Chapter 9
Yagi Household (3:00am)
Izumi walked out of her bedroom and went straight to the bathroom. She repeatedly splashed water on her face to come back to reality. 'It's not real. That didn't happen! He's not here anymore!' She saw her own reflection and covered her damp face with a towel. 'He left, but he'll come back when he comes to his senses. And I'll be waiting to chew him out for making everyone worry!' she thought as she walked back to her room.
The other day had been like something out of a dream. She and Kacchan discovered her dad is All Might, and were going to begin training under the world's greatest hero. The day after, she saw a report about the destruction of Aldera's roof. That... did not dig up good memories. And that is likely what led to her having a nightmare of a bloody, bruised and dead-looking Izuku demanding they play heroes and villains. The worst part was that he said their dad would want them to.
'Old Man...' Izumi had some underlying issues with their biological father. She had so few memories of him, and if it weren't for the pictures, she would've forgotten what he looked like ages ago. But Izuku could remember so much. He was smart enough to write down the memories they had with Hisashi in a book when he was three. Izumi had looked at it before, but never more than once. Her name rarely came up, and it was mostly Hisashi and Izuku. She didn't spend enough time with her plain old man with a weak fire-breathing quirk. With her mom being the great Teleki, her dull pops wasn't exactly interesting to her.
Izumi sighed. Not wanting to go back to sleep and needing someone to talk to, she booted up her laptop and dialed a number of an old friend of hers. The screen lit up to a blonde-haired blue-eyed girl her age.
"Hi Izumi, what's up you don't usually call at this time.""Yeah, well I didn't wanna go back to sleep so I thought I'd call you. How's your dad?" "Good, working on something I think you'll be interested in. You know how Tartarus has quirk-disrupting radio frequencies that only affect the inmates? My dad's working on cuffs that can seal powers away. Imagine it, the most powerful bad guy, turned quirkless with the click of a cuff."
Izumi had started regretting calling her friend. "Yeah, I can't imagine taking a quirkless villain seriously." The blonde's smile dropped. "Hey, is something wrong? You seem troubled." Izumi breathed in and thought about what to say. She could use a set of ears to listen to some of the baggage she'd accumulated over the last 40 hours. "My dad told me something crazy, and no matter what you can't tell anyone."
"What, that your dad is All Might?" the blonde asked smugly. "No, that my dad is... you knew!?" The blonde chuckled into her hand. "My dad personally made all of his suits from the Young Age to the Golden Age. Don't you think I'd eventually be in the loop? And evidently I'm better at keeping secrets." Izumi pouted, but then got a call from someone else. "Hold on, Melissa, I'm getting someone else. It's Kacchan." she clicked accept.
"Good, you're awake." his idea of a pleasant good morning. "Hey Katsuki, long time no talk." "Hey blondie."Melissa cringed slightly since he was also blonde. "You had a nightmare, too?" Katsuki turned his head from the screen with a huff. "Of course not! I just couldn't sleep, simple as that!" He said while repressing his nightmare of attending Izuku's funeral.
"Anyway! We start training for U.A. tomorrow. And blondie, you get the honor of being our first choice in tech support." Melissa rolled her eyes at a term she found degrading, but kept her smile. The three of them talked about the future until the sun rose. At the end, Melissa asked what's the situation with Japan's newest vigilante. She couldn't much other than bare bones details. It was clearly a touchy subject. One that she'd leave alone for the time being.
Police Department
"There seems to be no end to the Green Devil's acts of cruelty. Within the past 24 hours, more than twenty low-ranked criminals have been found in broken and mangled in the alleys of Musutafu. The majority of them suffered broken bones, dislocation in various joints, third degree burns and internal bleeding."
Tsukauchi turned off the news on his TV and sighed at his desk. He was swamped with work trying to catch an outlaw who seemed to be growing more brutal and violent by the day. It would be nice if his victims weren't too traumatized to the point of being as good as mute. Just then, one of the detective's junior officers came in. "Sir, we have one who sustained consciousness, but..." "Let me guess, he won't talk." Tsukauchi sighed.
"N-Not exactly, sir. It's more like he can't talk." Tsukauchi looked up from his desk with quizzical eyes. "What do you mean he can't talk? Is the devil threatening to kill him? Tell him we can offer protection in exchange for any information." The officer shook his head. "No sir, he literally cannot talk right now. The Green Devil broke his face. I'm talking fractured skull, broken nose, missing teeth and dislocated jaw. There's also signs that he was strangled because his voice is so hoarse and rough, to the point of sounding like rubbing sandpaper on a desk."
Tsukauchi's mouth went agape with horror. Surely the actual scene was more gruesome than the description. He wondered to himself how could a child be so heartless? "Sir, this vigilante, something changed in him. He's more active and much more violent. At this rate, it won't be long before the heroes have to intervene." A fact that Tsukauchi dreaded. "Keep looking. I want to bring him in before that happens." "Yes sir."
Tsukauchi didn't pretend not to notice that the Green Devil suddenly started beating criminals half to death the day after All Might told him he would begin training Izumi and Bakugo.
...
The Green Devil flew above the city, wearing a black hoodie with green accents. He wore black pants and black combat boots that were lit with the flames keeping him in the air. His whole ensemble had soot in various places. The lower half of his face was covered in a mask of green fire, much like his eyes which barely showed his pupils. The hair over his forehead stood up on end. He spent his time looking for any scummy throats to get his hands on. It was to hold himself back from going to the people he really wanted to see broken. But alas, he couldn't. All Might and Teleki were still coddling the monsters who ruined his childhood. Nothing had changed, he saw that for himself. His attention was pulled by rising black smoke. 'Let's get this over with.' he thought bitterly.
A chubby bald man was on the floor with his head bleeding and a criminal standing over him. There were other bystanders trapped in a corner behind burning trash. "Why are you doing this!?" the man asked, to which the criminal smirked. He was a tall, muscular man with pink hair and red facial marks akin to war paint. "I just wanna make a new friend! And you know what, I think you'll make a good present when he finally gets here." The criminal turned his left hand into a blade and was poised to slice the poor man's throat. "Please, no!"
Suddenly, the heated alley felt cold. The flames surrounding the other bystanders turned green. The criminal smirked when he knew what this meant. "He's here." The flames opened up for the people to escape, and a massive fireball crashed into the criminal, knocking him down. The man that was on the floor could finally escape, which just left the devil and his summoner. "I thought I'd need a sacrifice to get you, but this works too." The criminal smirked. Izuku ignited his palm in searing hot fire. The criminal held out his hands in front of him. "Hey easy, kid! I wanna talk, not fight!"
This intrigued Izuku. Usually when he found bad guys, it was "Kill him!" or "Run!" For whatever reason, he let his fire die down slightly. "I'll get right to it; join me!" The Green Devil's head tilted slightly and his eyes widened. You couldn't tell, but his mouth was hanging. "You've got one hell of a quirk, and you know how to use it. You'd be surprised at how hard that is to come by. And yeah, you may be doing the heroes' job, but how long do you think until you've taken their spotlight enough for them to want you gone? But with me, with us, you'll have more friends to help you out. You'd get to do whatever you want and enjoy the perks of being on the winning team. What do you say?"
The Green Devil took a hunched form with his legs bent and his hands clawed in front of him with green fireballs at the ready. "Hell no." He threw the heated orbs at the criminal, only for him to cut through them with his bladed arm. Green embers floated around him. "Damn, ain't that disappointing." Suddenly, the embers wrapped around him and formed a chilling form of fiery bondage. The binding was so tight, he couldn't lift his arm blade to cut free. The man felt his heart start pounding and his confidence going up in smoke. 'He's strong, too bad. I was hoping I wouldn't need this. It would've really impressed the boss if I took him without it, but oh well.'
As the Green Devil was fishing his phone out of his zip pocket, he caught the thug moving out of the corner of his eye. He dug a mysterious syringe out of his pocket with his right hand and injected it through his pants and into his thigh. "Sorry kid, but you're the one who chose to play hero when you shouldn't have." Izuku shot more condensed cold flames to hold the criminal tighter, but it was in vain. The bastard cut through with newfound strength and both his arms becoming blades.
"OH THAT'S THAT GOOD SHIT! SUCK IT KALE, YOU BUSH LEAGUE SUPER FOOD!" The Green Devil jumped back at this surprising turn of events. The man now had a manic grin on his face with drool spilling, bloodshot eyes and veins throbbing all over. His demeanor also changed, to that of a gleeful anarchist hell bent on creating carnage. Most notably, his quirk seems to have been boosted. Instead of just transforming his hands into sharp blades, he can do it to his arms. "WHAT'S WRONG KID? SCARED!?"
The maniac lunged at Izuku, ready to impale him. Izuku put up a flaming barrier, but it didn't work. The man cut right through it, and managed to graze his cheek ever so slightly. The Green Devil delivered a roundhouse kick to the man while he still had his momentum. He fell down and Izuku backed up to create some distance. He quickly made an assessment of the situation.
'He used a drug to enhance his power. Dammit Ingenium, you let one slip! Cold flames won't intimidate him while he's drunk on that power booster, and my shields are weak to sharp objects. And that metal on his arms must make for a pretty good shield. This isn't a great match up for me.' The bastard had shaken his head and turned back to the vigilante that knocked him down. "All right, rug rat, let's go! Give me all you've got!"
Izuku lit his fists in hot flames. 'He put innocent people in harms way just to get the chance to talk to me. He wanted to recruit me and mentioned having friends. He even has a secret weapon in case things go south. This guy is... a real villain!' Izuku's internal monolog was cut when the villain lunged at him again. The Green Devil rolled to the side and hovered above his opponent.
'I still have long-range attacks and aerial mobility! I'll cook him from above until he can't take anymore! Then maybe get some intel about his friends!' Izuku released scorching hot flames from both his hands unto the villain, who was engulfed in the heat entirely. "AAAHHHRRGGGHH!" His pained screams were matched by the roaring of the flesh-melting heat consuming his body. Izuku was being careful not to incinerate him like the night he unlocked his heat. 'As long as I'm focused on controlling the temp, this won't be like that time! Once he goes quiet, I'll-'
Crash! Smash!*
He was cut off by a metal monstrosity jumping onto a wall near him and jumping off of it to deliver a heavy hit to his abdomen. Izuku released a pained scream as he crashed into the adjacent wall and hit the ground. The force of the blow was strong enough to make him vomit blood. An earth-shaking impact landed right in front of him. He saw the villain in full-body metal armor, shining like a well-polished sword in the moonlight with smoke seeping out of the air thin crevices. His knuckles, shoulders, elbows, knees, toes and head were all spiked and menacing.
"Thanks for the little warmup, runt. NOW DIE!" He raised his right fist and turned it into a spiked wrecking ball of great destructive power. Izuku ignited flames to propel himself out of the way, a full second before he became a red stain on the floor. 'Damn! He got a bigger boost than I thought! He's completely different from the man I faced before, he's out for blood!' The villain needed a few moments to pull his wrecking ball fist out of the crater it formed before attempting to swing again.
Izuku sidestepped the attack. While the villain was several leagues stronger than him, Izuku was smaller, much faster and more agile. Catching such a small and quick target with such a bulky and heavy enhancement is next to impossible. Izuku used that to his advantage. He rocketed towards the villain and collided with his armored midsection. "WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO DO!?" "This!" With all his strength, Izuku blasted off the ground while holding the villain, leaving the entire alley ablaze in his wake.
He made it above the roofs before flipping and throwing the villain back down into the alley. He landed on his back with a thunderous crash. Izuku wasn't done as he came down with two large fists made of fire. With ruthless repetition, he unleashed a flurry of blows on the villain's midsection. He ended the final punch with an explosive impact, lightning the already bright alley even brighter.
He huffed and puffed in the air, having expended a good deal of strength. However, when the smoke cleared, the villain was still standing, hardly phased by the attacks. "How sad! I expected a devil to give me hell! Don't tell me that's all you've got!" Izuku was stunned speechless. He had treated that whole onslaught like it was nothing!
He wasn't given time to stare in shock as the villain had leaped off the ground hard enough to create strong wind pressure. He cocked back his left fist and tried to strike the Green Devil out of the sky. He narrowly missed, instead grazing a few tufts of hair. The green flame user spun himself to be above the villain and struck him in the back with another fire fist punch. They both crashed into the ground with a green explosion and flames burning intensely. 'Think Izuku! He won't give you enough time to try and melt through his defenses, and there's no telling how long it'll take for the drug to wear off!'
The villain picked himself up and swat at the Green Devil trying hold him down. "It's a shame, really! You could've been something great!" The villain began casually walking to the devil at the end of the alleyway. Izuku fired a large wave of flames from both hands, but it didn't slow him down. "Your quirk is useful, and can probably do a lot! But you picked the wrong side! The one that will eventually betray you!" Izuku tried binding his feet with condensed flames. "Strong enough to have it all..." The villain lunged at him, effortlessly breaking out of the binding.
"TOO WEAK TO TAKE IT!"
"Gorhg!" His left fist was brutally shoved into Izuku's stomach. The greenette spit up a concerning volume of blood before collapsing on the villain's arm. His whole body went slack as the flames hiding his face disappeared. The villain began breathing hard as the adrenaline from the battle and the effect of the quirk drug began to wear off. He looked down at his prize with pride. The armor on his face broke, revealing half his face and his twisted grin.
"Don't worry, brat. I won't kill ya. Even if I wanted to, it's not up to me. Let's try recruitment later when we've both cooled down. Hehehe..."
...
"...I already said no." "Huh? Urgh!"
The villain looked down to see the armor over his stomach had become brittle and flaked off. And in his stomach was a flaming blade over the Green Devil's hand. Turns out, Izuku's earlier attacks weren't futile after all. It wasn't that the villain was uninjured, he was just too high to notice the damage he was taking. The impact of the blows coupled with the intense heat weakened his armor. Izuku just had to hold out long enough for his rush to reach its end. And now that the drug has begun fading, he's done.
The flames in his eyes and on his lower face reignited, filling the villain with a growing sense of dread. 'Your sharp blades were a good counter, you should've stuck with it instead of brute force. This makes for a good finisher!' Izuku's searing hot hand blade moved even deeper into the man's stomach, making him vomit a large amount of blood. While most of his body was still covered in armor, he could feel himself burning up from the inside! He tried desperately to pull away, but Izuku kept his hand sharp and hot.
"ah-AAARRHHHH!" The man cried out as his internal organs were set ablaze. The Green Devil reached up for the man's throat with his palm extremely hot. Izuku grunted and increased the output and temperature of his flames, to the point that green flames escaped from the villain's mouth and eyes! Izuku shoved his body to the ground while still connected to it, and placed his foot on his chest. The man was entirely engulfed in the viridescent flames of the devil.
When the light finally subsided and smoke cleared away, Izuku was standing over a heap of charred meat and brittle metal. The villain was completely unrecognizable at this point. His eyes were melted right out of the socket. His throat was incinerated, making the bones of his neck visible to anyone brave enough to look. His pink hair was burned away and the skin on his bottom jaw was entirely gone. What laid on the floor of that alley was a half cremated corpse.
Izuku breathed in. The familiar strong stench of a freshly burnt corpse. Except this wasn't like last time. He did take a man's life intentionally, yes, but it was a necessity if he wanted to survive. He breathed in again, this time breathing in some of his own flames. Absorbing the cold ones into himself allowed him to regain some of his stamina. He hovered off the ground and flew off into the night sky, leaving behind what looked like a gateway to the Viridescent Hell with a freshly sacrificed human. He hadn't noticed it, but the people he saved didn't leave, they just got out of the way of the battle. One of them recorded the whole thing.
...
As the Green Devil flew, he examined the damage to himself. He had a nasty bruise on the left side of his abdomen and stomach from where he was punched. And a cut on his cheek from the beginning of the fight. As much as he wanted to be proud of himself for his first big takedown, he couldn't help but think about what that man had said. The villain had made it clear he came from some kind of gang or organization. And they were recruiting, building their numbers. If that's true, he needs to be even more vigilant about cleaning up the scum on the street.
"Even if I wanted to kill ya, it's not up to me."
'He wasn't the boss villain, just a pawn. A dangerous pawn with illegal drugs. How many others could there be? And whoever this boss is, what does he want from me?'
He began to lose altitude as his heavy thoughts weighed on him. The things that villain said stuck. The police were already after him. How long until the heroes followed suit? The villain made it clear that if he's not on their side, he's against them. And now Izuku has a target on his back. One for the Green Devil and another for Izuku Yagi. Lovely. The boy honestly doesn't know what would be worse. Being tortured by villains or going back to that house.
Izuku landed roughly on the sidewalk in front of a hospital and let himself collapse on the nearby bench. He had been awake for over 24 hours and just survived a life or death battle. He needed rest. With any luck, no one would bother him before he wakes up.
Elsewhere
"You performed better than I anticipated." A man clapped as he finished watching the battle between the Green Devil and the blade formation user. He had seen everything up until the villain's head was engulfed in fire. "I knew you would prevail, Izuku, but I never expected you to end it off so gruesomely. You have my praise."
"Although, and this may be an unfair comparison, Endeavor would have finished this fight even quicker. Your flames weren't quite burning with the same intensity as the night you faced your old friend, mother and sister. But that's fine. It's clear that when you're pushed to your limit, you can adapt, learn, evolve and keep fighting. It fills me with awe to see your true potential breaking out. Potential I can't wait to see realized. Until then, I will happily provide you with the environmental conditions you need to be your best. Other fire users will pale in comparison to you. I'm looking forward to it, my boy."
Chapter 10
Izuku woke up with a groan, feeling heavy all over. His morning breath reeked of blood and smoke. He opened his eyes to a blue morning sky. As he became more awake, he realized that his hoodie was gone, and he was in the compression shirt he wore underneath. And draped over him was a fluffy snow-white blanket and a grey pillow lifting his head up.
"H-Hello." a soft voice said beside the bench he spent the night on. Izuku whipped his head to see a nervous-looking woman with white hair and grey eyes. "Um, hi." Izuku said while raising up his guard. He saw that she was holding his green and black hoodie, though it looked much cleaner. The woman jolted slightly when she realized where his eyes were. "S-Sorry, this is yours." she said while shoving it in his hands.
Izuku accepted his belonging and looked back at the woman who fidgeted nervously. "I-I found you on the bench looking hurt so I tried to help." Izuku lifted his compression shirt to find bandages and the smell of ointment on his bruised midsection. He also felt a patch on his cheek where he was cut. 'She went through the trouble of helping a complete stranger herself? We're right in front of a hospital, she could get help from there.'
"Do you need anything else?" Before Izuku could answer, his stomach started to growl. The white-haired lady rushed into the hospital to get some food. Izuku sighed and put his hoodie back on. 'Is she a patient or a nurse here? She doesn't seem to be quite all there, but... at least she's nice.' Izuku took a minute to view his surroundings. He realized something that made him feel shock and a twinge of sadness.
He's sitting outside the hospital his father used to work at!
"Dad..." Izuku clutched his chest to try and stop his heart from ripping itself open. He got up in a sitting position and hunched, letting a few tears leak out of his eyes. Suddenly, he felt something soft and fluffy on his back and two hands on his shoulders. He looked back to see the woman that helped him returned and put the blanket on him and was rubbing his shoulders to try and calm him down. "What's wrong?" she asked gently.
Izuku took a deep breath and let the walls down for a second. His voice was soft and strangled, telling the woman that he was in a very difficult place. "...My dad used to work here. I miss him." The woman sat down on the bench next to him with a bowl of soup in her lap. "What was he like?" she asked. Izuku was surprised by the question but didn't push her away. "Nice. Really nice. He taught me how to read and write. He always made good meals. I miss my dad." Another tear ran down his cheek, but this time the woman wiped it away.
She then held out the bowl of soup for him to take. "My name is Rei." she finally introduced herself. "Zu." He accepted the bowl and began eating. Rei stayed beside him the whole time. Throughout that morning, Izuku felt strangely at peace with the woman. She found him hurt and alone, and nursed him, fed him, let him vent. He never asked for that, but she knew he needed it. And she didn't get the hospital staff involved which would risk his identity. 'Is this what having a mom feels like? It's nice...'
A thought then popped in his head. Rei had seen his face. He had no mask or hair dye to conceal himself. Besides the scar on his right cheek and the bags under his eyes, he's an exact match to the missing person posters. Despite that, Rei didn't seem to be familiar with him at all. Granted, she doesn't seem to be 100%. Then it clicked with Izuku. 'She must be a psychiatric patient. That would explain why she's in the hospital without any apparent sickness or injuries.'
Izuku finished his soup and gave Rei the bowl. "Thank you very much, Ms Rei." "You're welcome. Can I ask how you got hurt?" Zu placed a hand on his stomach. "I... didn't have anyone looking out for me." He looked down at his feet. Rei frowned and stood up. "I'll get you a water." She went back inside. Soon after, she came back with a tall glass of water in hand, but no Zu in sight. All she saw left on the bench was the blanket and pillow she gave him.
...
Izuku hopped over the rooftops, feeling invigorated yet also deflated. Perhaps it was leaving the first person to give him a taste of motherly affection. Perhaps it was the weight of having killed yet another person sinking in. It might've been his injuries that were far from healed. Whatever the case, he felt fine enough to get moving before he could be put in danger again. He landed on the ground and walked out of an alley, putting on his hoodie to hide his hair. He also grabbed his bright yellow back pack. "Right where I left it." He was getting pretty familiar with the back alley spaces of Musutafu.
Zu walked among the people again, noticing something concerning. There were more officers and pros patrolling. In an area he'd never seen receive so much attention. Izuku tried to keep to himself and not raise suspicion. He walked until he found a large TV on a building with some shocking news.
"The Green Devil's barbarism seems to know no bounds. Even other criminals are seeking him for his power, and suffer agonizing deaths. This is video footage from just last night. The following image is extremely disturbing, and it is advised that all minors look away."
The news showed a video recording of the Green Devil piercing the powered up villain and horrifically burning him to death from the inside. Many wandering people gasped, gagged or looked away. The news then switched to people who had witnessed the event.
Formerly Endangered Woman:
"It was brutal from start to finish. T-That villain with metal armor had a quirk booster drug. H-He was a monster! The Devil was beaten bloody by that guy, until he managed to go for the kill. The sound of those roaring flames, the agonizing screams, the loud crashing. Those sounds haunt my nightmares."
Teenage Blogger:
"That was the sickest fight I've ever seen! The Green Devil was getting his ass kicked and I thought he was dead, then we'd all be dead! But then the guy starts looking like a wraith from Hell! That takedown is gonna bring me so many followers; the guy's a hero! Oh and he saved my life, too. Why don't the heroes do sick executions like that? We'd have less shitbags on the street."
Middle-aged Man:
"I don't know much about that young man, and I can't say I condone his methods. But he saved my life. Unlike the pros, he acted knowing he would receive no reward, risking his life for a complete stranger. He nearly died in that fight for us. For me. If you can see me, boy, please know I'm extremely grateful to you. If the heroes arrest you, or you turn yourself in, I hope you channel your power toward helping people in a more acceptable manner."
Izuku felt his heavy heart start to lighten. It was nice to see his work being appreciated, even if he himself agrees that some of it shouldn't be condoned. Namely being the walking local crematorium. The screen switched back to the news reporter, who closed off saying that a dangerous child is still a child nonetheless. He needs help before he crosses the line. Zu scoffed and walked away from the billboard TV.
'If I do end up crossing that line, it's because I was pushed that far.'
The Next Day
Ever since the report about the Green Devil's brutal execution, the streets have been quiet. Yes there were more police and heroes on patrol, but there was no suspicious activity to investigate. Izuku had sent a wave of fear into the criminal world, and it seems the heroes felt it too. Although, this development wasn't felt much or at all by Rei. Her room didn't have a TV, and she wasn't allowed more than ten feet away from the hospital. They were that paranoid about keeping her stable.
The same time every morning and evening, she would go on a limited stroll and breathe in some fresh air. She had about an hour of outside time before having to go back inside, and she always used it to its last second. While on her evening stroll, she spotted a head of green hair sitting against the wall and instinctively approached it.
Izuku breathed in through his nose and out his mouth. He dug through his pocket and pulled out a small picture of Hisashi. 'I miss you, Dad...' He put it back in his pocket when he heard footsteps approaching. He calmed down a bit when it was a familiar cold temperature. "Hello." she greeted him. "Hi." "What are you doing back here?" Izuku didn't have it in him to send her away, and just sighed. "I wanted to visit the place my dad worked. Don't have anywhere else I want to remember him."
Rei sat down next to him. "What about your home?" Zu squeezed his arm. "They don't need me." He laid his head in his knees. His body began heating up in response to his emotions. He didn't do it on purpose, but didn't try to stop it. If the heat drove Rei away, so be it. But instead of hearing her shuffle away, he felt a cooling sensation on his back. He looked up and saw Rei had begun using her quirk to keep him from burning too hot. "I don't think that's true."
Izuku looked at her in surprise at what she had begun doing. Once he was at a comfortable temperature, Rei pulled away her hand which had a frosty mist coming from it. A frost quirk. Fitting for someone who can cool him down. "My family isn't the prettiest either, but not every one is bad. Isn't there someone in yours you've turned to for help?"
Izuku was speechless for a time. Two figures immediately popped in his mind as Rei said that. Nana and Hisashi. His deceased father and grandmother. He didn't realize it, but he let a tear slide down his cheek. Rei was there to wipe it off. "T-There was... but I ended up stuck with the worst of them until I couldn't take it anymore." Izuku placed his scarred right hand over his face. Without thinking, Rei wrapped an arm around his head and held him closer to her. Her motherly side kicked in on its own around Zu.
It was therapeutic for Izuku, sitting in silence as a gentle woman held him. He would've stayed there for the whole night if he could, and he gets the feeling Rei wouldn't mind, but a staff member came out looking for her. Izuku had managed to slip away in time, and Rei was found asleep on the floor. She was woken up and taken back to her room. Despite the nurse's gentle scorn, she didn't feel remorse. All she felt was... 'I hope you keep coming back, Zu.' Worry.
Police Department
"Tsukauchi, sir!" an officer burst into the detective's office. "What is it!? Who's dead now? One of our own!?" he asked frantically with an empty coffee mug on his desk. It's been a week since the Green Devil's obscene murder and the police and heroes were working overtime to bring him in. "Sir, I encountered the Green Devil! I tried to arrest him, but he used his fear fire and threw me off." the officer admitted shamefully.
Tsukauchi was more concerned about his co-worker. He was alone in the streets with a murderer. But unlike others, he didn't seem physically injured. "What happened?" "Sir, he... he didn't do anything. He shot cold flames at me and disappeared from my line of sight. I was honestly expecting to die, but here I am." Tsukauchi looked surprised at this. The vigilante had another development. This time it wasn't anything to do with the Yagi's. The vigilante actually became more gentle.
'This is wishful thinking, but maybe he's on a road to healing. If we're lucky, a good hero will be able to convince him to come quietly, and we can give him a better life!' Wishful thinking indeed.
...
Over the next two weeks, Izuku would continue to visit the hospital his father once worked at. At first, it was solely so he could feel like he was still with him. But then he quickly came to realize it was to see Rei. They talked, ate and stayed close to each other for many evenings. It was always nice to share a bowl of soup under the pink and orange evening sky. Rei had quickly worked her way into Izuku's heart as the mother figure he was missing. She let him vent about how awful his life was. He kept some details hidden, like his vigilantism, misdiagnosis and the identity of All Might, but told her most of everything else. And it was very nice to have someone to help him lighten his heart.
In return, he lent an ear to Rei when she felt like talking. Izuku learned about her family, how she was basically sold to Endeavor and forced to be a baby machine for the man to reach his dream of surpassing All Might. The maddeningly stressful life she had before shattered her mind and landed her in a mental hospital. And now she has to live with the guilt of scarring her youngest child. Izuku let her cry on his shoulder that night.
As Rei cried, Izuku felt a new hatred for the number 2 hero rising up within him. Breeding children for the sole purpose of your own glory? Then discarding your own creations for not meeting your ideal standards? How could someone like him possibly be called a hero!? And to make it worse, he was chasing after a huge hypocrite. He and All Might aren't so different when it comes to being fathers. The top two heroes are now the top two scumbags to Izuku, not counting Izumi and Bakugo. His body began burning up as he held Rei.
Rei didn't use her quirk to cool him down. When she had put together Zu had a heat quirk, it reminded her of Enji, which she was afraid of. But she saw a sad boy filled with pain. That burning was from open, untreated wounds. So she decided to treat them, and never got burned once. For the first time in years, she let herself be held by the heat of a fire quirk user, but it was very different from Endeavor. This heat was... protective, comforting and just the right temperature. They both found much-needed comfort in each other.
...
'Hi Dad. Sorry I haven't talked to you in a while. I've... been preoccupied. I have an awesome quirk but it attracts attention from the wrong crowd. And now I don't think I even want to be part of the "right" crowd. I know you and Grandma are disappointed in me. But I genuinely don't know if I can ever go back to who I was. The Yagi's are still favoring their only child and complete strangers treat me so much better than they did. I don't know what to do, but I'll figure it out.'
Izuku stood up from his knees as he finished his prayer. A few tears fell down his face but he wiped them away. He was on the roof of the hospital. He decided it would be a good spot to pray to Hisashi without interruptions. With that done, he could jump down and begin his evening talks with Rei, the highlight of his day. He walked to the edge of the building, feeling a little less foggy. But then a voice stopped him. An infuriatingly familiar voice.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing!?"
Chapter 11
Teleki was flying over the streets on patrol. Her job was to stop any criminal activity she comes across, but her sights were focused on her personal goal of finding the Green Devil. She came up to the hospital her late husband worked at, and immediately wanted to look away from it. Before she tried to ignore her past, she noticed a young boy in a black and green hoodie walking towards the edge of the roof. She flew after him before he jumped. "Hey! What do you think you're doing!?"
The boy froze for a moment but ignored her and continued walking. "Did you hear me!? Stop! This isn't the answer!" She was ignored again, and the boy was about to step over the edge. Left without any other options, Inko used her telekinesis to hold the boy in mid air and slowly bring him towards her. That was a mistake. The person she was holding suddenly rocketed towards her at great speed. She didn't have time to react and took an elbow straight to the nose!
The force of the blow made her drop her hold on the boy and she took a moment to wince in pain. Her nose was now bloody, and she looked at the one who struck her who was now hovering in the air on green flames. "Don't think for a moment I'll go anywhere with you, hero...!" he growled. Teleki ignored the pain and glared hatefully at the vigilante before him. "Green Devil...!"
Nearby people looked up in the sky in shock. The Green Devil in a standoff against the pro hero Teleki. They made sure to take steps back in fear of the battle about to occur. Teleki raised her fists while the Green Devil kept his arms at his sides. "What are you doing here, monster?" she growled. The devil glared back at her. "Like you need to know. I was just leaving." This time, Izuku turned his back to her and began to fly away. "No, you don't!" Before he could get far, Inko stretched out her hand and grabbed him. She turned him around and reeled him in quickly. 'How sad.'
Izuku emitted flames from his chest that neutralized Inko's telekinetic grasp, and he was once again hovering on his own. Inko tried to grab him again, but no luck. She aimed for his leg, but flames came off of there too, and her grasp was negated. "You're a fairly high-ranked pro with an impressive quirk. I bet you never imagined someone could counter your power, Teleki." The flames coming off of his chest took shape as a cross that also extended to his back.
'It disgusts that this aspect of my power is directly inherited from you, but it'll have to do. I'll just relish the fact that you can't do anything to touch me now!' "You can thank your idiot daughter, that experience pushed me to come up with this telekinetic negation." A vein was bulging out of her forehead as she furiously flew towards her own son. "Don't you dare talk about my child!" Izuku sidestepped and let Inko crash into an air conditioning unit on the roof of the hospital. 'So careless.'
Inko picked herself up and charged again. Izuku effortlessly dodged her flailing arms. Teleki is far better at a distance, but her rage and hatred is making her sloppy and predictable. "Have you no shame!? Attacking two lone youths in the dark! And what did you do to my son!?" She pressed the 'son' button. She shouldn'ta did that. The Green Devil caught one of her fists and twisted her arm. As Teleki screamed in pain, the devil spoke right in her ear. "Who the hell are you talking about?" Before kicking her down.
Teleki clutched her right arm. It hurt more than she expected from a boy, and her fist was smoking. She looked up at the vigilante who was glaring hatefully at her from above. He clenched his fists with barely suppressed anger. 'Your idiot daughter and nephew were the ones who attacked me for years, and you did nothing! You pushed me away and now you're focusing your guilt on me because you can't take the time to reflect! Don't you dare come to me proclaiming justice like you're a hero!'
Oblivious to his internal monolog and blind by anger, she flies up to him readying her fists again. 'Moronic!' As soon as she was close enough, Izuku's entire body emitted a burst of flames that caused Inko's telekinetic flight to be erased. Before she could fall, she was caught by her throat and brought almost nose to nose with the Green Devil. It was terrifying enough to have to stare into the flaming eyes of the emerald demon. But his crushing grip around her throat, in his condensed heat, it made breathing next to impossible.
"You and your daughter really are alike, in the way you both fight like naive children! As if you'll win because you want to so badly! You know I can negate your power, yet you came charging at me carelessly! Charging like a mad bull seeing red, that's the kind of thoughtless maneuver I'd expect from All Might!"
Izuku then delivered a powerful kick to his mother's stomach, followed by a blast of heat that scorched most of her body and sent her crashing into a nearby building's wall. The flames wrapped around her to keep her captured. 'Stay down, hero. I've got more important things to deal with than your damn ego!' Izuku was about to leave, but then an empty bottle was thrown at him. He narrowly dodged it, and looked back at Inko. She could move her arm enough to grab a dumpster and hurl its contents at him.
'You just don't know when to quit...!'
Though her determination was admirable, she was doomed to fail from the start of this fight. Every shot she took missed by a mile with how quickly he was able to dodge. Eventually, Inko got frustrated enough to hurl the entire dumpster at him. "Please..." Izuku scoffed as he extended both his hands and two large flaming replicas caught the dumpster with ease and crushed it. The crushed and partially melted dumpster fell to the ground with a loud thud, and Izuku looked down at his mother with disdain and descent. He legitimately found this sad. That pushed Inko to do something desperate.
She placed her hand against the wall she was stuck to, and cracks formed around it. Izuku was curious what she was doing, as it seemed to take some great effort on her part, though it would ultimately prove meaningless. She pulled apart the wall she was stuck to, freeing herself and giving herself harder ammo to throw. She hurled chunks of cement at the Green Devil, not thinking about anything other than taking him down. The latter still dodged effortlessly, easily able to read her next move with his keen eyes.
'That's right, get mad. You're not even fighting me anymore, you're fighting the fact that I'm right. You'll do anything to avoid owning up to your past mistakes and poor choices, so you attack me in a futile effort to lessen the weight. That hatred inside you doesn't compare to what I feel for you and your family. It's what drove me to kill those gutter punks when we crossed paths. So keep at it. Keep tearing down everything around you to get to me. Because in reality, you're only tearing down your own reputation.'
The Green Devil then raised his right hand and used the fire around it to forge a searing hot blade, the same one that cremated the insides of that drugged up villain. Inko watched in surprise and growing fear as he expertly and effortlessly sliced and diced the bricks she threw into pebbles. Teleki froze momentarily as the Green Devil gauged her. He relished the fear written all over her.
"What's wrong? Why aren't you attacking? Lost your nerve after seeing I'm not the street punk you were expecting? Hardly a surprise that the apple didn't fall far from the tree. It was the same with those brats you coddle. The second they saw I was in a different class, they cowered like gutless weaklings! So? What about you? Who will you cower behind, hero!?"
Izuku picked his words well, knowing exactly what to say to get his discouraged mother into another frenzy. It was just too entertaining to watch her flail helplessly, and it was a good way for her to repay the years of depression her neglect caused. Teleki pulled apart another large chunk from the building and threw it at Izuku, who easily sidestepped it. She repeated this useless tactic five more times, ripping out sizeable pieces of buildings and throwing them at her target. The devil either dodged or sliced the attacks in half.
On the fifth one, he decided to show Inko something that would be burned into her memory. Another display of their difference in power, and that he should never be compared to the street rats she's used to fighting. Izuku's hanf blade returned to its natural fire state, but then he did something that made Teleki's eyes widen. 'I've studied this move of his extensively, time for its first test drive!' The flames surrounded his entire forearm and glowed brighter as they were condensed before he fired. 'Is that...?'
'Flashfire Fist: Jet Burn!'
As Izuku's fist collided with the chunk of stone, it blew apart in a burst of intensely heated flames. The explosive heat on impact roared throughout the streets, heating up the area considerably. 'Huh, didn't think I'd put out that much power. Endeavor, although I despise you, your moves have their uses for someone who with my quirk. For instance, setting myself apart from the scum you heroes are so proud of cleaning up.'
Meanwhile, Inko stared up in newfound horror. 'T-That's flashfire... Endeavor's strongest technique! How could he... h-how can some vigilante child use his techniques?' She was finally starting to realize that Izuku was not to be taken lightly. Izuku could feel it. He sensed her bodily heat, and it was telling him all the emotions she felt. Fear, frustration, resentment. He raised his hand and flicked his fingers toward himself, making a 'come at me' gesture. Without many options, Inko played along with this game. She picked up the tiny pebbles he had sliced and threw them at him.
The emerald demon was still able to dodge, but she kept getting in close. She was getting desperate and it showed. 'This is getting annoying!' He emitted a flames from his entire body. When the pebbles came into contact with that, Inko's hold disappeared and they fell onto the porch of the hospital.
Meanwhile
Rei was fighting with her nurse to go outside. This was supposed to be the day Rei introduced her nurse to Zu. She knew better than anyone he was deeply wounded and wanted to help. If he was open, some two on one therapy would have been nice. Unfortunately, she picked the evening that the Green Devil and Teleki had their fight (if you could call it that) outside the hospital. "Please, Rei! It's dangerous out there!" the nurse begged as she held back the ice woman from running outside. "I have to make sure Zu is okay! He's waiting for me!" Rei pulled her arm free and ran out the hospital doors!
"Zu!" she called out for the first person she's felt a deep connection to in years. Her voice was heard by the emerald demon in the sky. She looked around for any sign of the green-haired boy, but couldn't find him. Unfortunately, she was at the wrong place at the wrong time. One of the falling fragments of brick landed on her head, the sudden sharp pain caught knocked her off her feet. She clutched her damaged head in pain. Izuku was frozen in the air as he saw the woman he had come to see as a maternal figure in his life suffer an injury.
However, Teleki was so focused on the Green Devil that all she cared about was that he stopped moving. She flew back to him and delivered a powerful right hook to his cheek, but he didn't budge an inch. Now he was entirely focused on the poor ice woman on the ground beneath them. Rei moved her hands and a stream of blood ran down her head. Izuku's heart suddenly went ice cold. She was hurt. His mother figure was hurt. The one who had done so much for him in the last two weeks was hurt. Because...
When Inko saw her punch was ineffective, she pulled back and tried again, only for her hand to be caught again. 'Rei is hurt, wounded. Endeavor put her here. And you... you picked a fight when I wasn't even doing anything just to sate your own ego... You didn't even bat an eye when she screamed...! And yet...!' Inko felt her knuckles start burning again, but so much worse this time. The very skin on her hand was melting off! She tried to pull away, but it was useless. The Green Devil's grip also increased, making her bones start to ache from the pressure.
"Inko Yagi..." he began in a low, petrifying growl. Teleki froze for a moment. 'He knows my name? Who is this guy?' "Tell me something..." Teleki suddenly screamed out in pure agony as her hand was engulfed in scorching green flames and crushed to the point her bones were fractured and blood sprayed out. "How can you call yourself a HERO WITH A STRAIGHT FACE!?" As he yelled that, a gargantuan pillar of fire erupted from him, and she was at the center of it. The powerlessness his presence gave her returned as her costume was incinerated from the sleeves and bottom of her legs. She didn't burn for long as the devil let go of her hand and roundhouse kicked her into the distance and quickly followed.
"SCUMBAG HYPOCRITE!" Izuku screamed as he pulled back his arm and shot forward a large fire fist that was bigger than Teleki's whole body. She screamed again as the impact and burning pain rattled her entirely. "YOU CAN'T EVEN CALL YOURSELF A DECENT MOTHER!" Izuku pulled her to him and began pummeling her with flame-covered fists! He relentlessly beat the pro in the middle of the evening sky, covering her in burns and bruises.
'You fail to protect the person closest to you, try to forget about your utter failure as a hero and wife, abandon me for being quirkless, don't give a shit to notice how horrible your daughter is, and you take out your self-loathing on me without caring about how your actions affect others! Yet you have the audacity to call yourself a hero!?'
Izuku finally ceased his barrage, only to pull back his arm for a proper send off. One more up close and personal look of his power that places him far above average villains. Far above her! "Flashfire Fist:..." This time, without holding back! "JET BURN!" Green flames, almost white-hot, burst from the back of his hand and elbow to drive his fist forward. It connected with Inko's stomach in the blink of an eye. On impact, an unbearably hot beam of fire was released and engulfed her whole body! Inko screamed out as she was sent plummeting to the ground at high speed.
"We're not done!" The devil flew after her.
He landed on the roof of the building she was on course for, and prepared a gentle landing for her... by raising his knee. Inko collided with his knee, her spine bending in an unnatural way due to the powerful impact! His knee was practically lodged in her backside. Horrific cracking noises rang through both of their ears and rendered them deaf to her pained, breathless whimpers. Izuku heartlessly kicked Inko off of him and onto the floor of an alley with four familiar black marks on the floor.
Just when Inko thought she could breathe, another heavy blow landed on her back again! She puked blood from the sheer pain. The Green Devil planted his foot on her and began burning her alive. 'As if it's not bad enough you ignored me, you hurt someone who has nothing to do with us! Someone who's special to me! In just two weeks, she's been more of a mother to me than you have in years!' Izuku's bitter thoughts caused his flames to burn even hotter! Black smoke rose from the broken pros back who was fighting to stay conscious. She had a feeling that if she closed her eyes, they would never open.
Whoop! Whoop! That's the sound of the police!*
Two police cars had shown up with four officers stepping out with guns trained on the devil. "Police! Freeze! We've got you- AARRGGHH!" Izuku didn't even look back at them before putting his hand behind him and firing off a huge wave of flames that consumed three officers and both cars. Their vehicles exploded in bright orange flames, with only one officer rolling out of the way in time but still sustaining injuries. "Stay down before you become kindling for my fire. That goes double for you." he uttered with no remorse in his voice.
Izuku looked ahead of him, remembering this was the same alley where Bakugo and Yagi tried to fight him. And now it could be his mother's final resting place. But the last word to leave her lips was something he couldn't ignore. "...zu..." she said before finally going still. For whatever reason, Izuku's burning hatred weakened. He despised the disgrace under his boot, he truly did. But something in him told him 'Don't do this.' Could it have been pity? Remorse? No, certainly not. Whatever it was was something foreign. Unfamiliar. But he decided to listen to it and lifted his foot off the woman and put out his fire.
Teleki's back was a horrific testament to the merciless beating she took. Her flesh was melted so badly her muscles and tendons were visible, as was her spinal cord. Izuku looked down at his so-called mother... and felt nothing. No pity or regret or anger. "What kind of sick joke were you pulling here, huh? I only get your attention when I don't want it? Look at you now, hero. You know something? I used to look up to you. Can't imagine why. And up until a few weeks ago, I was afraid of you. Afraid you'd find me. And now that you have, I actually feel insulted by myself. You're not even pathetic, you're just... nothing."
Izuku walked to stand right next to her head. "You brought this on yourself. When you charge at me with your self-righteousness, what did you expect to happen? You didn't even have moral high ground. Did you learn nothing from your daughter's mistakes? Oh what am I saying? Of course not. Because you're a fucking failure of a mother and a shitty excuse for a hero." Izuku then bent down and whispered into Inko's ear. "I didn't kill those people, you did. Those gutter punks, those officers, all dead because you pushed me. They're blood is on your hands. How does that feel, hero?"
After finally saying all that he needed to say, Izuku stood up and walked out of the alley, feeling greatly refreshed. He saw a police officer still alive, but clearly injured as he was on the ground and crawling to where his gun had been blown away. Izuku covered his face in his flames again and walked to the officer. Just as he placed his hand on his gun, the emerald demon placed his foot on his hand. The cop winced in pain. "Evening, officer." he greeted coldly.
"Y-You! How could you do this!? I t-thought you changed! You can't do this!" his desperate words held no weight to someone pushed over the edge. "You could say I had a change of heart, and you can thank the pro in that alley. I suggest you call an ambulance, she's knocking on death's door. If she dies here, All Might would be so sad, wouldn't he?" the devil pressed his foot down even harder on the man's hand, causing it to bleed.
"Please, think about what you're doing. You're better than this! Remember those kids you saved?" The devil glared angrily as smoke began to rise under his foot. "Don't remind me of my greatest regret!" he growled. "But speaking of them, they're being trained by All Might, right? Excellent. Then Teleki will make the perfect motivational gift for them." The police officer stared in shock at the flaming green orbs that held no warmth.
"Tell me... Green Devil, are you really a child or a monster?" Izuku's face became vacant for a moment. "...I am what this imbalanced world molded me to be." The heat on the officers hand continued to rise, frightening the officer. His gun was also feeling the heat. "No wai-!"
BANG!*
Izuku lifted his foot to survey the damage, a red substance dripping from the bottom of his foot. Where the gun once was was a pile of ashes. Where the officer's hand once was was a pool of blood and bone sticking out the end of his forearm. Izuku turned away and hovered in the air before blasting off. "Tell Tsukauchi and the big man I said hello."
As Izuku flew off into the night, the events had begun to sink in. He nearly murdered a pro and killed three police officers and severely wounded one. He would certainly have All Might and the entire hero society against him. And the public certainly wouldn't agree with him now killing police. Let's not forget about the villains who might come to see him as more trouble than he's worth. 'Well damn. Looks like I'm gonna have members from both sides coming after me.' Although he knew that, he didn't feel discouraged or fearful. A small smile formed on his lips.
'Hated by everyone, huh? Hardly anything I'm not used to. Let's see how long I last.'
Elsewhere
"Spelndid, superb, absolutely stupendous! Well done, Izuku! You far exceeded my expectations!" A shadowed figure cheered as he watched the Green Devil flee the scene. "I thought you would tow the line after nearly killing your mother, but the things you said to her as she died. And that poor officer you spared before. Simply poetic! And the feeling you had when you 'spared' your dear mother? I know what it really was. You felt that it's too soon for her to embrace the sweet release of death. She has too much to face before she can be allowed to die. I agree completely!"
"However, as you know, this will make All Might desperate to find you. Assuming he's not too busy grooming that dog and that poor excuse for a successor. Fear not, I have faith that you will be able to handle him when the time comes. You know better than anyone that knowledge can be an even sharper blade than raw strength! I'll be watching you very carefully, and sending a few tests of my own to help you reach your peak." The villain grinned heinously to himself as a number of test tubes holding strangely malformed figures lit up behind him.
"Show us what you're made of. Make us proud."
The Next Day
Rei had a patch on her forehead where she was hurt and had just received a scolding from her nurse for reckless behavior that got her hurt. Because of that, she was confined to the hospital walls indefinitely, but she didn't care about that. She just wanted to see Zu again, but it was very unlikely she'd get the chance as far as she was concerned. She hated Teleki for that. The Green Devil was there, sure, but she was the one to initiate the fight.
While Rei was stewing, she was unaware of the young man watching her through her window from the opposite building. Izuku felt a pang of sadness in his heart. 'I'm sorry, but this is for your own good. If I truly care about you, then I'll stay away. Goodbye... Mom.'
Chapter 12
Inko's Dreamscape
Inko, or rather, Teleki, was standing in the middle of a ruined park. It was the same park she remembers taking Izumi and Izuku to up until they were eight. When she started bringing only one of them. But it wasn't the same park anymore. Everything was either melted or burned to ash, with smoke still rising. The destruction appeared to be recent.
"Mom..."
Teleki froze when she heard that voice. Looking across the playground, she saw her boy in his middle school uniform. He was in terrible condition. His uniform was burned and scuffed while he himself was bruised and bloodied, like he had just been assaulted. Tears were flowing down his cheeks as Inko ran toward him. "Izuku! Don't worry, it'll be okay! I'll protect you!" When she got close, he started backing away, the unease on his face increasing as she got closer. But, as usual, she ignored his feelings and kept running.
That earned her an up-close and personal view to see a hand burst through Izuku's chest from his back and hold his heart right in front of her. Hers and Izuku's eyes widened in abject horror, the latter vomiting an obscene amount of blood and being lifted off his feet. Inko looked behind Izuku to see a figure the exact same height as him clad in green fire. "Hello again, Teleki." he spoke in a distorted voice with the crackling of fire behind it. "You!"
Suddenly, the playground was engulfed in a forest of fire. The bloody hand holding Izuku's heart was set ablaze, and the dying boy gasped while smoke escaped his wounds and mouth. "Get off my son!" Teleki yelled while extending her hand out, but nothing happened. The Green Devil merely shook his head in disappointment. "How dense are you? Did you already forget I can neutralize telekinetic waves. You're powerless."Inko clenched her fists and tried swinging them, but was held back by green chains wrapping around her.
"You monster! You won't get away with this! For all the lives you've taken, I will-" "Arrhhhh..." Teleki's heroic rant was cut off by Izuku's dying groan which came out of his mouth in the form of green flames. "Spare me your heroic drivel nonsense. Without power, you're not even worth looking at. Don't you agree?" At that simple question, Inko froze. She looked behind the emerald demon and saw a truly horrifying sight. "Ah yes, them. They made good entertainment, but they broke far too easily."
Behind them all was Katsuki and Izumi lying dead on the ground, and Izuku would be joining them soon. Inko felt her stomach flip and her heart fall. She couldn't pull her eyes away from the bloody, lifeless bodies that were her pride and joy. Even Katsuki, who, despite being a nephew to her, was close enough to be considered part of the family.
"M-Mom..."
Inko's attention was pulled to Izuku, who was unrecognizable at this point. His uniform was entirely burnt away, layers of skin had burnt away and peeled off, his eyes were melted right out of his skull, his muscles, bones and tendons were on display and his heart was being held in near white-hot heat. Worst of all was what came next.
"Why didn't you save us?"
Teleki looked confused, before the landscape shifted to a burning graveyard. They were right next to a hauntingly familiar tombstone. The tombstone of Hisashi Midoriya, loving husband and father, and the Green Devil was holding her only son right above it. Tears streamed like waterfalls from the broken heroine's eyes, but they did absolutely nothing against the raging green flames.
"You weren't there when we needed you. How disappointing."
Those were Izuku's final words before the Green Devil crushed his heart and his body was reduced to ash on the grave. Teleki felt like dying herself, but no. The monster turned his back to her and walked away. "...you're a monster." she uttered. "For turning my back on the weak? Ruining futures? Who are you to judge? Hero?"
Reality
'Izuku...' Inko thought while still wandering the hall between life and death. Her horrifically damaged body was under the careful, vigilant eyes of central hospital's top doctors and All Might himself. The inflated bag of muscles was holding his unconscious wife's hand, praying for her to get better and cursing the monster that did this. The doctor's assured him that, despite being on the brink of death, she would recover. However, not the same as before. Teleki's back was a nightmare. Her agility will be greatly hindered moving forward. It's already a miracle she still has feeling below the waist.
Meanwhile, in a reserved meeting room
"A road to healing, you said. He may come quietly, you said. A better life for him, you said!" Endeavor slammed his palm on the table as he chastised Tsukauchi with his own naive words. The detective who called the meeting groaned into his hands, not having the energy to deal with number 2's tirade.
The meeting room was reserved for police and heroes with a single goal: Capture the Green Devil of Musutafu. They enlisted the help of heroes in the area such as Backdraft, Kamui Woods, Death Arms and Mt Lady, as well as more experienced higher-ups. From the top twenty, Ingenium. And from the ten, Mirko, Hawks, Endeavor, Best Jeanist and the best of the best himself, All Might. Who was late to the meeting because he went straight to his wife's room. Their orders were simple, patrol the streets the devil is most often sighted at or has been seen, and arrest him on sight. This meeting is about how to go about it.
"One of us tries to bring in that menace calmly, and what does he do? Hospitalizes Teleki!" Endeavor yelled. "With all due respect, Endeavor, that's why we're here. To discuss strategy about dealing with this guy." Endeavor scoffed and stormed off towards the exit. "Strategy for what? Some brat on a power trip!? I'll leave you with some of my sidekicks, they should do." Tsukauchi pinched the bridge of his nose as the Flame Hero left.
"Now that's what I call a team player." Mt Lady remarked. "He lasted longer than I was expecting." Hawks said. "How bout we get this started before I bounce, too." Mirko said while tapping her foot up and down and looking agitated. Tsukauchi sighed. 'Well, Endeavor and All Might are capable enough.' "All right, here's our target. Moori?"
A man with green skin and two short antennae on his forehead stepped up. This man's quirk was Memory. She can look into the memory of a person and convert it into viewable media for others to see. It needs to be transferred to a device to be seen by others and whether or not he can see anything is dependent on how much the mind he's looking into resists. On the screen at the end of the room was a short figure with his face and chest obstructed by green fire.
"Grrr... This rug rat." Death Arms growled. He had a little vendetta against the vigilante for rescuing those two kids when he was waiting for an opening to do it himself. "The Green Devil, at least that's what the public calls him. From what we've gathered, he's killed five villains and three officers, brutally injured Teleki and leaves behind a trail of half dead criminals in his wake. He's a child, likely twelve or thirteen with a green fire quirk not in our database."
Many at the table seemed to be caught off guard. "He's seriously that young?" "Isn't this a little extreme?" "Maybe it's just a delinquency phase." Tsukauchi shook his head. "You think he's someone to take lightly? Tell that to Teleki in the emergency room." The projector showed a list of the Green Devil's known abilities.
"His flames burn chillingly cold, invoking fear and unease in his opponents to throw them off. He can also turn up the temperature to a degree that can cremate people in an instant. He's shown flight capabilities, pyrokinesis, as well as next level combat abilities and adaptation. He learns from each battle and uses that experience to improve himself. In an alley, he fought two kids, one of them with a telekinetic quirk. A few weeks later, he develops a technique that renders him invincible to telekinetic waves, which is how he defeated Teleki. He was nearly killed by a villain with a blade quirk, and short after that he develops a more devastating blade of his own. Sharp and hot enough to cut through anything."
The heroes were starting to take this seriously. "His ability to learn and adapt may be his most dangerous weapon. We need to bring him in as soon as possible. That's why you're all here. Win or lose, as long as he's still alive out there, he'll continue to learn and grow. And the more time that passes, the more violent he seems to get. The worst case scenario we're trying to avoid is if he kills anyone in his way and has the strength to stand up to even our champions."
Best Jeanist spoke up. "To that end, you must have come up with a plan for us in case we run into this powerful child." Tsukauchi nodded. "You will all be patrolling in teams of two. We're creating conditions to give the devil extremely low chances of victory or escaping." Death Arms put his hand on the table. "Hold up, all of us, plus police and other heroes patrolling the streets is already enough. Now team ups? This is a kid we're talking about." Tsukauchi nodded to Moori, who turned the projection to a video format. It was from the people in the alley the Green Devil cremated a villain, and from Teleki herself.
The video was a brief, but enough to burn away any doubts the heroes had about this pint-sized threat. When backed against the wall, the emerald demon revealed his ruthless tenacity and will to survive. When provoked by Teleki, though it's unclear how, he burns hot enough to wipe away several pros. Most surprising, he was able to perfectly mimic Endeavor's Flashfire Fist. A child was able to do what a grown man had dedicated years of his life to mastering. It's actually a good thing Endeavor walked, otherwise he might've been so angry the room would be reduced to ash. Inferiority complex having egotist.
"That is what we are fighting. The reason we're all here today." All Might said as he finally joined the meeting. They all knew he was serious since he wasn't smiling. "Hey, something's been nagging at me." Hawks said while raising his hand. "So this kid has a super powerful quirk that, for all we know, can do anything. How is it we don't have it in our database?" "Good question, Hawks." Tsukauchi said. "He could just simply be a late bloomer. It's also possible that he and his ability were kept hidden by someone else."
"Someone able to hide a super powerful kid from the world for thirteen years? Who's good enough at hiding to pull that off?" Tsukauchi turned the topic back to their mission. "As I said, we're creating conditions so that the devil is disadvantaged. You'll all be patrolling in teams."
- Ingenium and Best Jeanist [A capture specialist and a speedster make a good combination]
- Mt Lady and Death Arms [Relying on their outrageous physical strength]
- Kamui Woods and Backdraft [Widespread capture range and the power to cool flames]
- Endeavor and Mirko [Mirko bounced on her own since she didn't wanna be stuck with sidekicks]
- All Might and Hawks [Unmatched speed and power]
"Looks like it's you and me, huh big guy?" Hawks' carefree demeanor put the smile back on All Might's face, even if it was smaller than his usual one. "I'm glad to have you by my side, Wing Hero."
Tsukauchi clapped his hands together. "All right, you've all been assigned your teams. Remember, if you encounter the devil, be quick and decisive. No dragging the fight out or dropping your guard. He has a knack for adapting."
"Understood." Kamui said next to Backdraft. "That demon's going straight to hell!" Death Arms proclaimed while punching his fist into his palm. "A kid demon." Mt Lady pointed out to him.
...
After the meeting, most of the heroes left to begin patrolling in their designated areas. Meanwhile, Tsukauchi and All Might stayed behind and talked. "So, how are the kids taking this?" Toshinori bristled at the question. "This hasn't done anything to deter Katsuki's determination. In fact, he's putting even more effort into training. Izumi is too, but she's... scared. She and her mother share the same quirk, and you saw what happened."
"Yeah... and the other one?" Toshinori looked confused for a moment, before remembering. "Yes, Melissa is actually more motivated to come to Japan with her support expertise. She's eager to outfit Katsuki and Izumi with her own impressive inventions." Tsukauchi nodded without looking at the Symbol of Peace. "Right, David Shield's daughter. History repeats itself, huh?" All Might debuted in America with David Shield as his go-to for equipment and costumes. Now he's picturing Izumi and Melissa as the next generation of that fond memory. So then, it seems he's made his decision about his successor. But there was something Tsukauchi was disturbed by.
'He didn't mention his missing son, but his quirkless niece who will move in next year. Toshinori, don't tell me...'
Their conversation was cut short by Hawks re-entering the room with that carefree smile of his. "Ready to do this, Number 1?" All Might's smile returned. "Don't start without me, Hawks." Tsukauchi saw them go off. "Even if you can't find the devil, gather any and all intel you can." Hawks threw a wave over his shoulder. "You got it boss man." The door closed.
5 seconds later
"We've got a problem, boss man." Tsukauchi nearly jumped out of his skin. "Dammit, Hawks! Our next case could be my death if you keep that up! And what problem? You haven't even left the building yet."
Hawks looked out the window to the city. "I think you know what I'm talking about. The big guy." Tsukauchi sighed. "Look, I've got nothing but respect for All Might, but in his current state of mind, he could be more trouble than help in this. I mean, he wasn't even smiling when he walked in. Most of the general public can't imagine what that looks like." Tsukauchi put some coffee on the pot while listening to the young pro.
"Yeah, after what happened to Teleki, he'll likely be less than patient enough for this situation." Hawks put his fist under his chin in thought. "'Late bloomer'. He had a quirkless son didn't he? Missing, allegedly kidnapped?" Tsukauchi nodded. Hawks asked him to pull up the video memory from Teleki's encounter with the devil. He studied the green flame user more carefully this time.
"Hmm, in the beginning, it looked like he was messing with Teleki, not taking her seriously. He seemed pretty talkative for a broody rebel. Though, that could just be disliking of heroes in general." The video continued until the end. "That's definitely not something to ignore. Whatever Teleki said or did, it made him fight like a different person. Something just snapped. Something inside of him."
Tsukauchi took a sip of his coffee. "Too bad Teleki doesn't remember more details. She was so focused on him, it's like tunnel vision." Hawks pulled down his golden shades. "This kid, you said he's not only strong but smart. He observes abilities, even mid-battle, and adapts to meet them, or copies them to get an edge. His fighting style could change at any point. He must have a library of notes, huh?" Tsukauchi glared down at his mug.
"Real quick, what was Teleki's ex-husband's quirk?" "Fire Breath, but nowhere near the level the Green Devil is on." "Kids often show more potential than their parents had, Izumi Yagi is an example of that. One last thing I'm curious about, his motivation. What's he trying to achieve? What pushed him to be the Green Devil?" Tsukauchi put down his mug. "Don't tell All Might." He beckoned for the wing hero to follow him.
He gave Hawks a file that was, until now, privy to his eyes only. Izuku Yagi, born quirkless. Missing within the same week the Green Devil appears. Parental quirks: Fire type and Telekinesis. Hawks speed read through the file. It was speculation with strong evidence to support it. He closed it and looked at Tsukauchi with an uncharacteristically serious expression. "All Might and Teleki can't see this, not until we have solid proof."
The two of them left the building. "Izuku's spent years of his life studying all kinds of heroes, villains and their quirks and fighting styles. He has encyclopedic knowledge on the subject, and pairing that with bitterness and a power we know little about, it could be seriously bad." Tsukauchi nodded. "We'll stop him from falling even deeper. No matter what he's done, he's still a hurting child."
Elsewhere
"Ah, isn't this a double-edged sword? You've become so strong, that now the heroes are mobilizing. Though perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. I wonder how the adoring public will react as their champions fail to bring down a lone vigilante, and in turn giving burgeoning villains inspiration to act. Hmhmhm, All Might being in the dark about Izuku's fate works in my favor. He'll swing mercilessly at his own son, feeding the fire that propels him. This will make quite a delectable show."
The shadowed figure grinned hideously. "You heroes have unknowingly doomed yourselves, and will only sharpen the blade that will end up in my grasp."