious rune-like letters appeared around them and Whitey.
"Blackie, Adelia, Goro, Zephyr… I leave everything to you. Keep my mother, Momo's parents and Eri safe if anything happens, okay?" Izuku asked.
"Of course!" The other Staff Members of Green Cloud answered in chorus, with Zephyr giving a long, determined yowl.
"Thank you!" Both teens answered, grateful, before disappearing in a blinding giant flash of light.
Other Dimension – Space Station -
When the light faded-away, Izuku and Momo found themselves inside a massive hangar, so big they could barely comprehend how something man-made could be of such immense size, everywhere giant spaceships far more advanced of even the wildest sci-fi movie of their home dimension silently and elegantly hovered in place, connected to the Space Station in precise rows thanks to long transparent corridors.
Everywhere humans and colorful aliens walked back and forth in an endless buzz of activity, boarding or leaving the ships that arrived and left non-stop to visit the space station or leaving for missions, trades and who knew what else.
"Sorry! Coming through!" A tall robot walked past Izuku and Momo in a brisk pace while checking the holographic projection of a watch.
"Robot and Aliens?" Momo said in awe.
"Okay, this is different!" Izuku answered, just as amazed.
"Attention Please! All ships coming from the Gurone Sector, please pass through Gate 6 for Identification and to receive your mandatory permit! , [ #! # #[# Gurone Sector, #R3u$%£bj!…" A metallic voice repeated the same message in hundreds of different languages from the speakers of the docks.
"Amazing! I am seeing aliens! I am the first human to actually see space and aliens!" Momo said with shining aliens, a cute sight that made izuku chuckle and his heart swell in love for her.
"So it seems! Maybe this Sortie won't be so bad!" The young Chef answered, pleased to see that maybe he will have a normal Sortie for once.
"There it is! It's starting! It's Starting!" A bunch of kids, Humans and Alien, screamed while hurrying past the two towards one of the giant ships.
"Uh?" Both muttered, unsure.
The spaceport vibrated with the palpable energy of anticipation of the kids and many adults present as the colossal starship, boldly showing its name "Stellar Colossus," prepared to leave its mooring.
"All systems online!" One of the people at the helòm of the starship declared eagerly as the many screens in front of her lighted-up in positive feedbacks and complex graphs giving her live feedback of the ship's systems status.
The starship, a titanic construction of steel and glass, stood as a monument to the power and grandeur of human engineering. The crew, comprised of hundreds of specialized individuals, moved with millimeter precision along the perfectly illuminated corridors of the starship.
"Attention to all post, once again I want and expect from you all only the very best!" The Starship's captain was a gruff-looking man in his fifties with well-kept beard and a long scar running down from his forehead down to his neck and above his left eye, a testament of what a moment of distraction could mean when in their line of duty, where a single second can make the difference between Life and Death! Everything about him gave off an imposing aura of a Veteran of thousand of battles!
"YESSIR!" Each member wore impeccable uniforms and exuded an aura of absolute determination and discipline, they all answered as one to the words of their beloved Captain that they have served under for years.
"Wow!" Momo said in child-like wonder at seeing the giant ship slowly come to life, like an almighty beast slowly awakening from its slumber.
"… Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Izuku instead could not shake off the feeling of something being wrong in the scene.
"Reactor is turning! Energy levels rising at optimal rate!" A man said, his eyes non blinking while checking his monitors.
"Releasing locks! Anti-gravity cushions activated! Initiating Engine warm-up!" The Crew' Robot listed while its six arms moved with impossible precision to cover the work of three persons at the same time.
"It's time, Fellas! Let everybody know we are here for them! Let's bring them hope and safety!" Under the captain's iron guidance, commands were issued with surgical precision, and every action was executed with utmost accuracy.
There was no room for error on his ship; every member of the crew knew that the fate of thousands of lives rested on their skills and dedication!
FWOOOOOM! Finally, the long-awaited moment arrived, with a powerful roar, the starship's gigantic engines ignited, unleashing iridescent blue flames that danced with unparalleled beauty and grandeur.
"Oh my God! This is so cool!" Momo yelled in stricken awe when she saw the flames of the ships' engines that seemed to burn with the intensity of a thousand stars, illuminating the darkness of the surrounding space with dazzling light.
The starship slowly detached from the port, rising with grace and unstoppable elegance, the vibrations of the engines reverberated through the starship's hull as it soared ever higher into the starry sky.
Finally, with one last burst of power the ship moved… And a cheerful jingle started playing while thousands of pictures of ice-creams of every size, for humans and for aliens, covered the ship's entire hull.
"Ice-Cream! Sweet Rolls! Salted Grurugant! Iced Flurgelliusts! Come and get some, kids! Captain Sweets is here!" And the gruff captain donned a white cap and started selling Ice-creams with a high-pitched voice unbefitting his look.
The ship then immediately turned off the engines and slowly started floating towards the walls in a way that aligned the window from where the clerk usually sold ice-creams to the railings where the kids stood in wait like a famished horde of locusts.
"Ice-cream! Ice-cream!" The kids chanted in various Languages while amassing close to the railings while waving the coins and colorful bills their parents gave them to buy themselves the sweets and Ice-cream they wanted, all under the amused looks of the adults around them chuckling amused and remembering fondly when they were the same age and anxiously waiting for the Ice-Cream ship to start selling.
"…" Momo's happy expression died a gory messy death as the image of sci-fi awesomeness she was expecting went gutted brutally right in front of her eyes just for some cheap ice-creams.
"Izuku… What is happening? All that… For an Ice-cream truck?" Momo asked, confused and unnerved.
"Uuugh! Here we go. This is going to be one of those sorties…" Izuku answered, massaging his temples to stave-off the first of a long series of headaches.
"Shiro simply purred and rubbed his cheek on Izuku's while Whitey silently rubbed his back with a big hand, both offered their silent prayers and reminded Izuku they were there to help him through this new annoying ordeal.
Opposite side of the Galaxy – super secret facility hidden inside a giant asteroid -
Meanwhile this was happening, at the opposite side of the Galaxy, an evil scientist was cursing his luck at seeing one of his many secret labs being under attack by Bounty Hunters.
"Send my space grunts to my space lab on the Xuru Asteroid Belt! I want them to bring me back the AI Core of my Bio-Obliterating-Ballista orbital death station! I won't be denied my conquest of the Galaxy just because some Space Fool wanted some easy Space Dollars!" The towering purple alien ordered.
"Yes, Doctor Grogor!" The Space grunts answered as one, hurrying towards the secret base's space port to jump on their space ships and preparing to use the "space catapult" to initiate instant FTL Travel.
Yet another plan of Evil was forming, and once again, Izuku found himself in the smack dab middle of it, all while just trying to manage his Restaurant and hunt for Ingredients to increase his Menu selection and make his dishes even better.
He just wanted to have a quiet Chef life, was it too much to ask?
Omake -
Extra Dimensional Ingredient Hunt:
The Crepes that destroyed a Boss.
Hokkaido – Kitahiroshima City - Shopping Mall -
A group of teens on a small summer trip, that soon turned into another quest to save the world, had taken a short stop in Hokkaido to hunt down another Target of theirs.
"Aah, Hokkaido! Such a magnificent place!" Yusuke declared with a pleased smile.
"We need to try some local delicacies too! I always wanted to try some real Letao Double Fromage!" Ann declared, her eyes scanning everywhere for sweet goodness.
"Hum, I could go for some cheesecake myself, to be honest." Makoto admitted, smiling.
"Focus! We must find the Monarch of the new Jail I sensed!" of all members of the small group, it was the cat sitting inside the bag of their 'Leader' to bring back everything on track.
"Morgana is right, the fact that a new Jail popped-up out of nowhere so suddenly after we fixed my daughter's is far too suspect." Zenkichi added.
"Smells fishy," Ren admitted, nodding.
"You mean sweet, dude! This scent is driving me nuts!" Ryuji answered, smirking and sniffing the air hard.
"Indeed! I never felt a scent as good as this!" Haru admitted, impressed.
"Can we get some of that? Pleeeeeeeease!" Ann and Futaba begged.
"Aaw! I wish I could smell that too! You make it sound delicious!" Sophie said from Ren's phone.
"Fine, but just a bite, we are on a mission and we can't waste time!" Zenkichi, as the only actual Adult in the group, conceded with a sigh.
Following Ann's nose, usually putting a bloodhound's to shame whenever it was about sweets, the small group of friends made their way through the giant mall towards the source of the amazing scent… And the closer they got, the stranger things became.
"Hey… Is it me or everybody is starting to get… Fat?" Ryuji asked.
"Oh, dear! Bodyshaming is very unwelcomed!" Yusuke commented, then a shadow was cast on him.
"Cake… I want more…" The pretty-much-spherical woman droned like a zombie while walking forward, almost pushing the young man to the ground in her mindless haste for cake.
"… Her body-mass ratio is completely unacceptable! Even the great Fernando Botero found beauty in the curves of a plus size version of humanity, but even he then advocated about health, that woman looks like about to pop like a balloon!" Yusuke commented horrified.
"If not her, her heart will soon give-in if she is not careful." Makoto added, watching more and more obese people walking with almost empty eyes in the same direction.
"I believe we found our Jail Monarch. They act like every other victim of one, meaning that whoever is making the sweets they want must be our Target." Morgana said with narrowed eyes.
"So somebody is stealing their desires and enslaving them through food? Why?" Zenkichi asked, confused.
"A wronged Chef? Somebody that didn't get recognition they think they deserve?" Ann asked, confused.
"… Or maybe a former dietitian that has decided to take revenge on the world that wronged her?" A new voice said.
"Sumire!" The others yelled with wide eyes.
"Oh! This must be the girl you were talking about. Nice to meet you, miss!" Zenkichi offered with a friendly smile.
"Nice to meet you, sir!" Sumire answered with a formal bow.
"Sumire! What are you doing here?!" Ann asked, hurrying to hug their friend as hard as she could.
"My stage oversea had been interrupted for a bit. Few people involved were caught pocketing funds, so until further notice, or at least a new stage is prepared, I got nothing to do so I decided to get back home, Hokkaido was supposed to be one of our stops before I returned home. The others though are acting strange, as soon as they tasted some local cake they went insane for the stuff and demanded to stop here forever to eat it everyday… I was trying to investigate like we used to do when… well…" Sumire started explaining, then she saw Zenkichi and her words slowed down to a crawl.
"I am a PT too, don't worry. Codename Wolf." Zenkichi assured her with a wink.
"Oh! Thank goodness!" She exhaled in relief.
"I am happy to see you again," Ren said, moving closer to her.
"Me too, Senpai…" Sumire said, shyly hugging him.
"If it was any other moment, I would have left you catch-up for the time you were apart, but being lovebirds will have to wait until we have dealt with the Jail." Morgana said.
"Right! I… Jail? Not Palaces?" Sumire asked, confused.
"We'll explain on the way, but what is this thing about a Dietician?" Haru asked.
"I saw who has opened the bakery the cakes come from, and recognized her. She used to be a famous Dietician, then an up and coming Idol accused her to force her to take pills to not eat and follow her diet. The scandal had been immediate and it simply destroyed her carreer." Sumire explained.
"And it was not the truth?" Makoto asked.
"I used to be one of the people she followed when I started my gymnastic training. She hated the idea of using medicines as a short-cut to lose weight, she believed that discipline and good diet were more than enough! She used to believe in helping others staying in shape and healthy! I am sure that Idol was abusing drugs on her own, and when they discovered her secret stash of illegal drugs she blamed Miss Haguromo to protect herself from the scandal!" Sumire answered, shaking her head wildly.
"Then I guess the Jail twisted both her desire of revenge into making everybody around her become fat." Ann guessed.
"'If they don't want my help to stay healthy, they can become the pigs they wish to be!' Stuff like that?" Ryuji said, distorting his voice in a stereotypical Bad Guy Voice.
"Considering what we saw in the other Jails, it wouldn't surprise me if you nailed it 100%, Ryuji." Futaba answered.
"Then we will stop her! She is literally killing these people a cake at a time!" Zenkichi declared.
"Do you want to join us again, Sumire?" Ren asked.
"Of course." She answered, kissing his cheek and smiling.
"Goddamn kouhai trope…" Ann muttered, bitterly.
"She got to him first, but it's okay! You'll ahev your chance." Haru answered, rubbing her friend's back.
A Short walk later – bakery -
Following Sumire's directions, the group arrived a rather fancy but small bakery where a woman with curly black hair was selling the local famous Double Fromage cakes to a giant crowd of overweight people clamouring in front of the entrance in very desperate need for the small desserts.
"There she is… They always look so normal from outside, it never ceases to creep me out to see how twisted they are on the inside, as Monarchs." Haru admitted.
"Ineed the manifestation of our darkest desires and wishes are as ugly as one may expect from the most sordid recesses of our souls." Yusuke added, frowning a bit.
"Yo, that's the QR Code for the EMMA App, want to scan it so we can have a first tour of her jail?" Ryuji said, jamming his thumb towards a giant sign.
"Add my bakery to your EMMA Friend List to always be updated on when to find my new creations first!… I guess adding about turning into brain-dead zombies was not a good publicity, so she didn't add it." Ann commented in distaste after reading the text under the big QR code.
"I guess so." Ren added, just as annoyed as she was.
"Is that a robot!?" Futaba in the meantime was gushing about something else.
"Uh?" The others turned around to see a young man with green eyes and green hair studying a small plate with a Double Fromage cake on it with analytical eyes inhumanly focused on every detail.
Next to him a tall girl with azure hair was watching him amused, and behind them both a very tall and chubby robot was silently standing in silence, looking around aimlessly with big round white eyes.
"I wouldn't eat that if I were you." Ren said.
"Yes. The cooking time is wrong, she used too much sugar in the cheese cream, the cover is too dry and it's clear the oven was too hot when she prepared the sponge-cake base. There is no way people would be so obsessed with this version of this dessert if any store outside of this mall sell way better ones." Izuku answered.
"… Holy crap, dude, did you give it an X-Ray?" Ryuji asked, shocked.
"Hn? Ah, sorry. I am a travelling Chef and came here to see if anybody could make a good enough version of the Double Fromage for me to improve upon. I tatsed many version to see what to work with, this was my last stop considering how insanely famous he was supposed to be…" He answered, chuckling.
"But indeed the final product didn't match the expectations the fame promised. I understand your plight, many times I too saw Artist celebrated while offering mediocre pieces of art." Yusuke answered, sighing.
"I wouldn't go that far, Icchan did say the cake had some good sides as well, it's just that the bad outweighs the good!" Nejire answered, chuckling.
"You tried it too?" Ann asked.
"… Meh! Didn't really like it, but I am spoiled, I am too used to eat what Izuku makes, so my standards are a bit slanted." She answered, making Izuku blush.
"Hahahaha! That must be the sweet taste of Love. Adorable." Makoto answered, chuckling amused, and worsening Izuku's blush.
"I am sorry you got hyped for nothing, but if I can give you a suggestion, do not finish that dessert and refrain from eating more. We have reasons to believe they have been tampered with." Zenkichi said.
"Drugs?" Izuku asked.
"We'll see, please be discreet and try to talk any new customer into not eating, I will ask around some questions." He answered, flashing to both Izuku and Nejire is ID as a Police Officer.
"Sure, sir. No problem." Nejire answered.
"…" Izuku and Nejire watched in silence Ren scan the QR and give a nod to his friends and then walk away.
"… Very suspicious." Nejire finally commented with narrowed eyes.
"A brain-washing Dessert, haven't seen one like this in a while." Izuku admitted with a growl.
"Bad memories of Joah?"
"Yes. Will you hate me if I crash a Restaurant? I feel like being a Vigilante and bring some food justice."
"We are in another Dimension, so way outside my jurisdiction, so I can't stop you." She answered.
"Sooo…"
"Let's close this bakery of nightmares for good, Icchan!" Nejire answered.
Inside the Metaverse – Haguromo's Jail -
The cognitive world of the disgraced Dietician was a nightmare land of giant desserts, biscuits and cakes; each dessert enormous in size and piled on top of each other to form skyscrapers of a dystopic city of endless Gluttony.
"Those are supposed to be cute cupcakes!" Ann said in horror.
"And they would be if not for the fact that all is in dark colors like usual." Makoto answered.
"I am getting sick of smelling sweet stuff," Ryuji admitted with a scrunched nose.
"Ugh! I don't thing air is supposed to be so saturated in sugar!" Zenkichi added, gagging a bit.
"Eew! Let's hurry before just standing here gives us diabetes." Sumire begged.
"I suggest to check that giant marzipan castle!" Sophie suggested, finally appearing next to her friends in a physical manner after they joined her inside the Metaverse.
"As always we'll need to disable the Garrisons before entering, but having a clue of what to expect from outside is still a good idea, let's go!" Morgana answered, he was now looking like an anime-style chibi cat with a giant head.
The flamboyantly dressed Phantom Thieves hurried through the streets paved in biscuits, past lamppost made of licorice, and through the skyscrapers of pudding, chocolate and parfait glasses towards an imposing fortress that looked literally made of marzipan slices, and even if everything was colorful, the atmosphere of the pocket dimension was oppressive and evil thanks to the distorted dark colors, the cloudless red sky and the many giant eyes following their every move while crying chocolate.
Marzipan Fortress -
After what felt like an eternity to the Thieves, mostly thanks to the many fights they had to go through against the monstrous Shadows the met along the way, they reached the giant and imposing gate of 'sugar' sealing the entrance to the fortress.
"Besides the materials used, this place looks even far too fortified." Zenkichi admitted with a low whistle.
"And I guess we can't eat ourselves a tunnel to get in?" Ryuji asked rhetorically.
Thing! Thing!
In answer Ren tapped the marzipan walls with his knife, and producing an unnatural metallic sound on impact.
"Effing typical, God forbid we can have it easy for once!" He commented, grumbling.
"You know the drill, Skull. We first need to find the three towers powering the gate, steal whatever Memento giving it power, and then get in there to fight the Monarch." Makoto answered, sighing.
"That sounds excessively complex." Sumire admitted.
"You tell us! We have been going through this far too often!" Haru admitted, sighing.
"No need to cry on it! Let's go!" Sophie answered with a more cheerful tone.
"Yeah, Yeah." Ryuji commented, groaning.
The group soon started walking away, casting a last glance at the closed gates before focusing on the current task at hand.
"It's just… Can't it be easy? Just once?" Futaba asked.
"Like what? Snapping your finger and-"
CRUUUUUUMBLE!
"GYAAAAAAAH! WHY! WHY! WHYYYY! WHY I CAN'T WIN?! YOUR SWEETS CAN'T TASTE LIKE THAT! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" A loud rumble alerted them that the fortress behind them had just crumbled to pieces while the 'Monarch', the Twisted version of the Dietician ruling over the place screamed in despair.
"… Did I do this?" Zenkichi just looked at his fingers, still in 'post snap position' with a raised eyebrow.
"WHY! WHY?! Why whenever I do something, somebody else comes and ruins it?!" A giant pig-like being wearing a dirty apron and with six arms bellowed in fury while surfacing from the ruins of her castle.
"YOU! You sent that accursed Chef to ruin everything?! First a spoiled bimbo lies and covers her shortcomings and drugs abuse by blaming me, and now a damn brat comes, challenges me to a cooking duel and defeats me?! Why can't I have the Revenge I deserve?!" The giant monster Boar roared while pointing at the Phantom Thieves with the giant forks in her hands.
"… Is she blaming us?!" Ann asked with a shriek.
"Something happened in the Real World! Something so traumatic it shook even her Jail!" Morgana commented.
"Yeah? Well, we had nothing to do with it!" Ryuji said.
"LIARS! I SAW YOU TALK WITH THAT CHEF! WHAT?! YOU HATE ME TOO!?"
"We don't hate you! Please, snap out of this! You used to be such a gentle woman! You only wanted people to be happy and Healthy!" Sumire begged.
"I used to! And look where it brought me! To misery! But I will have my revenge, I will turn the world into the pigsty it truly is! If people don't want to be healthy, then I will turn them fat and miserable! If they didn't want to hear my warnings and preferred to gorge themselves to death, I WILL HELP THEM! AND THEY WILL LOVE ME FOR IT!" The Monstrous form of the Dietician declared with insane glee.
"We will stop you." Ren answered, unfazed.
"You Won't! Because I… Ugh! No!" The monster started saying before black smoke started erupting from her body.
"...Eh?" Morgana uttered, confused.
"...So sweet… So gentle… It reminds me of my mother's desserts… She used to make me this cheese cake whenever I was sad…" The Distorted Woman said while crying.
"Guys… What the Eff is happening?" Ryuji asked, actually scared.
"I just… I just wanted people to be healthy… When my job as a dietician was ruined I opened a bakery to follow my mother's dream of making people smile with tiny sweets made with love… But people kept looking at me in disgust for the whole drugs fiasco…"
"Who the hell is she talking with?" Ann asked.
"Her heart is reacting to something." Sophie answered.
"What?"
"Dunno!"
"Ah… I just...I just wanted people to be happy… I was tired of being hated for something I didn't do… I am… I am sorry…" The monster slowly faded away, and the Jail as well trembled and slowly crumbled to dust.
"I don't know what is happening, but we can't stay here! RUN!" Morgana yelled, snapping the others out of their stupor.
"What the Hell is happening?!" Sumire yelled in alarm while they all hurried out of the self-destroying small pocket dimension.
Real World -
When the Phantom Thieves returned to the real world, they hurried towards the bakery, and saw their Target crying her eyes out while hugging Nejire and Izuku, apologizing for brainwashing people with her sweets and for trying to turn everybody into overweight corpses.
What was even more shocking, was that all the people that used to be super fat were now back into proper shape.
"… The fuck?" Ryuji commented with a whisper.
"I concur… What the fuck?" Zenklichi echoed.
"The Chef from before!" Ann gasped.
"He did that?! From outside? Without a Persona? How?! HOW?!" Morgana asked.
"I'll ask." Ren answered, walking up to Izuku and tapping his shoulder.
"Hello?"
"Yes? Ah! You are the guy from before!" Izuku answered, once freed himself from the dietician's spine-bending hug to look at Ren.
"We were wondering what is happening."
"Oh, well, you see… I kind of challenged her to a cooking duel, and when she tasted my food she started admitting of hoping to have people become super fat in revenge of her ruined reputation as dietician."
"YOU CAN'T ACHIEVE A CHANGE OF HEART WITH FOOD! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Morgana yowled.
"… Your cat seems angry at something."
"You did not just make food, is that it?" Makoto asked, watching Nejire being the new victim of the wailing woman's hugs.
"But I did."
"I am sorry, but we saw those same persons being, let's say excessively overweight, and yet they now look very healthy, and we went missing for just a couple hours." Zenkichi said, nailing Izuku with his best Policeman Glare'.
"…" To their confusion, Izuku's eyes briefly lost focus for a couple seconds.
"We all have our secrets." He finally said, winking.
"I don't think you know what you are talking abo-"
"Wolf, Panther, Joker, Skull, Mona, Violet, Oracle, Inari, Queen, Milady, Sophie." Izuku listed.
"… Crap!" Sophia exclaimed from Ren's phone after a long silence.
"Do we kill him?" Ryuji hissed in horror.
"Don't even joke about it!" Makoto hissed back, slapping the back of his head.
"How?" Ren asked, unfazed as usual by anything, somehow.
"You get help from a cat and blue butterflies, I get help from Mysterious Incomprehensible entities." Izuku answered.
"...Hn." Ren watched a blue door appear behind Izuku, a door only he could see, and a man with a long nose and a young girl in a blue dress just nodded their heads, and hurriedly slammed the door closed (And made it disappear) as soon as Izuku turned around to see what Ren was looking at.
"So what have you done?" Ren asked.
"I was told she was brainwashing people through her sense of despair and desire for freedom and revenge. My Sponsor offered to cut her connection to the outside force that was helping her, but the Exorcism of that darkness was up to me. And I did." Izuku answered.
"How?" Makoto asked for Morgana, since Izuku could not understand the cat's words.
"With this!" Izuku answered, showing them the tray with a giant Dual Fromage cheesecake.
"The cake?" Yusuke asked, confused.
"A very nice-looking cake!" Ann echoed, hungry.
"As part of my skill-set I am a very good Chef, if I can say so myself, and with that comes a skill called Healing Cuisine. It injects Life Energy and other forms of positive energy in the eater's body to purify and heal them. In the case of the fat people, I strengthened their metabolism with a Utility Dish, in a way that made their body burn through the excessive fat fast… Sure they won't be able to sleep for two days straight thanks to all that energy produced by burning that fat, and their next bathroom break will be Apocalyptic, but at least they won't die of Heart Attack by breathing too hard." Izuku answered with a forced smile.
"And that woman?" Haru asked.
"That was another form of Healing… I just reminded her of her mother's cooking, her nostalgia and the memories of her mother did the rest." Izuku said.
"And you knew how her mother made it? How?" Zenkichi asked, arms crossed.
"I didn't!" This time Izuku's smirk was genuine.
"Eh?"
"There is a difference in the dishes you buy in a store or order in a Restaurant, and the ones you eat at home. Least of it in plating and presentation. I just gave her a cake that was made in a more Homely way, a way similar to how a mother would make for her daughter, instead of how a Chef would make for a customer of their Restaurant or Store." Izuku answered.
"It's not the dessert itself, it was the act of eating it that triggered the memories, along the visual presentation." Yusuke said.
"Exactly!"
"Impressive." Ren commented.
"Ask him to join us!" Morgana muttered.
"I-"
"Can we try the cake? Pleeeeeeeeeease!" Ann and Sumire asked, interrupting Ren before he could even ask.
"Oh, sure, go ahead. Eat from the big one, it won't make your metabolism go into hyperdrive."
"Thank you!" The girls answered.
"May as well try it." Makoto said, chuckling.
"Oh! Save some for me too!" Haru added.
…
"Dude? Why are you itching away?" Ryuji asked, confused.
"I am ready, Icchan!" Nejire as well looked ready to bolt.
"Oh, my God! This cake is soooooo goooood!" Ann said with a stricken tone while eating.
"It's so fluffy!" Haru said, gushing happily while eating her portion.
"I know! I have no idea how he did it! The sponge cake is fluffy like a cloud, and while the baked cheesecake layer is creamy and delicate, the unbaked cheesecake layer melts in the mouth! I have no clue how he got this balance of taste!" The Former Dietician explained, eating her cake with an expression of awe.
"Very good! Somebody that young made this? Wow!" Zenkichi admitted, laughing.
Izuku and Nejire were now ready to sprint away.
"Hey, Ann! Maybe if he joins us we can make him prepare this everyday!" Futaba suggested.
"Oh yeah! I can eat desserts this good everyday! He can do other stuff too, right?" Ryuji added.
"Oh, I would love that!" Ann answered, smiling wide.
"And who knows, maybe you can… You know?" Sophie suggested, smiling.
"I mean, he is cute so-"
"No no no! He can stay with me! We can work together in my bakery!" The former Monarch answered, annoyed.
"I saw him first." Ann answered, eyes narrowed into slits.
"GO!" Nejire yelled and both she and Izuku started running.
"Eh?" The Boys uttered, confused.
"WAAAAAAAIT!" Ann and the other woman started chasing him, and behind them, the rest of the Phantom Thieves chased the girls…
And sitting at an isolated table, the mysterious Kuon Ichinose was eating cake and watching Izuku run away.
"… He made me feel something while eating. Was it my Heart? I need more information, more data… He can't leave." She muttered with a dark tone.
"What's your wish?" EMMA the AI asked.
"Capture him, he will be my key to understand my Heart. The girl can be removed, I don't need her. But I want him by my side as soon as possible. He must belong to me." She ordered.
"Yes." The AI obeyed her master immediately.
What she did not expect was that during the final battle with the Phantom Thieves, EMMA, once Ascended to Godhood as The Demiurge will be instantly incinerated by a single attack of The System as soon as the battle started, as a way for the Entity to blow some of its anger at another Sortie of Izuku ending in him escaping from women, even after an even stricter round of background checks to try stop it from happening.
"The System is close at finding the culprit. It's just a matter of time…" The System muttered, voice even colder than already was normally.
Chapter end.