{I wont be home till later, i met up with some friends from school. Were going to hang out.}
{Oh! Have fun then Izuku! Stay safe and message me when your heading home. Dont be out past 11}
Alastor tucked the phone into his back pocket with a fond smile as he strode forward past decrpit buildings spraypainted with gang logos and old piss. He did not like lying to the women, Mother? It was still difficult to decide. She cared for him like he was her own son. And in a way he was.
But he was definity not hanging out with friends. Alastor was pretty sure the kid did not have a single friend. As annoying as that was, Friends were oppertunities-
Alastor phiscally stopped in his tracks in the middle of the side walk. His eyes were narrowed and his grin wide, it would be unsettleing to anybody who saw it. A boy dressed nicely with a too wide grin with narrowed eyes. But it wasent what it seemed. Alastor was attempting to mentally rewire how he thought. Emily. nerver thought of her friends as tools to be used. They were people to be trusted and protected.
'If this keeps up i might start repenting for all the murder i did.'
Alastor chuckled to himself as he begune to walk again until he realized that he was not completly joking with the remark.
"Hey bud. You got a light?"
A haggered old man was sitting in the mouth of a allyway next to Alastor who turned and grinned at the man.
"My dear friend it just so happens that i do! How can i be of assistance?"
Alastor grinned internally, this was the perfect specimine. He had bought the lighter shortly after leaveing the hotel clerk Charlie.
"I just need a light, and no pity."
The old man looked up and Alastor finally got a good look at him. The man had no eyes but wings that sprouted from where his eyes should be. His mouth was jagged with no lips and jwas clenched around a unlit cigerette. He was hunched over but Alastor could tell that the man had a massive frame, even while covered by scraps and boxes.
"Well you will be happy to know that you wont find any pity from me! I used it all up on myself!"
Alastor joked while handing the man the lighter. The man scoffed but his clenched jaws looked a little like a smile.
"Thanks… You got any more jokes?"
The man asked and Alastor chuckled internally, the pieces were falling in place.
"Other then the one i call my life… Plenty!"
The man smiled at that while handing back the lighter, he drew a deep breath in burning about half of the cig in one breath and slowly exhaleing. The mass of scraps and boxes around the mans back seemed to hum then it spun.
*Clunk*
The spin caused some of the blabkets to fall but the man only sighed and seemed to get lost in some past when Alastor spoke up.
"So friend, Whats your story? I hope your not a famous smoker i havent heard about because it would be a shame."
The man grumbled but then looked up at the boy. Smiling kindly with a playful light in his eyes, curly green and black hair with specks of red. And eyes… Eyes that hungered for… something. The man sighed and pulled out another cig from the deepness of his blankets the cig the size of a tooth pick in his massive hands.
"Nothing special i guess… just a man with a dead dream of making it big…"
The man said and Alastor nodded listening quietly as the man continued not seeming to realize he was.
"I wanted to make it big in boxing… quirk boxing… i was going to show the world that mutants were something great and not something to be feared…"
Alastor walked over and sat across from the man in the ally, his back against the birck wall and one leg up so he could rest his arm while listening quietly.
"I was doing good to ya know? I was on track to who i wanted to be… But then… I was out with some friends…"
Alastor had an idea of what was going on so he quietly took out the lighter and begun flicking it on an off.
The wings for eyes the man had seemed to track the flame as he continued almost in a trance as his voice lowered in regret and shame.
"Smoking is illegal for quirk boxers… did you know that? I didn't my family, my girlfriend… They were also so dissapointed… and they left. It felt like i sold my soul to a devil…"
"Why is that?"
alastor asked quietly and the mans face flicked to his and they starred each other down.
"I sold my futre for a few short minutes of bliss, and now the bliss is all i care for…"
The man seemed to stare at the remaining cig in his hand in disgust and yearning to take just one more puff.
Alastor stood and brushed his pants off but turned to the man.
"What if i had a solution?"
Alastor tossed the bait and watched as the man who was easily as tall as him while sitting down turned to him.
"What do you mean?"
His voice was dead, like a old tree wondering why you still expected it to grow fruit.
"I mean, what if i could help you never smoke again? I could help you loose whatever yearning you have for temtation. You could be the symbol you wanted to be."
Alastor spreads his arms out wide his grin matching it as he looked into the face of a man who had been broken by the world. With no pity, no remorse. Just a offer.
"…I could box again?"
The question was almost silent as alastor leaned forward his eyes glowing red as he held out a hand.
"You could box again."
The man looked at the boys hand which was crackling with a green glow and looked into those eyes. He saw strength, he saw hope… but he was uncertian.
"Why sell your soul to the devil when you can sell it to a friend?"
Alastor watched as the fish took the bait mentally and smiled.
The man looked at the hand for a long moment, then he realized he had made his decision. This boy had given him hope, something he thought he lost long ago.
'I already sould my soul once, Why not again? And to a friend?'
The man took the boys hand his hand dwarfing the boy's hand easily.
"My names Tom."
"Its nice to meet you Tom, My names A-Izuku."
Anybody watching the ally would have seen a explosion of green light and strange symbols. But nobody did, that deal would not be known by any other soul other then of the two who made it.
One man, a man striving for equality in the body of a monster, the other a man in the body of a boy striving twoards peace for others. And for themselves.
As Alastor walked home he laughed in ectasy at the pulseing power within his veins.The first deal was almost as powerful as all the others together. Tom was a man to be respected, he would also be a good friend. His soul was strong enough to put him on the level of Husker alone. The rest of that night he had explored the run down areas and made deals with peoiple who just needed a second chance. Just like Charlie's dream of redeeming sinners Alastor was giving them a chance to lead the lives they had only wished for. His deals would force them to never smoke, drink, steal or any. number of things.
Men who wanted to be better for their own children that they had run away from, Women who wanted to lead lives with familys who never wanted to get back into the prostituition buinsness again. Alastro was riding a high at the power that was courseing through his veins.
(Currently on the power level of husker and nifty teaming up on one person.)
…but… he hesitated as he found himelf at the beach again. The smell wafting through the air.
He felt… something, it was apart from the high of haveing power. It was… satasfaction.
Like when he had helped Nifty as a young orphan. Or when he comforted Charlie during the nights she would wake screaming from nightmares. He had genuinly liked helping those people.
The realization made his embarresed for some reason.
'I am a overlord of hell, a sinner so long gone that even all of heaven saw fit to kill me-'
Not all of heaven. One beuatiful dove who saw him for a man he could be.
"I guess you might have been onto something Emily…"
He spoke to the trash that he thought he once belonged to, and he realized.
'Emily loved the beach'
A new goal set into his mind he spun on his heel and strode away, humming a tune and bringing smiles to any faces he passed.
——
Aparently the kid had been given a week off of school because of the villian incident when he had saved the blonde hair chiwawa. It was the fourth day of that and it found Alastor at the beach in gym shorts and a terrible tshirt that simply said "Shirt"
'Even this kids humor was as bland as him'
Alastor mentaly snarked as he struggled to lift a microwave off a pile of trash.
After a minute of his arms shakeing and sweat pouring off of his face he stumbled back and glared.
"I am Man! You are machine! I am your master and you shall respect me! None of these fancy new versions of yourself with ever stop you from being a pointless tackle box!"
Alastor raged at the Microwave that seemed to mock him with no reaction as he had only moved it a few inches. He was also angry at his own body as he slumped against a fridge where he had placed some water and his stuff. Glareing at his frail hands he noticed something.
His fingers were starting to angle slighty, the points begining to harpen as his fingers felt harder then before. The back of his hands and forearms were even more hairy with black and red hairs beiging to be noticable without haveing to look.
'This body seemes to be slowly changeing into a form similer to my sinner form.'
With a sudden start he threw his hands into his hair and begun seaching for something with dread. After a moment he found it, two bumps on his head where his horns used to be.
'God damn it… another reminder of my embaressing death.'
He may hate the form but he did not deny it proved useful in intimidation and a extra weapon in a pinch.
His last few days of freedom were filled with a simple scedual.
Mornings, go to the beach and clean it. Midday go home and continue to ensure the boys mother did not suspect anything.
Alastor himself did not know why he called midday that as he enjoyed the care the boys mother had for him and he was scared to admit it.
The afternoons were filled with him traveling the city finding lost souls to claim and help. Not everybody wanted to change and more often then mnot the conversation would lead into Alastor ducking behind garbage disposals while men, bullets or women chased him looking for his wallet.
He spent his time attempting to build more muscle, Adam had proved that as powerful as he was he could still be injured by simple things. A knife was as deadly to him as a bullet. And he was steadily cleaning the beach and had a small area of sand cleared out that reached the ocean. The physical effort gave Alastors mind time to scheme and plan.
'My powers had come from killing Overlords and claiming the souls they owned, Husker was a powerful orverlord with thousands of sinners addicted to gambling and booze and girls. My radio show was the peak of entertainment other then the screams. How can i replictae this?'
The thoughts and ideas swirlled in his head warring with his natural instinct to simply kill anybody who wanted to get in his way. Then something caught his eye, a rusted piece of metal that resembled a microphone stand. It looked old, as it it had been here for decades but it caught Alastors eye. Making his way over he wound a cord wrapped around it as well, one he was familier with in his radio station in hell. Yanking it out of the trash pile he was dissapointed to find the microphone that he expected to be there missing. Until he took a moment to see the cord leading into the trash heap. Planting his feet he pulled with a mighty tug and a shiny piece of metal shot out. It nearly smaked him in the head but he was more focosed on the collapseing file of trash.
"Well shit."
Alastor cursed as he instinctivly tried to melt into his shadow and dissapere, then realizing he he was actually doing just that he felt no fear at the collapseing ca heading straight for his face. He even waited a second longer then he should to grin at the impending doom before appearing in the shadow of a tractor nearby.
"Well well, seems my efforts have not been for nothing."
Alastor mused to himself as he inspected his prize. It was a old fasioned mic with little rust on it and seemed to be in good shape. The stand wasent breaking as he placed the mic back onto it so he counted it as a win.
{Hey mom? I got a question, if there was a group of people doing bad things and they had a leader. How would you change them from being bad to good?}
He sent the message on a whim wondering what the kind mother would do in that situation as he went back to hoisting the microwave away. After a few minutes of cleaning he got a reply back and he wiped hif forhead with his arm to get rid of some sweat. The tickle of the soft hair on his hands amused him but he focosed on his phone.
{Dear? Are you ok? Your not in any darnger right? Do you need help?}
The worry warmed Alastors body but it also amused him.
'Her son was was so meek that she had to worry about everything.'
He imagned a senario where the boy had come home bruised from playing in the woods and the mother imeediatly believeing that her son had gotten into a fight-
Another memory slammed into his head.
"Kachann!? Are you alright? Do you need some help?"
The boy as a child reaching his hand out to the blonde dog who was kneeling in a strem. He seemed to have fallen but when he saw that hand his red eyes narrowed and he stood up slapping the boys hand away.
"I dont need your help Deku! Get lost! Your only useful to play the villian in heros and villian!"
The memory receeded and Alastor shook his head.
'How did this kid still see the dog as his friend? His opptimisim is astounding.'
{Yeah mom, i am fine. its just a theoretical question. They had a hero quiz at the libarry.}
{Well ok baby, i think i would try to switch the leader out. if the source of the problems is the leadership then you just need a better leader. and if the leader is bad and the workers are good, giving the workers a better leader may help them work better. But if both the workers and the leader are the problem i think the police should handle them. If the leader is good and the workers bad then you just need to convince the leader he need new workers. Does that help?}
{Immensily mom, thanks. See you for dinner.}
Alastor hummed as he processed the information, the child had been meek and cowardly. But he had not been dumb, he had memorized every hero, side kick and hero law there was to know. He learned English and even a little spanish just so he could understand other heros better. That also came with memorizing their opponets, the villians. The boys knoladge was a well spring of oppertunities. The boys mom was also right, who knew that a boys hero worship and a mothers calm consideration could give a former Overlord exactly what he needed?
Power, a strange thing. the capability to lift the weakest to the strongest.
And it has the power to bring the strongest to its knees.
—————————