Chapter One Hundred and Ten

I awoke slowly, feeling like the worst hangover in existence and a full body Charlie-horse had a kid.

And then that kid beat the fucking shit out of me.

Reflexively, I pulled on my version of One-for-All to blunt the-

AGONY

I couldn't even begin to bite back the scream that ripped itself from my lips, as my body curled up, one hand clenching into a fist while my other was missing, the limb ending in a stump at the elbow, every part of me I still had shaking, blood gushing from every orifice, alarms blaring, and I felt someone nearby-

"-ot sure wha-"

"-rugs aren't doin-"

"-oosing blood at-"

Snippets of conversation, barely enough to understand, my Defenses were stopping the medicines they were giving me, treating them as poisons, and, knowing this might leave me open, but having to trust everything worked out, I lowered them just a little to-

MHA

I awoke, slowly, feeling… not much better than I had the first time.

But not in mind-blasting levels of agony.

So.

Okay.

Careful, and with glacial care, I reached for One-for-All, not even pulling on it, merely resting a mental hand up on it-

And snatched myself back, as it felt like I'd touched what I could only describe as molten-hot sharkskin, my hand cramping as I grit my teeth and tried to cradle it, looking down at it, and seeing the limb, which I'd lost, had been regrown since I'd been out, the skin pink and tender.

Working it for several minutes, the pain faded, and I looked around, seeing a television, and, carefully reaching for Electrobody that power felt… tender, like a bruised bone that could not support much weight, but, only turning my other hand, I reached out and pressed the power button, turning it on, as I let the limb snip back, hissing at the scratchy, bruised, and raw feeling.

"-earch for the mysterious Hero that assisted All Might in his final confrontation with the architect of the repeated attacks on U.A., I-Island, and more, the Villain known only as All-for-One, continues, though, after a week, there has still been no sign of them," a one-horned news anchor stated, as he stared at the camera, a blurry image of… someone on screen over his shoulder, the image indistinct, too bright for the dark background, but I recognized it as a full-form electrobody, the kind only my father could maintain, however it looked too, too complete to be him, the man transforming into what could only be described as a 'lightning elemental' when he did so, not a person made entirely of electricity. "The man, or woman's, lack of official registration has led to many concerned citizens to brand them a Vigilante, however the Hero Commission has repudiated such claims, claiming that, given the person in question was seen fighting alongside All Might, they were clearly a Hero."

I blinked at that, tired beyond words, every breath feeling labored, even lifting my arms instead of letting them just lie on the covers of my hospital bed requiring a concerted effort, feeling like… like too little butter, spread over too much bread, thinned out, and ragged. Flexing my hands, trying to focus, I could feel something at work, at the back of my head, my Defenses humming, feeling myself slowly resettle, though the missing portions, the holes in me, while they felt like they slowly closed, they didn't heal, they only reshuffled other bits of me, in some ways allowing be to move a little easier, but making that stretched-out feeling worse, still ragged, just no longer unable to move.

Looking outside, it was early afternoon, though I didn't recognize where I was other than probably Japan, given the writing on the medical equipment around me, and, from the image of All Might and myself, or at least my puppeted body, standing over a beat-to-shit All-for-One, I… I probably hadn't been captured by his people, though the view from the window could be artificial, or I could be in some kind of AfO controlled hospital, which I hadn't seen in the show, but, well, it was now clear how little that fucking meant.

So… okay, assume this is enemy territory? What next?

Take stock of capabilities. Take stock of circumstances. Take care to not to reveal knowledge of 1&2. Take care to not commit to anything that would further bind you. Take out the enemy and escape.

I didn't know how I knew that, just like I didn't know so much nowadays, but, thinking it over, it seemed a good enough start.

OfA was gone, no, not gone, but damaged, possibly beyond repair.

It sucked, but, trading it for All Might's life?

Worth it.

Oh, and my own too, since AfO was going to try and crack me like an egg and suck out all my power juices, likely not taking it well when he couldn't, and trying to find a way to make me let him, which would've been… very much not of the fun.

Electrobody was tender, still useful, but anything more than an arm was probably going to give me trouble, and, putting my hands under my covers, trying to shift both hands at once…

I winced, as that wasn't pleasant, but… doable.

Electrification?

Oddly enough, that one seemed perfectly fine.

Acid? Earth Flow? Half-Cold Half-Hot? Invisibility? Telepath?

All damaged, more than Electrobody was, by a good amount, but I could handle a dollop of weak acid in my palm, shadowing it, and cooling the gel, though not enough to make ice.

Creation?

… Kind of fine? A little touchy, but, if anything, it seemed a tad easier to use now, which was… odd. And my stocks were refilled, which was nice.

Alright, operation 'Railgun Pistol Everyone' was on the table.

Wait, even if this was an All-for-One operation, it likely had innocents working as cover, and as human shields.

And… I found that, emotionally speaking, I really didn't give a shit.

Oh, I could tell I should, could even tell that my not doing so meant that something was very, very, wrong, but…

But I just couldn't bring myself to care.

… but… but my morals weren't built on feelings, because feelings could lie, even before I found myself in a world where they could not just lie, but be directly puppeted, though, as long as I kept my Defenses up, they couldn't be.

Which would probably be comforting if I hadn't dropped them.

Twice.

But I wasn't really worried about that either.

Jeezus, what did One-for-All do to me?

But, that, too, was something I, you guessed it, found it hard to care about.

Almost reflexively, I wanted to go 'Oh, this is gonna be fuuuun,' except… well, I found it hard to care.

So… right, morals, built on a larger understanding of the universe and both how it was and how I wanted it to be. Good was Good, simple as, while both Good and Evil confused Neutrals, and Evil could not comprehend Good, thinking it mere stupidity in its arrogance, which was, ironically, also an emotion, so at least I didn't get reprogrammed by the Symbol of Evil into being some kind of edgelord.

No, that would be Pike Lyles.

… Who the hell was Pike Lyles?

… … And why did trying to think about him set off my Defenses?

That was… something to handle later.

The TV was still going, covering the international situation, as the display of power that AfO, myself-as-OfA, and All Might had laid down was… concerning, and while everyone liked the Symbol of Peace, having two more combatants of that power, one only a little weaker, and one many times stronger, was making everyone concerned about what other monsters Japan might be hiding in its ranks.

But that was, very, very much not my problem.

Trying to get up from my bed, my body ached, but, even as I started to try, I could feel an effusive warmth start to work itself into my muscles, joints, and bones, on the edge of pain, without crossing over, a bit like full-body wasabi, but tastefully portioned, and, standing, my legs gave out, and my arm twisted unexpected, as I was cuffed to the bed, barely able to catch myself before I hit the ground, arms momentarily lighting up with pain, but, compared to the all-consuming hell that activating OfA now was, it was easily manageable, as I clung to the side of the bed, shuddering breaths coming hard, but, as I tried to move, I could feel myself strengthen.

It was… it was like my form had been hollowed out, leaving only a framework of what I should be in its place, but, now that attention was being brought to this fact, my High-Speed Regeneration was doing its best to fix that.

The sensation was oddly disconnected, as my body was strengthening but… but I didn't feel any better, and I was no better at feeling, the issue not one of damaged nerves, everything just… muted, and distant, like something I read about in a history book, despite it happening to me right this moment.

Within moments, I was able to stand, a flicker of Electrobody letting me slip out of the cuffs, taking halting steps towards the hospital bathroom, the various taps and such that had been inserted to me, which I only now realized I'd been impaled by, clattering to the floor as I regenerated, setting off alarms, but… okay.

With a measured pace, I made it to the side door, and inside, at the sink, turned on the water and splashed the cold fluid on my face, which… helped, though, glancing up, at my reflection, I looked like shit, cheeks gaunt, and with dark circles around my eyes, though the former was, ever-so-slightly fixing itself. The latter, however, stayed, my own eyes seeming… flat, dim, almost unfocused despite the fact I clearly was.

Taking a moment, I focused, hands gripping the edge of the sink, arcs of electricity starting to run up my arms, and then I looked.

A haunted visage stared back, eyes sharp, a light behind them burning, but wavering, like a sputtering candle the rest of the world sliding into the present, just for a moment, as I felt relief at the fact that I was still alive, that All Might was alive, that my gamble had Paid. The Fuck. Off.

But that sense of focus, that sense of Presence, slipped through my fingers, and it faded, and while I felt like I should be gasping, I was physically fine, just staring back into flat, dim, and unfocused eyes, wanting nothing to curl up, cry, and die, but, with the ringing of a Defense, I bounced back a little, where I was before, like I was in one of those trampoline parks I'd heard about, but had never visited, going low, but unable to stay there which was… good.

Probably.

Walking out of the small bathroom, two members of the hospital staff rushed into my room, a man and a woman, both in scrubs, the woman declaring, "You're up!"

"Clearly," I replied, watching them both impassively. "Where am I?"

"You need to get back to the bed," the man declared, watching me with a dangerous glint in his eyes. "And now we need to put all your sensors back in."

"… Where am I?" I reiterated, not moving, watching them both carefully.

"I said, get back in bed," the orderly stated, taking a threatening step forward, and I felt something ping my Defenses, as I slowly turned my head to stare him in the eye.

"Unless you are secretly a Hero, that would be unlicensed Quirk Use, and an attack," I remarked blandly. "So, Villain, tell me where am I, or I will find out myself."

This time the woman frowned, taking a step towards me, lifting a hand, though in a calming gesture, not to use her Quirk, even as the man behind her widened his eyes, surprised, his Quirk likely a subtle one, but Mind Defense didn't give a shit, and neither did I.

"You're safe," she informed me, "But no one's using their Quirk on you. You had a bad experience, and we need to get you back to bed."

"Interesting fact, I can tell when Mind Control Quirks are used on me," I stated. "So, yes, yes he just did, or maybe you did when he said that, sources are hard to pin. Now, last time: where am I?"

The man decided he didn't like being called out, and started to approach me, so, staring him in the eye, I pulled on Electrification and started to spark, thick arcs of lighting, dancing between my fingers.

"You're in Tokyo General Hospital!" the woman finally told me, as I stood, still, watching the orderly.

"There, you got what you wanted, now sit!" The orderly commanded, the command carrying his power, as he pointed to the bed.

"Use your Quirk on me again, Villain," I replied mildly, only somewhat annoyed at the sheer gall, especially given how Japan was supposed to work, but feeling no need to be nice about this, "and you will be the one that needs a hospital bed, not me."

For a moment, the orderly hesitated, then took another step forward, sneering, "You wouldn't da-"

Snap!

A single arc of electricity slammed into the floor between us, scoring the tile, and I could see the moment the man's nerve broke, and he ran, leaving the woman behind.

"Last thing I remember is a lot of people using their Quirks to try to kill me," I informed the now terrified nurse. "Given that what he just did was extraordinarily illegal, perhaps you should call security?"

"I… Yeah, I'll… go," she nodded quickly, keeping an eye on me, as she edged out the door, and I could hear her take off running.

Alone in the room, I was left with my thoughts, and, perhaps, I could have handled that better, but given my first thought was to rip out his throat for trying to Mind Control me… this was a happy medium.

Walking over to the window, my motions smoothing out as I continued to use my regenerating muscles, I looked out, noting that I was well over six stories up, which would stop most people from exiting this way, and, knocking on the glass lightly, it sounded like it was at the very least bulletproof, though likely Support-grade, even if only at the lowest end of that hypertech scale.

Circling my electricity, it, yes, felt like it came easier, though, closing my eyes and focusing on it, comparing it to my prior experiences it… it felt like the training wheels were removed, the limiters were off, and for the first time I had full control of myself.

Turning my attention further inward, I looked for the bit of me that was Denki, or how Denki would have been without me, that inner mental model that let me moderate myself to fit in to this society, and…

…

… …

… … …

Nothing.

I could guess, probably, what Denki might say, or do, but it was a shot in the dark, a vague estimation, though my own thoughts were… slow. Quiet. Muted. Such that I wanted to just go back to bed, go to sleep, and never wake up, but the low-hum of my Defense kept me braced, giving me time to get my mental feet under me to handle whatever came next.

Though, perhaps I should start with clothing?

I was, after all, in a hospital gown.

Concentrating, pulling upon Creation, complex products would be beyond me, but a basic elastic polymer let me create shoes directly from my feet, though they were of the 'has individual toes' variety, and holding my arm out let me Quirk-loom a pair of yellow and orange board shorts from my forearm, catching the finished creation as it finished, and slipping them on, so I was no longer 'hanging in the wind.'

… wait, I was needing to hide my capabilities.

… shit.

Acknowledging the fact that I wasn't operating on anything close to one hundred percent, I kept my frock on, and, moving to the closet, I found a pair of grippy hospital socks, slipping them on over my 'shoes', which made my feet look large, but not coated with a substance that'd let me dropkick a chainsaw.

Returning to the window, I'd barely had time to resettle myself before the door burst open, and two police officers rushed in, weapons drawn. I turned, and regarded them, asking, "Yes?"

The Heteromorph, a man with rocky skin, glared at me, gun not quite pointed at me, not that it would do him any good if he tried to kill me, while the other, a nondescript man, asked, "We were told someone was threatening others with a Quirk?"

"Oh, yes, you just missed him," I remarked, waving towards the door. "The Orderly that came to my room had a Mind Control Quirk, and tried to use it on me to pacify me. If you could handle that, I'd appr-"

"Don't lie!" Rocky snarled, glaring at me. "We know it was you!"

I slowly blinked, and turned to focus on him fully, "I'm not, but if you believed that, why did you ask?"

"Have a seat," the heteromorph direct, waving towards his gun.

I did not move.

"I said-" Rocky started to growl, but I interrupted him.

"I'm sorry, but when two men with guns barge into my room, throw accusations, and refuse to answer my questions, I'm not terribly inclined to listed to them." I informed them, watching them closely.

"So you're refusing to comply?" the heteromorph stated, practically demanding 'do you know who I am, peasant?'.

"With a random armed, and seemingly crazed, citizen's demands?" I asked in turn. "Yes."

His partner finally seemed to realize that I was giving, if possible, negative fucks, and quickly intervened, taking a step towards me and putting his hand on Bad Cop's gun, lowering it. "I think we've gotten started off on the wrong foot, Mr. Kaminari. My name is Azuma Yoshi and my partner is Shimamoto Ryota, we're from the Security Bureau of the National Police Agency. We'd like to ask you some questions."

"And your proof of this claim is…" I replied.

"Listen here!" the now named Ryota snarled, but I didn't even look at him, starting instead at Yoshi.

"Of course," the normal-looking man smiled, reaching inside and taking out a folded bit of leather, which, after making a throwing gesture, tossed it to me.

I caught it, wincing, as my muscles were still… not what I remembered, and opened it up, the man apparently telling the truth, but… "What's your badge number?"

Without missing a beat, the man rattled off the twelve-digit alphanumeric code listed, which meant either he was a well-prepared faker, or real.

And there was no way for me to check past this.

Nodding to the man, I tossed him his badge back, and asked as he put it away, "What would you like to know, officer?"

"Take a seat," the heteromorph commanded.

"Badge please," I countered, mildly.

My request offended the older man, who spat, "I'm not showing you anything, boy!"

"Then, as you refuse to identify yourself, I see no reason to listen to a belligerent man waving about a weapon," I stated blandly, very much… done with this all. "Were I licensed Hero, I may even take you down, as you are clearly a disgrace to the badge you claim to hold, but I am not."

However, instead of snarling once more, as the man seemed want to do, he instead sneered, "You're not a Hero, are you, but you sure have no problem using your Quirk do you? Want to know what that makes you, kid? It makes you a Villain?"

I stared at him for a long moment, before turning to his partner, and asking, "You had questions?"

"Don't ignore me!" yelled the man, who I continued to ignore. "We can make things go very badly for you, if you don't comply!"

"Does the Security Bureau of the National Police Agency often make baseless threats, accuse teenagers of Villainy, and suggest they will abuse the power of their positions if their egos are not catered to?" I questioned instead. If the man shot me, he was dead, but until he attacked me… well, I didn't much care, though I didn't much care for him either.

"You killed people, you stupid brat!" the Heteromorph yelled, pointing an accusatory finger.

I stayed silent, watching his partner, who, after a moment, winced, and finally said, "Yoshi's not wrong, Kaminari. You did kill people. A lot of people."

Which was true, but they were also Villains trying to murder me and my friends, so fuck 'em. However, while Denki would likely start blathering about his reasons, trusting in the authorities, Denki also likely would have died that night, and seemingly had. So instead my answer was much simpler.

"And your proof of this accusation would be?"

"Proof? Proof!?" Bad Cop repeated, mockingly, "You left a trail of bodies a mile long! The only reason you're not rotting in Tartarus right along side your pal All-for-One is that some people," he shot an annoyed look at his partner, "think what you did might be excusable, but it's not! You didn't try and get to safety, you psychopath, you went hunting!"

Which was also true, in a way, the hunting part, though, if this ball of hate in the vague shape of a man couldn't understand that Heroes going after Villains to stop them from murdering others was the basis of this entire society, I wasn't going to convince him.

"You've got to understand," the other cop smiled. "It all looks very bad from our end, so if you could just explain your side of the story, I'm sure we could be able to help."

I looked between the two, the Bad Cop, and the Good Cop, and realized what was going on.

And I… was done with this.

"I fully support the Security Bureau of the National Police Agency's ability to discover the truth without my contributions, as my memories of the attack are unreliable, and the stress of the repeated attempted murders on myself and my classmates-" I paused, remember Komori, her pleading look, and how she was torn apart in great bloody chunks before me. "And the… and the successful murders of some of them-"

"Yeah, you care so much, you're willing to let their murderer's run free!" the Heteromorph accused.

I ignored him.

Good Cop, playing his part, softly noted, "Yoshi's not wrong. You're letting their murderers go free. Unless you know they aren't."

"I firmly believe in the capabilities of the Security Bureau of the National Police Agency to find their killers, though, from what the news states, the orchestrator is in custody, defeated by All Might," I replied. "Do you have any questions, perhaps ones that are ones not trying to get me to admit to possible crimes?"

"You think you're so smart, think you're better, but you're just another Villain!" the Heteromorph spat.

I still kept my gaze locked with the Good Cop, even as Bad Cop started to stalk towards me, practically frothing at the mouth as he yelled, "I said!" while pulling back a fist.

Relaxing, getting ready to move, to kill him, I had to stop myself from pulling on OfA, even the momentary touch enough to make me wince, as the Good Cop rushed forward, grabbing his partner, and yelled, "Yoshi! Enough!"

"You're just gonna stand there and let this Villain smirk about his crimes!?" the Bad Cop demanded, and I wondered if this was all prepared beforehand, or if they were just good at improv, as it was downright theatrical.

"The kid's traumatized!" the Good cop argued. "Come on Yoshi, he's a Hero Student. We're All working For One goal!"

I stared, confused, as the phrasing, oddly stressed, caught my attention, but it was only as the 'Good' Cop had already halfway pushed the 'Bad' Cop out the door that I realized what that meant.

"You might think you've gotten away with this, but you haven't!" the Heteromorph promised. "I'll be watching you, boy, and when you fuck up again, I'll be there to put you in jail like you deserve!"

"A lot of people are watching Mr. Kaminari," the 'Good' Cop replied, addressing his partner. "Kid's got talent, and everyone pays attention to that. Now, go take a few minutes, Yoshi, I need to have a word with the victim of multiple attempted murders."

The heteromorph's answer was nonverbal, as he finally left, the door slamming behind him, the ordinary looking man, Shimamoto Ryota, turned a smile my way. "I'm sorry, but my partner is, well, enthusiastic. Unfortunately, there's a lot of people like that, who don't like you that much, but don't worry, there's also a number of us that look after our Friends."

"Friends of All-for-One?" I questioned flatly, the man's smile growing a touch more.

"Friends of All, absolutely," he deferred. "So, that was one heck of a meeting."

Do I kill him? No. 'Bad Cop' would be sure to burst in, and find his suspicions concerned. Which, actually, is probably how this entire thing was set up to go. Yes, that seems like, with my limited knowledge, what AfO might do.

"Your boss is in prison, and, even if he wasn't, my answer hasn't changed. I'm a Hero, despite what your patsy might think," I informed the secret Villain.

"Ooo, that's kind of rude," the corrupt cop, replied, still smiling. "Not wrong though. And, trust me, if being a Hero stopped one from being a Friend, we'd have to remove quite a few of our number! Big Man might be behind bars, but, let's be honest, that's exactly where he wants to be."

"In prison," I repeated flatly.

With a shrug, Ryota stated, "His plans are beyond either of us."

"Yes, having numerous precognitive Quirks working in tandem would do that," I observed.

But the other man just laughed. "Yeah, that'd do it!"

For a long moment, neither of us spoke.

"So… why are you here?" I finally questioned, tired, and ready for… anything, really.

"Well, my partner did want to grill you, nice job, after a fashion," the agent of Evil complimented. "Came off a bit crazy, but turning that into traumatized ain't that hard! And, as for me?"

The man spread his hands wide.

"I'm here to tell you that the offer hasn't been rescinded!"

I blinked. "The… offer?"

"To be a Friend, of course!" the Corrupt Cop gladly informed me.

"… I shot All-for-One in the head with a rail gun," I felt compelled to point out.

The look Ryota sent me was, if anything, impressed. "Really? Well, you did good enough for him to extend his offer!"

"He already extended an offer. I said no," I countered.

"No, not that kind of extend," the Evil man corrected. "He's prolonging his offer. Consider it, and, when the time comes, he's sure you'll make the right choice," Ryota remarked. "After all, you've just seen what happened when you don't!"

And, with that pronouncement, the corrupted officer of the law, one of many, left, leaving me alone.

… Of course he'd have his fingers in the police. Hell, I would be surprised if at least a fifth of the politicians currently in office weren't his cronies, at this point. But, well, All-for-One's power wasn't just his personal capabilities, which, even from the bit of the fight I did remember, the parts that I was doing the fighting, and not OfA, were formidable. No, his power was his legions of followers, people he'd used his ability to help, and who he'd bound to himself far tighter than anything even my Stamp could do.

Wait… my Stamp!

It took a moment to summon my Phone to myself, checking the display and… yes, my Captures had gone through.

Only two of them had survived long enough for it to set, and, according to my device, both were dead now, which was also concerning, but even the capture bounties from the Tier Three and the Tier Four were enough to earn me another nine points, cut in half to four points, which still pushed me up to a hundred and two points.

With a couple clicks, I'd spent a hundred on a Sweet Home, a glowing portal to it opening in a corner of the room.

And I was free.

This… coming here, coming to this setting, had been a mistake.

I'd thought I could handle it, thought this lower Tiered world would be safer, but, clearly, I could not, and it was not.

And everyone else had paid the price.

With me gone, they'd assume I was 'on the run', and they'd even be correct, but I'd be running where none of them could follow, and, with any luck, AfO would spend enough time trying to track me down that Midoriya could do… whatever it was he was supposed to do.

Because, surely, wherever My Hero Academia was supposed to go, it was somewhere better than where I was leading it now, but… but while I wanted to help, but I couldn't stop being me, didn't know how to stop, and that was ruining everything, so it would be better if I just left now, and never returned.

I'd even taken a few steps towards it, when a single thought made me pause.

Mina.

I… it was stupid, and selfish, and I'd done enough, but…

But I needed to at least make her the offer.

Returning to my bed, I sat upon it, and used my Company Smartphone to text her instead, having spotted my room number, 909, as well kicking her my GPS coordinates, just in case.

Almost instantly, she responded, telling 'we're on our way', which was… odd.

Regardless, I leaned back in my bed, and tried to relax, failing, trying not to shake with tiredness, and mostly succeeding in that, my healing Quirk still whirring away in the back of my head.

One way or another, I was going to leave, but, if Mina chose to come with me?

It'd be…

Nice.

Music
I awoke slowly - "Flashback" - My Hero Academia Season 4 OST

AN: And thus the Captured Arc comes to a close, and the Jump Arc begins. If you wish to see how that leap goes, you can see it all up on and Subscribestar!