Where have you been? (Part 2)
“So what you’re telling me is that my adopted son is halfway across creation in the ass-end of the multiverse trying to get closure from the family he was separated from with no way of coming back because, and I quote, “he ended up fighting the ultimate enemy of his would-be mentor who would have passed his powers onto him in an attempt to carry on some nine generation legacy, thus resulting in him going beyond his usual threshold of power and destroying the dimensional travel watch that you built for him?”
No one could look Carol in the eye because of how ridiculous their explanation sounded. It even sounded ridiculous to them once they took a step back to really think about it. The seven teens were currently kneeling down in front of Carol with their heads down in shame/fear. The last thing they wanted to do was piss off a literally all-powerful mother.
Carol took a deep breath and took a second to count backward from ten. “Okay, who was the one responsible for building the gadget that caused all of this?”
Cho meekly raised his hand.
“And what’s your plan of action to bring Izuku back?” Carol asked.
“I have the schematics and the materials so building a new watch shouldn’t take too long. I should be done in about a week.”
“1 week, huh.” Carol walked over to the control center of the Mobile Bunker and began to type in some coordinates. She then proceeded to pilot the ship toward its new destination.
“Hey, where are you taking my ship? Do you even know what you’re doing? This is all custom hardware!” Shouted Cho as he ran up to the cockpit in a fluster.
“It’s a ship, right? Then I know how to pilot it. I was a Major in the Air Force after all.” Carol ignored Cho’s protests.
“That’s for fighter jets!”
“And a few experimental aircrafts! I did some time as a test pilot once upon a time.” Carol had switched from Angry Mom mode to I’m-going-to-get-my-way-no-matter-what mom mode. After parenting Izuku for so long it had become old hat for Carol to step into that role with other young people.
“Where are you taking us anyway?” asked Cho who was still indignant about someone taking control of his ship.
“To Stark Tower. If you could complete the job in a week then Tony should be able to do it in a day or two.”
“I highly doubt that—”
Carol interrupted Cho. “Are you one hundred percent certain that you could do a better and more timely job than Tony Stark? And even if you think you can, is it worth risking your own friend’s safety just for intellectual clout?” That question actually managed to make Cho pause and think about his response. Eventually, he just strapped himself into his chair and didn’t say anything else in protest.
“While we’re on the way, Kamala why don’t you tell me why you and Izuku decided not to tell me you were planning to send him back to his original world?” If Kamala survived this, she was going to make sure that Izuku owed her BIG TIME.
____________________________________________________________________________
“Is this really necessary? The kid is a genuine hero. He proved that by not only healing me but aiding me in taking down my greatest foe. I don’t see why he needs to be interrogated so intensely”
“I understand what you’re saying Toshi, but if this kid really is who he says he is, then we would be able to close a ten-plus-year-old cold case.” Tsukauchi placated his old friend. It was easier said than done as Toshinori had seemingly latched onto the kid something fierce.
“If that’s the case, then why aren’t you in there asking him questions? Getting the truth out of people is your entire MO.”
“That’s because when I brought this to Tsurugamae, he immediately benched me. I’ve been working on this case for a while. It’s gotten to the point that the boys around the station call it my obsession.” Tsukauchi took a sip of the coffee he had let go cold. He didn’t care if it was cold, he still needed the caffeine fix with all of the paperwork he was going to be doing thanks to both the kid and the incident. “Besides, Officer Katari is better suited to these kinds of cases, especially with his quirk.”
“What is his quirk exactly, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Katari’s quirk is called Life’s Story. It allows him to get a view of a person’s most important life moments by talking to them. He can then transfer the images he sees to the printed page or any other form of media he chooses. Like video. His quirk can also ignore obstructions to a person’s memory like implanted memories and amnesia.” Tsukauchi took another sip of his stale coffee.
“And does he need to ask him all of those questions to do it?” All-Might seemed to calm down a bit after his friend’s explanation.
“No, that’s just to pass the time while his quirk does its thing. He doesn’t really need to–oh looks like he’s done now!” the pair turned to the opening door to see Katari. The man was slim with not a lot of muscle and left-parted black hair.
The man looked like he was struggling with something. “What’s wrong Katari?”
The man handed his Shield-Pad to Tsukauchi. “See for yourself.”
The duo looked at the offered device and pressed play. All-Might and Tsukauchi couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Alien invasions, giant robots, magic, demons, non-powered heroes, a superhero civil war that rocked America, teenagers fighting crime, an amorphous black sludge monster, a green behemoth, a man dressed like the American flag and leading the charge against nazis, a billionaire wearing a flying high tech suit of armor, a single man in a crimson and purple helmet and cape levitating the entire Golden Gate Bridge, young people with powers being attacked in the streets, a blond Viking with a hammer that crackled with thunder, a leather-clad flaming skeleton riding a motorcycle, a woman surrounded by an aura shaped like a bird, and several other amazing sights.
The most recurring sight in this deluge of memories was a blonde woman who was dressed similarly to Izuku, except her costume was red and blue and she lacked the jacket.
She and Izuku seemed to be the only constant in the memories. She was there when Izuku was first dropped off from the portal that abducted him. She was the woman that adopted him. She even taught him how to use his powers as she learned to use hers.
“Tsukauchi, what did we just see?” asked All-Might.
“Yeah, Katari. What did we just see?”
“Those would be Warbird’s, or Izuku Midoriya’s, memories,” Katari said nonchalantly.
“That can’t possibly be the case. I saw several landmarks get destroyed in that video. Landmarks that are still standing today last time I checked. Not to mention, several of those heroes were insanely powerful. How is it that I haven’t heard of them?”
“There were even some snippets where the kid seemed to be leading a team of young heroes like himself. With as powerful as the kid is, I feel the world would have heard about him before tonight. What gives?”
“I have an answer but I don’t think you’re going to like it,” said Katari.
“I’ll be the judge of that. Tell me,” demanded Tsukauchi.
“I think this kid might have gotten sent to another world back when he went missing.” silence hung in the air for several seconds while Tsukauchi and All-Might just stared at Katari.
“Katari, are you high?” asked his fellow officer.
“I’m being serious, Tsukauchi.”
“I know you are, which is why I’m asking. Do you have any idea how asinine that sounds as an explanation?!” said Tsukauchi.
“How else do you explain what we’re seeing? You know for a fact that my quirk is never wrong about what it drudges up!”
“Maybe it was wrong this time!” accused Tsuckauchi.
“Well if you’re so sure that I was wrong, why don’t you go in there in question him?”
“I think I will.” before Tsukauchi could make it to the door, a loud tapping on the glass interrupted his stride.
TAP
TAP
TAP
It was Izuku knocking on the glass. “If it’s not too much trouble, do you guys think I could get my one phone call? I need to tell my mom that I’m back home and I’m sure she’s worried sick since I’m already ten years past curfew.”
Tsukauchi had forgotten about the other elephant in the room: the boy’s parents.
Fuck! Tsukauchi thought dreadfully.
____________________________________________________________________________
“Oh yeah, I can totally build this.” The Champions and Carol stood inside Stark Tower. They were all relieved to hear the good news. “What you should be asking though, is if I need to?”
“Tony, I am not in the mood for your “Genius mind games” right now.” growled out Carol. The Champions wisely backed away from the angered mother.
“Oh, calm down Carol. All I’m saying is that I don’t need to rebuild this device for you. I already have a much better version for you to use.” Tony gestured for the group to follow him and they obliged. They took an elevator down to the basement of Stark Tower.
When the door opened up, it was to the sight of a raised platform with various machines surrounding it. “This is my dimensional travel machine! The other Avengers and I used it to pull off a dimensional heist a few years back. It’s actually a really great story–”
“Tony,” Carol interrupted. “I don’t have time for one of your stories.” The gathered Champions groaned in disappointment at not being able to hear about the dimensional heist. “How is this contraption going to get my son back?”
“Party pooper,” said Tony. “Anyway! This technological marvel of mine is going to punch a hole in between dimensions to retrieve your baby boy! All I need are the coordinates!”
Amadeus Cho stepped up and handed Tony a flash drive. “This contains all of the information from the first test. All the information about the dimension’s coordinates is also in there.”
“Thank you very much.” Tony snagged the drive and plugged it into the machine.
“If you don’t mind me asking, how long would it have taken you to recreate my dimensional travel watch?” The rest of the Champions groaned at watching Cho try to assuage his own ego.
“Amadeus, we don’t have time for this,” said Kamala. It seemed like the rest of the group agreed with her sentiment.
“I’m not asking him for a full breakdown of his methods on how he would do it, just a simple answer would suffice.”
“Oh, that? I could have whipped up one of those in two hours easily.”
Tony gave Cho what he wanted and the green behemoth looked dejected at the notion that he could be so easily outdone on a project he had spent a year working on. It only stung all the more that someone had already beat him to the punch by inventing their own version of the Dimensional Travel Watch.
“No further questions.” Cho went over to stand by his team. While they didn’t like the lengths he would go to stroke his own ego, they did feel for him about the fact that his hard work only amounted to two hours of work for Tony Stark.
“Well if there are no more questions, then there is only one question to ask. Who’s going?”
The entire group raised their hands.
Tony gave a put-upon sigh. “I realize that you all want to bring Izuku back home, but all of you can’t go.”
“Why not?” asked Carol.
“That wasn’t directed at you, Carol, you’re a grown-ass woman. As a matter of fact, follow Friday, she’ll get you suited up for the trip.” Tony gestured over his shoulder to a 3d projection that wasn’t there a moment ago.
Friday presented herself as a young woman in her mid-twenties with red hair wearing a short white skirt and red blouse. “If you’ll follow me this way, Carol?” and she spoke with a posh Irish brogue.
“Alright,” said Carol as she left. “You kids decide amongst yourselves who is going.”
All of the Champions turned around to look at Tony. Kamala decided to speak up for her team. “So why can’t you send all of us, Mr. Stark?” she asked.
“Oh, I can send all of you, it’s just that it would irresponsible of me to do so. I know, it’s a big shock seeing Tony Stark worry about responsibility. Anyway, most of you are underage and/or not legally emancipated. On top of that, you would be going to a completely different dimension and I don’t think you’re ready for that level of heroing yet.”
The kids were about to protest, but Tony quieted them down. “I’m not saying I won’t send any of you, just a pre-selected group of you.”
“And who would that be?” asked Gwenpool, feeling she already had an idea of who it was.
Tony pointed at three figures. Cho, Viv, and Gwen S. “I’m allowing you three to go. It’s your choice if you go.”
Sam objected to the selection. “Wait, why do they get to go and not us?” Sam pointed to himself, Miles, and Kamala.
Miles decided to be the one to explain why to him. “Because the three of us are still underage whereas Cho and Gwen are both eighteen or older and Viv is allowed to look after herself.”
“Besides, it’s not like you won’t be able to stay abreast of what’s going on while they’re over there. My machine also deploys a series of insect-sized surveillance drones at the destination. With those, either I or Friday can keep track of what’s going on with everyone. Cool, right?”
Kamala scratched the back of her head. She didn’t like the idea of not being there to help bring Izuku back herself but being realistic, she didn’t know how long this would take and there was no way for her to finagle an excuse that her family would accept. She had to stay on the sidelines for this one. “Yeah, that’s cool. You don’t have any problem with us dropping by and watching what’s going on through the drones, do you, Mr. Stark?” asked Kamala.
“No problem, just don’t let it get in the way of your schoolwork or crime-fighting,” Tony instructed half-heartedly.
“summer vacation is in two weeks,” said Miles.
“And as I said, don’t let this get in the way of your schoolwork or crime-fighting.”
With their piece said and an arrangement hashed out, Gwenpool decided to re-insert herself into the conversation. “Well then, why can’t I go? I should meet the same criteria as the three of them.”
“Because you’re chaos incarnate,” said Cho.
“Because you are liable to tactically compromise us in the field,” said Viv.
“Because you have my face and half my name and it would get confusing if both of us went,” said Spider-Gwen.
Tony waited for the peanut gallery to stop talking before he explained himself. Again. “The main reason I don’t want to send you over is that you’re a mutant and since all mutants have banded together to start that whole Krakoa movement, everyone has been walking on eggshells around you guys.”
“Oh, come on, Tony! They’re not gonna care. There are a million and one mutants on Krakoa, who’s gonna miss one for a couple of days?”
“I figured you would say something like that which brings me to my next point. It’s a general rule of thumb in the hero community to not send Wade Wilson to other universes on account of how crazy he is and the fact he could just pop off and start killing people at the drop of a hat.”
GP looked offended at the comparison to Deadpool. “But I don’t shoot random people like he does…anymore.”
“And let’s not forget the fact that you seem to know a bunch of information that you really shouldn’t know and share it with people at the drop of a hat. I don’t want to risk that happening in Izuku’s original dimension.”
GP still didn’t look like she wanted to give up on going. Not wanting her to go for fear of the chaos she might bring, Kamala opened her mouth. “GP knows everything about Izuku’s world. She even knows the exact timeline of events that should have occurred had Izuku not come to our world.”
Tony didn’t need any further justification not to send the girl. “I don’t even want to know how you have this information, but whatever. You’re not going. However, you’re welcome to drop by and watch the surveillance feed with us if it strikes your fancy.”
GP didn’t respond, all she did was walk off to a corner cartoonishly to pout in full view of everyone.
“With that out of the way, why don’t the three of you head over to the changing rooms?” Friday appeared once more to this time guide the trio of young heroes.
“Now the rest of you, come over here and help me get things started. I don’t actually need your help, but idle hands do the devil’s work and all that…” the kids did as they were instructed, and all the while, Kamala thought of Izuku.
Please don’t do anything stupid…
____________________________________________________________________________
Ah shit, Tsukauchi mumbled as he remembered the part of this investigation that he was dreading. Telling the bereaved about the death of a loved one is never easy, especially as a cop. People always got angry and belligerent, blamed the police for letting it happen, or try to assault an officer. Tsukauchi didn’t want to risk having this kid have a meltdown in the middle of the police station.
Tsukauchi had to delay that call as much as possible.
“Not just yet, Mr. Midoriya. I still have some questions that I need to ask you.
“Oh, okay then. Let’s get to it.” Izuku had no problem listening to Tsukauchi’s demands. The police he normally dealt with were often overworked and underpaid since they had to deal with threats that they were often under-equipped for. Add in the fact that superheroes often got the entirety of the credit for taking down criminals, and it painted a pretty grim picture for the profession. Wanting to contribute as much as he could, Izuku would work with the police in any way that made their job easier when they worked with him. Even in a different dimension, that wouldn’t change.
They both sat down, and Tsukauchi started his line of questioning. “Let’s start from the beginning, where have you been these past ten years?”
Izuku scratched his head nervously like he was embarrassed. “Officer, how open-minded are you?”
Tsukauchi held up a hand. “I’m gonna stop you right there. Katari already showed me and All-Might your life’s story through his quirk. It’s already said that you’ve lived some kind of crazy life. While I don’t believe it, I’m here to confirm the truth.”
“Oh, okay then. That makes this a lot easier. As for where I’ve been, for the last ten years, I’ve called Earth-616 my home.”
TRUTH
“I’m sorry. Earth-616? What do you mean by that?” Tsukauchi was scribbling down notes on his pen pad rapidly as Izuku explained himself.
“Earth-616 is the name of the reality that I was sent to ten years ago.”
TRUTH
“Why Earth-616 and not Reality-616 or Universe-616?”
“That’s because earth is usually the focal point of a lot of stuff in many realities. Wars, technologies, people of interest, strategic value. Things of that nature.”
TRUTH
Tsukauchi was being thrown for a loop with all of these world-shattering revelations, but he needed to persevere. “Now how did you end up on Earth-616? Did someone send you there with their quirk? Did someone from the other side do it?”
“I wound up there while I was in my room going over my bad day at school. I was in my bed for the night when a blue portal opened up over my head and pulled me in.”
TRUTH
“I wound up in a villain attack where an explosion was about to go off.”
TRUTH
What The Fuck? thought Tsukauchi.
“There was a superhero there that was in the process of saving a blonde woman who would later become my adoptive mother in that world.”
TRUTH
“The explosion ended up going off, so the superhero shielded both of our bodies with his own. It was this incident that gave me and my foster mother our powers.”
TRUTH
“Wait a minute, wait a minute!” Tsukauchi waved his hand for Izuku to stop. “How is that possible? How does an explosion give someone power? That’s not how it works. People get their powers from quirks!”
“I’m sorry detective but that’s the truth!”
“I know it’s the truth, that’s why I’m freaking out!”
“Do you want me to explain in detail?” asked Izuku.
Tsukauchi slumped back into his chair and waived the boy off. “No, I feel like if you do I’ll just end up getting more confused. Just…finish your explanation.”
“Well, like I said before, the blonde woman, Carol Danvers, ended up adopting me after that whole ordeal was done with. Fast forward around ten years and after meeting Spider-Girl, I was able to make my way here back to Earth-2014.”
TRUTH
“What did this Spider-Girl have to do with you finally returning home?”
“She has a device that allows her to travel between dimensions at will. My team and I managed to reverse-engineer its technologies to build one of our own that was keyed into my dimension of origin.” Izuku gestured to their surroundings. “And that allowed me to return.”
TRUTH
Tsukauchi smiled. “I guess now that you’re back here you plan on staying? The world could really use a hero as powerful as you. Especially after the display you put on in defeating All-For-One.”
Izuku became uncomfortable with the subject and scratched his cheek awkwardly. “Actually, I was just planning on visiting. The whole point of this trip was to get closure. I planned on reuniting with my family, saying hello to old friends, and hopefully bringing my parents back home with me. I have no intention of staying here. This world is full of too many bad memories as a Quirkless person for me to want to return to it.”
TRUTH
Toshi’s gonna be devastated to hear that…
“Since I’ve reached the end of my story, do you think I could get my one phone call, detective Tsukauchi?”
I’m not gonna be able to put this off any longer, am I?
____________________________________________________________________________
All-Might stood alone on the other side of the two-way mirror. Officer Katari had left to take care of other business, leaving All-Might alone with his thoughts. That didn’t last long, however.
“Toshi!” said a feminine voice. All-Might’s eyes shot wide as he whirled around to see who was speaking to him. The voice sounded oh-so-familiar to him, like the voice of a mother speaking to her son.
“Master!?” All-Might said in bewilderment and without the usual booming base in his voice.
“Yeah, it’s me, Toshi!” All-Might ran over to hug his old master, Nana Shimura, but alas, it was not meant to be. All-Might passed right through her.
“I don’t understand. What’s going on?” he asked, slightly dejected.
“I’m not actually here, Toshi. I’m speaking to you through One For All.”
“Oh…”
“Don’t give me that now, Toshi. You know as well as I that there’s no way for me to come back. This isn’t even the first time I’ve contacted you through our quirk.”
“That’s true, but every other time, you and the past holders always appeared like shadows. Sometimes, I couldn’t tell who was who.”
“That actually has to do with why I’m here today. Toshi, do you know how bad that injury of yours was?” Nana pointed at the spot where the wound used to be.
“Yes, it was bad enough that it reduced my time as the Symbol of Peace by a significant amount. I’m quite thankful to young Warbird for being able to heal me so completely.”
Nana decided to put a pin in that Warbird business for now. “Your wound was actually far more severe than you realize, Toshi. That wound should have killed you. No amount of medical science or healing quirks was going to be able to save you. The only reason that you are alive right now is because of One For All. It was keeping you alive.”
All-Might fell silent, only now understanding the severity of his prior condition.
“All of the energy that was trying to keep you alive was the real reason you had such a downtick in the scale of your power output. So much power was going into keeping you alive that we had to reduce what you were capable of while still letting the stockpile grow. But now that you’re healed, that energy has exploded unlike anything before and that means One For All is finally ready.”
Soon, the other wielders began to appear. A sickly-looking man with white hair. An older gentleman with a cracked face. A bald man wearing a leather jacket. A young man with a high-collar coat. And toward the back of the room, two men looked away from All-Might with their backs to him.
All of the users were here and in full view of Toshinori. This had to have been unprecedented in One For All’s history. For all of the past holders to be present meant something important was about to happen.
Taking over where Nana left off, the white-haired man took over speaking duties. “You may call me Yoichi. Yoichi Shigaraki.”
Toshinori stared at the ghost in abject terror. The thought of a Shigarki inside his quirk terrified him.
“Please don’t be alarmed. I may be his brother, but Mugen and I are nothing alike.” this information managed to ease Toshinori’s panic-stricken mind.
“Now as Nana has said, One For All has now reached Singularity and it’s ready to take its true form.” Yoichi reached out with his hand to grasp Toshinori’s, followed by every other successive wielder doing the same, save for two. “Going forward, you will unlock all of our quirks…”
Toshinori bluescreened, but Yoichi kept going.
“One For All is not just a power stockpile. It is also a stockpile of every passed holder’s quirk to date and going forward, you will have access to them. With the state that One For All is in it is highly unlikely that it could be safely passed onto another person without killing them. Therefore, you will be the last inheritor of One For All”
This news shocked All-Might. “But I’ve already found a successor. He’s everything I could ever want in the next inheritor. He’s already strong enough to stand up to All For One on his own. Why shouldn’t we pass it to him?”
Nana took control of the conversation once more. “Because he doesn’t need it, Toshi. We were watching during that fight and if we were to pass on One For All to Warbird with all the powers he already has he would basically become a god among men.”
“She’s right,” the voice of the Second Inheritor rang out inside the room as he turned around to face Toshinori. To Toshinori’s shock, the man looked startlingly like one of his students, Katsuki Bakugou. He didn’t voice this opinion, however. “We’ve been spending the entirety of our afterlife trying to defeat The Symbol Of Evil, not create a whole new one.”
Toshinori was about to speak against that accusation, but the Third inheritor stepped into the conversation. Once again, Toshinori was shocked to see that another one of the passed holders looked like one of his students. This time it was Eijiro Kirishima but with light blue hair. “We also have to take into consideration the fact that the quirk is likely to kill him.”
Toshinori stared blankly before managing to recollect himself. “Could you explain that?” Toshinori asked.
The third wielder shrugged and gestured to his successor, the fourth. “What he means is that a human body can only handle One For All for so long before it begins to break down. I had it for eighteen years before I began to notice issues with my body.”
“Such as?” Toshinori wanted Fourth to elaborate, which he did.
“You see these marks? They’re not a tattoo or a birthmark. They’re cracks that began to form as soon as One For All became too much for my body to handle. At that point, I had to scramble to pass on the quirk before I died, which lead me to find Daigoro here.” A bald man in a leather jacket waved at Toshinori.
“In short, you can’t pass One For All to anyone,” said Nana, “it would only result in the recipient dying.”
“That can’t be right! If that’s the case then why haven’t I died or noticed any complications with our quirk that weren’t the result of outside influences?” Toshinori desperately wanted all of this to be untrue. In the short time that he had known Izuku, he had grown quite fond of him. It only seemed logical to bring the boy into the fold after that monumental battle against All For One.
“The reason that you’re not having this issue is because of your Quirklessness,” said Daigoro. “What you’re failing to realize here, eighth is that the one thing that originally prevented you from being a hero is what makes you different from us, and thus the perfect wielder of One For All. The Last Wielder.”
“And with that brat already having such a massively powerful quirk, OFA would kill him in an instant,” said Second.
“There’s also the possibility that he is from another world like the officer said,” Sixth reminded everyone. “So even if we do pass it to him and it doesn’t kill him, we’d still have to face the real possibility that the kid would leave us high and dry.”
Toshinori had to be honest with himself here. The passed wielders were making some solid points. With all of this new information, he had a lot to think about.
While he was lost in his thoughts, the door to the room burst open to reveal an HPSC agent carrying around some papers that Toshinori recognized as a warrant. Something bad was about to happen.
“Where is Warbird? He is wanted for Reckless Quirk Usage, Unlawful Quirk Usage, Endangerment of Innocent Lives, Interfering With Police Business, Interfering With Pro-Hero Business, Obstruction of Justice, Assault, Vigilantism, and Practicing Pro-Heroics Without a License! I have a warrant for his arrest!”
Goddammit! Toshinori groaned internally.
____________________________________________________________________________
A black sedan pulled up to the Mustafu police precinct. The Driver was the first-year heroics teacher, Shouta Aizawa, otherwise known to very few as the Erasure Hero: Eraserhead. Joining him were The Blood Hero: Vlad King and their collective boss Principal Nezu.
“I hope we’re not too late,” said Nezu as he climbed onto Aizawa’s shoulder. “In the midst of the confusion, I received an email from the Commission demanding agencies dig up as much information as they could on Warbird. As you both know, the Commission taking a personal interest in anyone is cause for alarm.”
“I have to agree,” grumbled Vlad, “Lady Nagant was bad enough and I already have my suspicions about Hawks. The Commission having their claws in a powerhouse like this kid is nothing but a match made in hell.”
Aizawa stayed suspiciously quiet.
“No comment, Aizawa?” asked Nezu. Aizawa only grumbled. “Aizawa, use your words.”
The scruffy man grumbled more but opened his mouth. “It’s bad enough that All-Might gets special treatment. We don’t need to be rewarding some kid for breaking the law. I’m all for keeping him out of the Commission’s reach but beyond that, the kid needs to be scared straight. I say we throw the book at him, maybe get him blacklisted from every Hero School in the country as a punishment instead of sending him to jail. If he still wants to be a hero after that then he can do it the hard way.”
“And in your mind, what would be the hard way, Aizawa? Keep in mind that you’ve already blacklisted him,” asked Nezu.
“He can take the provisional license exam like everyone else. It’s like the bar test, he doesn’t need to have gone to a hero school. He also won’t have the benefit of a school setting or apprenticeship to fall back on so setting himself up for an exam would be a nightmare on his own. It’ll be a good lesson to him on not being a glory hound.”
Vlad and Nezu just stared at Aizawa. Soon enough, Vlad spoke up. “Aizawa, I think it would be best if you sit this part out.”
“What? Why” Aizawa looked indignant at the thought of being sidelined.
“Because you are clearly going in there with no intention of hearing the young man out,” Nezu hopped down from his perch on Aizawa’s shoulder and scurried up to Vlad’s. “You are clearly using this young man as an excuse to act out your resentment against All-Might.”
“Not to mention, what you’re suggesting is minorly illegal as well.”
Vlad began to walk forward as Nezu turned around to finish his conversation with Aizawa. “That is actually one of the reasons that I took away your ability to expel students on the spot this year.”
Aizawa huffed and turned back to the car. “Fine, whatever.”
With their terse friend left behind, Vlad and Nezu made their way into the precinct. When they were just shy of the entrance, they heard someone calling to them.
“Principal Nezu! Principal Nezu!”
“Ah, Centipeder! To what do I owe the pleasure?”
As Centipeder caught up to the pair, he started to breathe hard with his hands on his knees. “I’m sorry, it’s just that…Sir had me rush over here on short notice to help with an urgent matter.” Centipeder desperately tried to catch his breath.
“There’s no need to rush. You can straighten yourself out.”
Taking one more deep breath, Centipeder cleared his throat and got down to business. “I believe we are here for the same reason.”
“Warbird,” said Nezu.
“Yes, Warbird. Or as he’s actually known, Izuku Midoriya.” Centipeder handed some files to Nezu while they headed into the station. “Sir managed to figure out what the HPSC wants with the young man. They’re planning on charging him with several crimes in an attempt to get him under their thumb.”
Vlad scowled. “That’s rather blatant of them. Aren’t they concerned with how that will look to the public?”
“They’re desperate,” answered Centipeder. “Sir surmises that they realize that their window to bring this young man to heel is small considering All-Might is likely in his corner and that it’s only a matter of time before you, Principal Nezu, get involved.”
“What was Nighteye’s plan of action for this little debacle?” asked Nezu.
“Sir has set aside a sizeable amount of money for the boy’s legal defense fund and we are putting our legal team on the case. I am here to make sure the Commission doesn’t pull a fast one.”
“Hm, I find it odd that Nighteye isn’t here himself. He’s always been the bulwark between All-Might and the Commission in the past, even after their estrangement.”
“That is because Sir is currently occupied with keeping the legal team updated on the Commission's legal movements as well as thinking of a way to thank Warbird on a more personal level.”
“I would think covering his legal expenses would be more than enough,” said Vlad.
“Not to Sir. As far as he’s concerned, he thinks the boy deserves the number two spot and a holiday named after him at the very least.” Centipeder sighed. “But let’s focus on the task at hand. The longer we wait out here, the more time the Commission has to wreak their havoc.
-BZZT-
Centipeder opened up his phone to read his text message. It was from Nighteye. The message he sent was the last thing that he wanted to hear. “We have to get moving! The HPSC already has an agent in there trying to read him the riot act!”
“Damn!” said Vlad and Nezu as they both chased after Centipeder. Hopefully, they would be able to aid Warbird in time.
____________________________________________________________________________
Class 1-A Student Chatroom
LIKE_A_ROCK: Has anyone heard from Bakugou? I’ve been texting him like crazy but he isn’t answering!
Sonic: I would think it obvious that after such a harrowing experience Bakugou would wish to decompress on his own or at the very least with family.
LIKE_A_ROCK: I know, I’m just worried about the guy. That whole kidnapping thing couldn’t have been an easy thing to go through.
Sonic: And I’m sure it wasn’t. Also, I hope there are no hard feelings between us for the actions I took in preventing your rescue attempt.
LIKE_A_ROCK: if you’d asked me that a couple of hours ago I would have said yes but I’ve actually calmed down enough to realize that I was about to do something stupid.
LIKE_A_ROCK: I still think it was pretty scummy of you guys to be willing to leave Bakugou in the lurch like that, though
LIKE_A_Rock: I mean we’re classmates aren’t we? Shouldn’t we be willing to go to bat for each other?
Feeling_Froggy: Not when he isn’t willing to do the fucking same!
ACIDQUEEN: Shots Fired!
MyChemicalRomance: I’m afraid that I have to agree with Tsuyu in this instance. Bakugou has shown time and again that he is unconcerned with the rest of us and that his only concern is with building his own legend.
HotTopic: Instead of letting Bakuhoe take up living space in our minds rent-free, how about we discuss other stuff that happened tonight? Like the fact that All-Might was still carrying society on his back while being severely injured?
ACIDQUEEN: I’m more interested in the new guy, to be honest. He showed up out of nowhere and started beating back that All-For-One guy like it was nothing and then healed All-Might who also started beating that guy like it was nothing. Has anyone heard of him?
Invisalign: I haven’t heard of him, but Twitter has been blowing up non-stop about him. Apparently, he’s called Warbird.
JammingWay: With a name like that and the bomber jacket he was wearing, he’s probably from America. Or at the very least, a Westaboo like All-Might.
FlexTape: What makes you say that?
GOD: A warbird is any vintage American military aircraft. They’re no longer in use and are mainly seen nowadays in museums and airshows. Think of those old propellor planes with the shark teeth that you see in old American cartoons. Like Looney Tunes.
GOD: as for the jacket, it’s vintage American Air Force. From well before the quirk era, in fact. I’m surprised he has one in such good condition in this day and age.
FlexTape: how do you know it’s not just a reproduction?
GOD: when you can create almost anything, you develop a talent for spotting fakes.
MonkeyKing: what do you think he was doing in Japan? If he was attending school here I don’t see why he wouldn’t have tried out for UA with that kind of power behind him.
MuscularOctopus: with the kind of speed he was showing off, I wouldn’t be surprised if he just flew here with the express purpose of helping All-Might. According to some of my American internet friends, that fight was broadcasted all over the world.
PourSomeSugarOnMe: isn’t that a little irresponsible? What if All-Might lost? That could have demoralized the entire world.
PurpleStuff: Reddit is saying that more than a few countries cut the broadcast and only set it back up when All-Might was miraculously healed. I do agree that broadcasting it at all was irresponsible, though.
SHINY: I for one would like to thank Warbird personally for the great service he has done for me and my family.
ACIDQUEEN: what are you talking about, Aoyama?
SHINY: …
SHINY: …
SHINY: …
SHINY: no comment.
ACIDQUEEN: okay, that was weird.
Zero-G: you guys think since he teamed up with All-Might, the principal might try to make him a student here? Y’know, for publicity or whatever?
ACIDQUEEN: god I hope so! Did you see his muscles? That hero suit left nothing to the imagination.
Invisalign: his muscles are nice, but did you see his butt? That was some Grade-A beef right
there!
Invisalign has posted BunsofSteel.jpeg
HotTopic: oh great, we woke up the thirst mongers.
Invisalign: Jiro, I can see who has downloaded the file.
HotTopic: …I hate you.
TiredEyes: Jirou’s thirst aside…
HotTopic: hey!
TiredEyes: does this guy even need to come here? He clearly already knows what he’s doing so coming to this school would be redundant. Even if he was a vigilante, I feel like the Commission would be chomping at the bit to make him a hero.
TiredEyes: also thanks so much for waking me up. As retribution, I will now bombard you with cat photos that have Aizawa’s face superimposed on them.
TiredEyes has posted KittyKatAizawa.jpeg
ACIDQUEEN: MY EYES.
Invisalign: what crime against god is this!?
FlexTape: why do you even have this?
TiredEyes: Present Mic wanted me to make it so he could show it to Aizawa. While he was having his morning coffee.
TiredEyes: he nearly choked on his drink.
Sonic: I believe this to be a natural stopping point. I suggest we all retire for the night lest we devolve into discussing more what-ifs and flagrantly objectifying a fellow aspiring hero. Also, I doubt any of you want Aizawa-sensei to see this if he hasn’t already.
Sonic has put the group chat on hold for eight hours
____________________________________________________________________________
As Centipeder, Vlad, and Nezu made their way into the interrogation room where Warbird was said to be, they were bombarded by the shouts of an angry little man.
“I demand to know where Warbird is! He is to be arrested by order of the HPSC!” the man in question was short, around five feet to be precise. He wore a too-expensive suit with a garish tie. The shine of his thick glasses was only outmatched by the shine of his greasy slicked-back hair.
“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. You’re interfering with Police business,” said All-Might. Nezu had seen the footage of the fight with All For One and was privy to Toshinori’s restored health as a result, but it was still astonishing to see the man whole and hale again. What Nezu didn’t like seeing was some obstinate worker drone trying to throw his non-existent weight around.
“Police business? I’m above police business! I’m above Pro-Hero business! I’m above you! Now follow my orders Mr. Symbol of Peace and hand over Warbird! He’s setting a dangerous precedent and he must be arrested and locked away before he sows seeds of discontent. He could undermine the HPSC’s power and we will not have it!”
“Alright, I believe that’s enough, Mr. HPSC representative.” Centipeder positioned himself between the Commission rep and All-Might. It seemed the Symbol of Peace was out of his element and the rep was getting too big for his britches.
“And who are you supposed to be, Heteromorph?” Centipeder did not care for the obvious disdain, but now wasn’t the time to argue about Quirkism.
“I am Juzo Moashi, Pro-Hero Sidekick: Centipeder of the Nighteye Agency and I am here as Warbird’s legal counsel. Who might you be?”
The rep scoffed. “I am Itachi Gaichu and as you can see, I have all the necessary paperwork filled out.”
“May I have a look at that warrant?” asked Centipeder.
“I don’t see why you need to.”
Realizing he wasn’t needed for this, Vlad just stayed in the background. Nezu did not.
“As Mr. Warbird’s legal counsel, Centipeder has a right to view all legal documentation that concerns his client.” Nezu had now joined the conversation. He stood next to Centipeder and across from Gaichu. He smiled in a way that shouldn’t be possible with an animal’s mouth. “Unless there is something that you wish to hide from us.”
Gaichu only glared but handed the warrant and other documents over anyway. Centipeder and Nezu began perusing them thoroughly.
“This warrant hasn’t been signed by a judge,” said Nezu.
“That wouldn’t be necessary for this situation. There is clear visual evidence of Warbird committing the mentioned crimes. Any judge we would have taken this to would sign it immediately.”
“That’s not how the legal system works,” said Centipeder.
“That’s also highly illegal,” Nezu said afterward.
“It doesn’t matter what you say, I work for the HPSC! Our word is the law.”
Nezu was about to open his mouth to verbally accost the man but was stopped once the door to the interrogation room slammed open.
“Midoriya, please wait!” shouted Tsukauchi.
“I’m sorry detective but I have to confirm this for myself. There’s just no way that could have happened!” Izuku marched passed the gathered adults to get to the exit but was stopped by Gaichu.
“I finally found you Warbird. Now, you are under arrest for–” before Gaichu could finish his spiel, Izuku robotically lifted him up and placed him out of his way.
“If you’ll excuse me…”
Concerned, All-Might caught up to Izuku. “Young Warbird, what’s the matter?” the young man looked up at the Number 1 hero with the most defeated look in his eye. Izuku looked to be on the verge of tears.
“Officer Tsukauchi just told me that my parents are dead…I need to know what happened for myself…” Izuku tried to move forward but All-Might held onto him. Not out of anger, but out of concern.
“Why are you trying to stop him?” asked All-Might.
“The official reason is that we’re not done here but the real reason is that I don’t want there to be some potential fallout from this. No one ever takes it well when they find out a relative has died. Midoriya here is coming home after ten years to find that he has no more family. Considering how strong he is now I figured there was a non-zero chance of him lashing out due to grief.”
All-Might looked back at his would-be successor then back at Tsukauchi. “It should be fine if I go with him right? I’ll even make sure to bring him back in time to finish up his business here.”
Tsukauchi sighed deeply. “Yeah…fine. Just make sure he gets back here promptly. The chief’s going to be breathing down my neck about special treatment.”
“You can count on me,” said All-Might.
“HOLD ON JUST A MINUTE!” Gaichu had regained everyone’s attention and if he were an animal he’d likely be frothing at the mouth after he’d been summarily ignored. “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I REPRESENT—”
“Your warrant is meaningless and you are currently attempting to illegally arrest and detain a young man for the crime of performing a Citizen’s Arrest. And do you honestly want to be known as the man that arrested the boy who healed and quite possibly saved All-Might? Honestly, I wouldn’t want that kind of target on my back.”
For the first time, Gaichu actually seemed to consider his actions as evidenced by how quickly his face began to pale. Acting quickly, Gaichu snatched up the fake warrant and tore it to pieces.
“I was never here!” he then ran out of the room and then out of the station entirely.
Nezu smiled deviously. “I love it when they see reason.” Nezu then turned his attention to Warbird. “Now allow me to introduce myself, I am…”
“Principal Nezu. The head of UA High School, the most prestigious hero school in Japan. You’re recognized as the smartest being in Japan and possibly the rest of Asia. While I would very much enjoy speaking with you at length, especially now that I have an appreciation for scholarly pursuits, I’ll have to decline right now. I really need to get to the bottom of what happened to my parents.”
“Seeing as how this is a very personal matter, I will excuse myself,” said Centipeder. “Midoriya-san, call me at this number when you wish to discuss your legal options. Ask for Centipeder, that’s me.” he handed Izuku a business card for the Nighteye Agency.
Izuku wanted to geek out but he reigned himself in. He also made a mental note to ask why he needed legal help at all. “Thank you, Mr. Centipeder.”
Nezu did similarly. He very much wished to speak with this young man with so much power.
Izuku turned to All-Might after taking Nezu’s business card. “All-Might, if you’re still coming…” he gestured for his childhood hero to join him.
As the two strongest beings on the planet began their exit from the station, Tsukauchi flagged down Nezu. “sir, you plan on speaking with Midoriya at a later date, right?”
“Yes? Is there a problem with that?”
Tsukauchi shook his head. “Not necessarily. His situation is just very unique.” the officer fiddled with the Shield-Pad that Katari was using earlier until Nezu got an update on his phone. “You should read up on his file and…” Nezu got another update on his phone. “And definitely watch this video. It should be very eye-opening.”
“Will do. Good day, Tsukauchi.”
“See you later, Nezu.”
____________________________________________________________________________
“So, young Midoriya, where is our destination?” asked All-Might once they stepped out of the station.
“We’re going to see my godparents. They should be able to tell me what happened to my mom and dad. Also, it’ll be good to see them again…you don’t have to be present for that part of things if don’t want to, All-Might.”
All-Might waved his hand. “I don’t mind at all, Young Midoriya. As a matter of fact, I believe my presence may serve to help reassure your godparents of where you’ve been for the last ten years.”
Izuku raised an eyebrow. “How do you know about that, All-Might?”
“The officer that was with you before Tsukauchi, has a quirk that allows him to view a person’s entire life story regardless of any possible obstructions. He showed us what happened to you on the other side.”
“That’s quite the useful quirk. I wish I’d known about it so I could have asked him some questions.”
“You’ll have all the time to ask him when we return here. Now, where are we headed? As I believe with our respective abilities, we should be able to arrive there before any train or car.”
“We’re headed to Musutafu, specifically the Aldera school district.”
“Good! Would you mind me taking the lead seeing as how you’ve been gone for the last while?” asked All-Might.
“I don’t mind. As a matter of fact, I would prefer it.”
Both All-Might and Izuku took to the air at the same time. All-Might was expecting to have to rely on his super leaping or muscle air pressure to keep himself aloft long enough to guide Izuku. What he wasn’t expecting was for his body to begin mysteriously floating on its own.
“All-Might! You can fly!” exclaimed Izuku.
“I…think so?” All-Might was fumbling in the air as he tried to right himself. When he moved one way, he would go another and when he tried to halt his movement, he would continue forward, usually spinning.
All of a sudden, the world around Toshinori froze or at least, his perception of it froze as he entered the vestige realm. “This was what we were trying to tell you about, Toshi,” said Nana.
All-Might tried to speak, but he wasn’t able to. Unlike when the past users had visited, he was now visiting them inside the vestige realm, and as such, he could not speak. His body was not fully formed inside this realm.
“Don’t try to speak, I’m only going to keep you for a little bit. You’ve now gained my quirk, Float. It seems you’ve unlocked it due to the situation and going forward you’ll unlock the rest by the order in which the past holders received One For All or based on the situation. It just so happened that this time was both.”
All-Might simply nodded along. It’s not like there was anything else he could do.
“I’ll let you go for now. You should be able to get the hang of my quirk pretty quickly now that you have it so don’t embarrass me by flying with two left feet. Also, make sure you help that kid through this. He may not be the next One For All holder like you wanted but he’s got a good heart and…no kid should have to lose their parents that way.”
Nana finished speaking and disappeared. She faded into the darkness of One For All just as soon as All-Might was swallowed up by the darkness. He soon returned to the waking world to find himself floating in the air with Izuku shaking him.
“All-Might, wake up! What happened to you?” shouted Izuku.
“Something’s happened with my quirk,” he said calmly.
“Like what? Did you go through a quirk Awakening?” asked Izuku as the beginnings of an inquisitive gleam began to invade his expression.
“No, it’s…it would take a lot to explain and right now we should be focusing on you.” Nana had asked Toshinori to help this kid get closure. He would not fail in this task. “When we have a more opportune time, I will gladly discuss my quirk with you.”
“I’ll hold you to it.” they then returned to their flight to the Bakugou household. Though, All-Might noticed that Izuku’s expression became more somber as they did.
I really hope this goes well for the kid…
____________________________________________________________________________
The Bakugous arrived home after signing Katsuki out of the hospital and after he had given his testimony of events. That part took quite a bit longer due to Katsuki constantly going off on tangents about how Izuku wasn't stronger than him and that he demanded the cop to tell him where he was so he could prove it.
Mitsuki’s hand was still hurting from all of the times that she had to backhand her son. Even Masaru had to get forceful with his son. At this point, the brat finally backed down and the family could leave.
Now home, Masaru and Mitsuki headed for the kitchen while Katsuki went to his room. The parents were still in shock from the whirlwind that was the past few days and the revelation at the end was more than they could handle. Worse, the police refused to tell them anything about Izuku, or as he was now calling himself, Warbird.
Katsuki on the other hand was on the warpath. It was now the after-action phase and he had to study the game tape. Izuku was obviously going to enroll in UA now that he had some stupid quirk and there was no way that the rat was going to pass up someone that managed to save All-Might.
Katsuki reached his room and jumped on his computer. He began doing google searches for “All-Might,” “Kamino,” and “Warbird.” His search came back with tons of news coverage, posts, and articles about what had happened tonight.
Katsuki didn’t care about any of that.
“Alright, found it.” Katsuki found several videos on the Kamino Incident. Reactions, news coverage, phone cameras, and even drone surveillance. He found what he was looking for, a single playlist covering the fight from multiple angles. Katsuki pulled out a notebook when the first video began to play. In another life, Katsuki would have thought taking notes on an enemy would be beneath him, but that was only because it was something he associated with “Deku”, but with Izuku having disappeared there was no such connection. “Let’s get started…” Katsuki analyzed Izuku’s “quirk.”
____________________________________________________________________________
Masaru poured a cup of coffee for himself and Mitsuki. It was decaf naturally, they were awake enough as it is. They didn’t need caffeine to keep them awake after the day they had.
They sat down across from each other and quietly sipped their drinks. That is until Mitsuki asked a question. “Where did we go wrong?”
“Hm?”
“Where did we go wrong? With Katsuki?”
Masaru took another sip from his drink. “We’ve done everything we could. All we can do now is keep trying, even if that means having to be more forceful with the boy.”
“Is that all we can do?”
“No, we can also pull him out of the Hero Course.” Masaru took another sip of his decaf.
Mitsuki looked at him with the most shocked look on her face.
“Just hear me out. I’ve been thinking for a long time that Katsuki being a hero would be a bad idea. Katsuki is hot-headed and foul-mouthed. He’s prone to violence and aggression. There’s also the fact that he never memorizes anyone’s name and just calls everyone he doesn’t respect extras or some personalized insult. And let’s not forget the fact that those League of Villains weirdos captured our son to try and recruit him.”
Mitsuki definitely didn’t need to be reminded of that.
“I think that we both can agree that Katsuki needs some time away from Heroics.”
That was a lot for Mitsuki to consider. Being a Hero was everything that her son had been working toward. To tear him away from that seemed a bit cruel.
KNOCK
KNOCK
KNOCK
Both Mitsuki and Masaru looked at the door.
KNOCK
KNOCK
KNOCK
“Goddammit! Who would be knocking at this hour!?” Mitsuki got up from her chair and headed for the door. “I swear to god if it’s another one of those solicitors, I’m going to shove whatever he’s selling down his throat!”
KNOCK
KNOCK
KNOCK
“Yeah! Yeah! I’m coming!” Mitsuki finally reached the door and violently swung it open. “WHAT DO YOU…want?” Mitsuki’s yell trailed off into a whisper when she finally got a look at who was at her door.
“Hey aunty,” said Izuku. “I know I’m ten years late coming home, but…can I come in?”
CRASH
Masaru dropped his coffee mug and let it crash onto the ground. “Oh, hey, uncle!”
Everyone just stayed silent for a few seconds before another person inserted themselves into the awkward situation. “Hello, sir and madam. I’m Toshinori Yagi, you know me as All-Might. I’m here as your godson’s escort while he speaks to you about what happened while he was gone.”
“ALL-MIGHT!?” shouted Mitsuki and Masaru.
Because of the scream, Katsuki came rushing down the stairs in a rage from his room. “WILL YOU TWO KEEP IT DOWN!? SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO DO SOME VERY IMPORTANT WORK!”
“Young Bakugou! That is a highly inappropriate way to speak to one’s elders let alone your parents!” Katsuki turned around to see who was talking to him.
“All-Might? What are you doing—Deku!” As Katsuki began to speak to All-Might, he laid eyes on the current focus of his rage.
“Oh, hey Kacchan. How’ve you been since the fight?” asked Izuku.
“Shut it, nerd, and square the fuck up! We’ve got a score to settle!” Katsuki threw himself off of the stairs and prepared to launch an explosion at Izuku.
“Oh god, not this again…”
“LET ME SEE YOU GRIT THOSE TEETH, NERD!”
BOOM!!!
TO BE CONTINUED