All the good memories.. all the bad... Honestly, none of that mattered anymore. You sealed your emotions away tightly, enforcing that numbness you usually despised.
So, this is it, then.
This was really happening.
Something about it felt so fake. Maybe it was better that way.
As the heroes showed up in mass, you dragged Garaki to the nearest trash pile and shoved him under a truck. The only point in bringing him here anyway was so your dad would have no one to teleport to, reducing his chances of escape. The downside was that the early heroes now knew the doctor was in your possession, including Hawks.
You left Garaki to do whatever, you returned to that gravel patch in front of your father, who was scoping out his opponents, gaging their power levels. When you joined him again, however, the thunderous steps of a woman marching over a hill of junk directly across shook you to your core.
The flickering light barely made-out her shape. But she was massive. Taller than you, and much more built! Her hair was a long, shimmering gold, which matched well with her red, white, and blue hero outfit.
...Oh my gosh... Not even you had predicted this... The Number One hero from America..?
You had no words. Only fear.
"All For One!" Star And Stripe spun the villain around with her booming voice. "The self proclaimed Demon Lord of Japan, you have been surrounded on all sides. Do you yield, or will we have to take you in by force?" The heroes gave your father a moment to think.
"..." He grinned. "My.. Star And Stripe, what a pleasant surprise~ Here to follow the great All Might to the very end I see; so eager to lose your life trying to avenge your mentor as he did for his."
The woman grit her teeth and snarled. "Do you or do you not yield?!"
"Well since you are speaking like such a big girl now," He held his hands limply out on either side of him. "I give up." You almost forgot how much your dad enjoyed confrontation.
"Stop messing around! Take the question seriously!!"
"Then why don't you take me seriously for a change?" He gestured around the piles of trash. "After all, you've not only made a terrible mistake in believing my daughter is really on your side, but I also happen to have a civilian as my hostage right in front of me~ Though some of you are hiding, I know there are only thirteen measly heroes here. And thirteen isn't nearly enough to take my daughter and I on and hope to win."
"Daaad! I said I'm your enemy now!!"
He rose his hand in your direction. "Hush now, (Y/n). Don't you know how rude it is to interrupt your parents?" Your jaw dropped. No way these guys would really take him seriously! ..The confidence in his bluff alone had you on edge. Your eyes darted around from hero to hero, paranoid that some might actually believe him. "Now..." The villain grinned, his arm morphing into some terrible monstrosity of a cannon. A canon pointed directly at Machia. "..Let my daughter and I slip away into the night, or live knowing you are responsible for this innocent civilian's death." Everyone froze, whispering to each other harshly.
"Is that thing even human??"
"I don't know. Looks like some kind of bear?"
"What if he's just bluffing and it's actually an animal?"
You ground your teeth together. Had Hawks forgotten the little detail about Machia, or was something about his presence lost in translation to the others? Also, you cursed at yourself for being so stupid. Of course your dad would use Machia as a hostage when cornered!
Their lack of care for the animorph led to the rapid glow at the tip of AFO's arm. No one was backing down. Instead, they prepared to fight. No! This was insane!
Machia watched AFO aim on him in helpless horror. "..M...master..?"
"NO, DAD, NO!" You jumped in and wrapped your arms around your father, tugging him back. He was firm as a mountain, though, and you were too afraid to use various quirks on him for various reasons. You managed with all your strength to shift his aim a little, forcing him to grab you with his other arm.
BVVVVVVVVV
A massive laser was shot Machia's way and you screamed. The entire pile of rubble where Star And Stripe stood was completely destroyed! Thick flakes of dust and rubble fell to the ground like snowflakes, a terrible, earthy smell thrown into the air as well. Everyone coughed up a storm. Even your dad fanned the air around his face with his hand once it had returned to normal. Still wrapping his arm other around your neck. Sorrow slowly trickled through the pain as you looked on for any signs of life from Machia.
There was coughing from the right. Your eyes darted that way, delighted to see Edgeshot had swooped in and grabbed Machia last second, saving the civilian's life!
The land around you was suddenly engulfed in flames! Like the sky itself was raining Hell upon you! An invisible barrier shielded the two of you somehow from its might. Your father used a combination of quirks to keep the heroes at a distance, especially the ones who could deal the most damage. Endeavor's fire was both a curse and a blessing. It trapped you, but it also shielded you from all close range fighters save for Endeavor. Even Eraserhead was unable to see the two of you, and therefore was rendered useless. It was a little hectic at first. The hostage situation had thrown off their coordination quite a bit, but as time went on, it became clearer and clearer that this crew of thirteen had a plan. And a good one at that. This stage appeared to be for no reason than to gage AFO's threat level as well as tire him out. Recognizing this right away, your dad resulted to using only three simple quirks, which were the kind everyone already knew he had. Like the basic dark, jagged metal one, forcefields, and object manipulation.
You, in the center of all this as well, took your shot at fighting too by sprouting four wings and letting all your feathers go wild on the man! He just tightened his chokehold, allowing his suit jacket to get torn up, his skin to get scratched up, only caring to deflect the larger, more lethal feathers. In short, your old man was fighting multiple battles at once and still fairing well. His biggest threat, America's finest, had yet to join in the fray.
The firewall wasn't much of one. AFO took advantage of their insecurity about his abilities to take a few out through the fire barrier. Heroes who were but annoyances in his eyes. They knew not he could simply see through the fire, and therefore were doomed pretty early on. You could only really tell what was going on out there by all the gasps and frantic warnings as word spread that Best Jeanist, Midnight, and Edgeshot were down. Whether they were dead or not didn't matter. Hopefully not. But regardless, you felt terrible for not being able to help out more!! Instead, you were just being held here like some minor inconvenience! Come on!! Where is that fire?! Where is that rage?! Who cares about going to jail when you have people to save!!
"YYYAHHHHH!" Your whole body caught alight, stinging blue flames quick to burn away the non fireproof jacket of yours. The rest of your outfit had come prepared. Your dad was caught off guard and for it burnt all up and down his left side. He released you at once to put out the flame before they could eat up all his clothes and skin. You charged him again, this time with a few kicks and punches. Putting out the fire AND fighting off heroes afar, the man STILL managed to dodge or block your attacks. It was almost unreal at this point! You never saw him train, so how did he get so good!?
After he had put out the last of the fire on his clothes, your father clicked his tongue disapprovingly, glaring at you as if you were merely a disobedient child. "Don't make this any harder on me than it needs to be, got it??" He pointed at you, to which you growled at him for. Was this guy so deep in denial that he seriously thought you hadn't defected completely?! You already told him you were his enemy from now on! Let's just say, you did not heed his warning. If the goal was to overwhelm and trap him, then that's what you were going to assist with. By being the one to fight him up close, you were taking more and more of his attention away from the heroes. Was this exactly what they wanted in order to weaken and expose you too? Yeah. But by this point, you didn't care about all that.
As your dad was finally beginning to show some wear, the fire all around decreased. A massive, obsidian sword spun through the air toward your father. He held his hand out, stopping the weapon in place with the force. While his attention was on that for half a second, Ryukyu pounced from behind. As she stole his attention for half a second, the two wrestling hand to hand since Eraser's quirk was now in effect, Gang Orca arrived in time to tackle your dad. Both fell to the ground. You jumped back, wide eyed and surprised it was over just like that.
That was, until.. several strips of dark metal jabbed through Orca's back. Yep, turns out he purposefully let the hero tackle him like that just so he could use Orca's body as a shield from Aizawa's quirk. How terrifyingly clever. Yoroi Musha charged the rising villain like a tank. Ryukyu and he armor clad hero fought two to one against your dad while you took this moment to drag Orca off of the battle field.
Hawks landed in front of you and grabbed the fallen hero. "I got him! Now go back!" He barked an order at you. It was scary because first of all, that was so unlike him. Second of all, you knew exactly why. But.. at least you knew someone was taking care of the injured.
You tested and sure enough, your quirks were active. Dang, it almost seemed like an unfair fight running up to the villain who was already surrounded and wearing down. You knew it was more than fair, though. Quirks or no quirks, this was a dangerous man! And.. oh boy. Thanks to his quirks always being at his side, you had never seen your dad in a state such as this.
The more he was forced to fight with his bare fists, the more blood he spilled, it seemed to awaken some primal mode within him. His eyes were larger, fuller, hollow and emotionless, terrifyingly alert and focused on the task ahead of him. There was no talking, no joking, no time to be spent wasted. No, he was brought back to the days of his youth; back to when he had to fight for his life out on the lawless streets, when he was constantly being hunted down... Seeing this side of him was honestly more terrifying than any century baked scheme the man could conjure. His eyes bore directly through his opponents. He didn't even see people as pawns or toys anymore. Only obstacles that needed to be put to rest.
By the time you reached him, your dad had just punched a hole through Ryukyu's hand and tore it back out. He then grabbed Musha by the beard and threw him into the dragon lady. The two fell back just in time for you to go all out. You lined each feather of yours with the effects of Decay and shot them after him, specifically targeting his hands and arms. We're talking hundreds of feathers too! All of which were-- burnt up in his firewall... Your knees shook, having forgotten your dad even had a fire quirk of his own. Only a few of your feathers managed to poke him. And though their taps felt like bullets, they really weren't much compared to what your dad had survived only a year before.
You growled and deactivated the wings, then jumped right back into hand-to-hand combat. Your only upside was in being more agile and possessing more quirks. Other than that, you were outmatched by your father in every single way. And boy, when he was like this, AFO was not a force to to be reckoned with! His savagery and remorseless attacks were on-par with your Punching Bag persona. Except he wasn't even faking it! This was all real!
-------------------------
----------
Back in your past life, your dad wasn't always there. But when he was, it mattered more to you than anything in the whole world.
You didn't know what you did wrong. It could have been nothing at all. All you remembered about that late evening was that you were being dragged around by your mother with a firm grasp on your hair. You were wailing and crying, just a kid, defensively covering face with your hands, legs curling in close. The tile floor in the kitchen was cold and hard, a pain to be dragged around on. The only thing your mind could process was the fear of what your mother would do to you next.
It was around then that your father arrived home from work. The moment he heard your cries and saw what was going on, he charged in there and tore the two of you apart. Your parents started screaming at each other, and I mean screaming! You crawled as far away from them as possible and curled into a little ball in the corner. Your father was appalled, brought to tears by the sight of your shaking, crying, rocking little body. In their fight he lifted his hand to the woman.. but he held it. He hesitated, which led to him dropping his hand. Still argued though. But he never. Not once did he hit his wife.
Even as he watched you being treated the same way he was as a kid.
----------
You were lying on the floor, moaning and whining as the pain in your bladder got so bad, you thought you might burst any second. " "You're overreacting! Go to the bathroom by yourself!" " Your mother would reply with every time you asked for her help. But your leg was broken. It was dangerously purple and swollen. Every minor movement hurt like your bone was cracking all over again!
"Daddy..." You whined to your passing father. "Can you...help me go potty?" Your father stopped, crouched lower to your level and reached out his arms.
"Sure thing.." He spoke softly. You managed a broken smile as the man scooped you up gently and carried you to the bathroom.
He wasn't perfect, but...
----------
-------------------------
Grinding your teeth together, "Pride yourself for being my father all you want!!" You swooped down to attempt and fail a leg sweep. He simply kicked your leg aside. You recovered with a move that looked a lot like break-dancing, then sprinted around the man. "But you're not the dad I love! You're not my REAL dad!!" Your hands caught on fire. A bright blue flame ready to tackle AFO's back. He turned quickly, his hands catching both of your flaming ones. The fire grew, charring his skin! Your death glare locked gazes with his soulless, primordial stare. "YOU'RE NOT MY REAL DAD! MY REAL DAD WOULD NEVER HURT MY MA! MY REAL DAD WOULDN'T HURT ANYONE!!! I SHOULD HAVE NEVER MADE THAT WISH!!!" Your dad blinked only once, a minor fraction of his soul returning to him as he pondered what this meant. It was only a moment later, however, that he crushed your hands in his own, forcing you to pull away.
You were starting to get backed into a corner by your old man, worrying that this might just be the end of your assist. That's when Endeavor jumped in to clean things up. Problem was he seemed more interested in taking you down than your father. Endeavor, though technically fighting both of you with his flames, focused most of his attacks onto you. You resulted to hiding in the hero's own piles of fire and sneak attacking him in his own flames just to stand a chance at beating him! AFO, realizing his daughter was getting chased around by a hero here, readjusted his priorities to protecting you instead. He charged Endeavor from behind, surviving the flames, preparing a punch that would surely deal damage! You jumped, grabbed Endeavor's arm, and swung around him to kick your father in the skull. The man reeled back from the impact and stumbled into a pile of flame. He had no regeneration like you did. He was getting eaten alive! Yet his body was somehow so tough, his mind so distanced from the pain, he narrowly cared. He was gulping for air, though, as he swayed out of the worst of the flames. You continued to duck and dodge Endeavor's attacks, which only worsened when he noticed you were starting to purposefully draw the hero's attention away from your father. As your dad watched, life returned to his soul. You both seemed to agree simultaneously that Endeavor needed to go down.
You fought Endeavor mostly out of self defense, though now you allowed your father to get involved. Match this with the occasional Decay tap breaking it's way through Endeavor's flesh, and it wasn't long before the hero was overwhelmed and on his knees. He had only weakened himself by surrounding himself with so many flames so no one could rush in and help.
Well, there was one way the heroes could get involved at least.
A weird, echoey sound barreled toward you, knocking back flames and tearing apart the junk yard. "SE-SE-SE-SETTLE DOOOWWN!!!" Mic's voice blew everything out of sorts! Every pile of trash in the way, every object, every person too, were thrown half a mile into the air, flying out of the scrapyard.
You didn't have enough feathers to fly. Your back slapped harshly against water. You sank quickly into a small pond, trash big and small following in after. You landed on the lake floor, trapped in a pool of shallow, murky water. So cold. So wet. Already, your limbs were cramping up, stinging though they'd just been cut off.
An iron rod shot through your chest like an arrow, pinning you to the lake floor. Blood filled your lungs faster than the lake water could. A large metal box fell on your leg and a massive rock slammed your head into the mud. Didn't take even a full second to recognize your position. That you were trapped in cold, dark water all over again!! You uselessly coughed and squirmed. Screamed and kicked the one leg that could move.
You forgot the battle going on, you forgot everything! All that stilled in your mind was the nauseating feeling of dirty water and blood filling your lungs. The crippling cold, wet cage all around. Harsh metal pining you down. It could have been minutes, seconds, or hours! Your mind wasn't keeping track!
Heavy footsteps trudged through the mud. Big hands lifted the metal box off of your leg, then the rock on your forehead, and finally tore the pole out of your chest. Your fingers dug into this person's legs. You climbed up them like a skittish animal narrowly escaping death. The moment you broke through the water, you started into a coughing fit. You clung to the person, absorbing their warmth by wrapping your arms and legs around them. You coughed blood onto their shoulder, your closing wound bleeding its last onto their shirt as well. You knew who this was.
Your father shielded the both of you from the remaining, smaller pieces of shrapnel and trash that fell. Even with his back to it, he was able to use object manipulation to change their course. Your coughing turned to labored breathing, broken up by the occasional small sob or whimper.
He was covered in burns, half of his hair singed, whole body drenched now in water. It was a miracle his clothes were still in tact, though they were now terribly burnt, torn, and bloodied. His suit jacket was completely gone. Despite the shape he was in, your old man rubbed your back, first ensuring that you were alright. "Shh.. shh.. you're okay... I'm here..." He whispered softly. You tightened your hug around his neck, face resting on his shoulder.
Shivering still, you wondered how you could have possibly made it at all in this life without him around. "...Stop it.."
"Hm?"
With a shaky voice, "Stop saving me."
After a pause, your dad brushed his charred black hand through your hair. "Now why would I do that?" You bit your lip and hid your face in his shoulder again... Why did he have to use love against you like this? How? Why?? Why did he weaponize love?.. And why was it working?
You opened your eyes just in time to spot Hawks soaring your way, several feathers already deployed. You threw a flame out at him, which was outdone by your dad's fire wall pulling up again. The fire fizzled quickly, but it detoured the young hero's strike. Endeavor appeared with a few attacks of his own, but it wasn't hard for your father to simply throw water up at him to counter. You slid down into the waist deep pond but stuck closely by your dad's side. The heroes weren't hiding it anymore that you were their enemy as well, which was most concerning of all.
Majestic flew by with Fatgum at his side. The big, blobby hero dropped into the water directly in front of AFO. The waves from his landing knocked you off your feet. You grappled onto your dad to avoid being washed away. He stood firm as always, fighting off the heroes as they made attempt after attempt to separate the bear from his cub. Fatgum stood in as a good defense to the other heroes. He'd throw himself in front of your father's attacks, absorbing the brunt of their blows. Heroes like Endeavor, Hawks, and Majestic fought like a swarm of angry magpies. They chipped away little by little at your father's defenses. You stood there mostly just cowering, only striking out whenever the attack was directed at you. Your heart and mind were torn in two. You could hardly even make a decision like this!
Suddenly, your dad caught one of the little birds. Its wings flapped so violently that the waters beneath were thrown in all directions. So viciously, Hawks kicked, clawed, and flapped like a helpless little animal as your father slowly crushed his neck. AFO smirked, grabbing the teen's head with his other hand. Your eyes widened. Wait, no--!
You were too slow to react, so another party had to step in for you.
His body shot over the water the speed of a bullet, water thrown high into the air after him. A whistling, thunderous sound plowed into your father. It barely passed overhead, but two loops of a rope loosened, catching your dad perfectly both under the arms and around the throat. AFO became the catapult that whipped the figure right back around into his back. Aizawa slammed his feet into the villain. Even with his reinforced body, that attack broke ribs! All For One coughed up blood, though he wasn't given time to gasp. Your teacher standing at an angle tugged on his scarf, choking the villain and threatening even more pain. You stared in horror. Why did your father's takedown have to be so brutal to watch?
Though his pants hid it, Aizawa's legs were terribly sore and bruised. He was hoping he wouldn't have to resort to using One For All. That he could just rely on his own quirk and acquired skills instead.
All For One's struggling was mostly instinctual. It wasn't so much Aizawa's hold on him that made him release Hawks as it was the idea he brought. AFO had a very distant look of amazement as he let the young hero go. He stood frozen there for a moment, struggling to breathe.
"...Yoichi..?" Alas, he breathed.
You froze.
Aizawa froze.
The other heroes stood or hovered around confused.
...well s###.
Streams of tears joined the stream of blood dripping down his chin. The old villain smiled, so big and pure. "...I thought you were gone for good, dear brother..." He then grabbed Aizawa's ankle and crushed it. The hero yelped and held the wraps with only one hand so that his other could unsheath his knife. He stabbed down at your dad's head, but the villain simply blocked it with his hand. The blade tore through the hand's flesh, blood quick to drip into his silver hair.. but the villain couldn't care less. "You have no idea how relieved I am to see your quirk has survived!" The stabbed hand curled around the blade, tearing it from the hero and tossing it into the lake beside you. You bent down to pick it up as the villain reached back with his bloody hand to grab Aizawa by the long hair, yanking him forward quickly. He gasped in delight once more. "And is that Chloe's quirk trapped in there as well??!" His head then turned to you. Aizawa was squirming, debating whether or not now was the best time to use should OFA again and risk hurting himself further. "(Y/n), I thought you said you lost her quirk."
You shrugged stupidly. "Guess ya found it?"
The man frowned sadly. "Hmm." But then he smiled again as he turned his head to the hero, who was presently attempting to bite his way out of this situation. Careful, Dad, he might have rabies. "No matter that, I suppose~ At the very least, I now know I am only one quirk snatch away from a full family reunion~" He activated his quirk on Aizawa, then frowned. "You've passed it on already, haven't you... Oh, (Y/n)~? Remember your old buddy, Tenko~?" Watching your reaction was all he needed. "I knew it. That boy has it now!.. Oh, (Y/n), sometimes I just don't understand your rebellious ways.. Why didn't you tell me~? We could have retrieved it together."
Something was off. Why weren't the heroes jumping in to save Aizawa? Where were they? Where was--?
Your eyes snatched a glance of Star And Stripe crouching by the pond. She touched her hands to its waters, murmuring something quietly.
You sprung out of the pond. "Dad! DAD! Get out!!"
A bright purple started under the woman's fingertips and spread throughout the pond. By the time it reached you two, your dad had only just started to hover out and you were already falling back into it.
Tssssss!
"AGHH!" Your dad's feet were dissolved right off, the water having turned to pure acid. Thank goodness for Aizawa's sake that his reflexes ensured he hold the man tightly rather than drop him. Slung over the villain's shoulder, Aizawa wasn't exactly squirming to break free either. "Ghh.." The villain groaned, the pain excruciating. "Good thing I waited until I really needed it." One hand released the Aizawa carryon. Trembling, the hand touched his own chin as a horn simultaneously formed on the right side of his forehead.
...Remember that moment in a videogame when you nearly have the big boss beat, but then out of nowhere his health bar completely resets?
Yeah... That's basically what happened here.
All those burns, gashes, broken bones and more were all healed in an instant. His only downside being some of that reversing energy went into Aizawa as well, healing some of his wounds.
Good for them. For you, though.. You plopped right back in and started splashing around in the acidic sludge. Couldn't even describe the pain if you tried! SOMEHOW your limbs were able to regenerate fast enough to remain as bone at the very least, barely holding together. Since your undergarments were blessed by the angels of science, a sports bra and shorts remained in tact as well.
"F###ING S### HELL ##### #### ######!!!" You basically just listed off all the swears you knew, including English ones, while you reached out for someone to save you. That someone happened to be Hawks, who hauled you out of the stinging human soup. Strong strokes of his wings shot him directly up into the sky with you. What you at first assumed to be a rescue turned a little scary as the hero showed no signs of returning you to the ground. As the flesh on your limbs grew back anew, your eyes watched your father closely. Now. Only now that you were out of the picture did Star And Stripe join the battle, starting by rescuing Aizawa quickly and returning him to land. It became harder and harder to watch what the human dots were doing as they shrunk more and more. Clouds obscured your view of the fight. Pretty soon, even the air was thinning out. "Hey-hey, Hawks! Wh-where are you taking me?!"
The teen stopped suddenly, over a mile above the clouds. For a moment, neither gravity nor space had you. The young hero provided a mocking grin. "All your feathers burnt up, right?"
"Uhhhh, yeah?"
He dropped you.
You scowled, gravity starting to take hold of you again. "Son of a bi-AAAA!!" You fell. Storm clouds gathered below, thundering and roaring, but there was no way clouds could catch you! All you could do was scream, activate Fierce Wings, and uselessly attempt to fly again. The most you could do was slow your descent just a little! You were still screaming for your life when Hawks casually joined you. Upsidedown, the young man fanned his mouth and yawned. "YOU F###ING SON OF A B####, DON'T JUST LET ME DIE HERE!"
"You survived falling in acid just a few seconds ago! I'm suuure you'll be fine~"
"JUST BECAUSE I'M IMMORTAL DOESN'T MEAN I WON'T FEEL THE SPLAT AT THE END, YOU IDIOT!!! WHY ARE YOU SO HEARTLESS ALL OF A SUDDEN ANYWAY!? I THOUGHT WE WERE LOW-KEY KINDA FRIENDS!?"
Hawks glared at you though you were stupid. You still didn't get it, so after a second or two he finally explained, having to shout over the wind. He crossed his arms, still staring at you crossly. "You know, I thought you were actually pretty cool back when we first met..! That was until I found out you used my quirk to commit genocide! Now I'M indirectly RESPONSIBLE for that!! I- I'm supposed to be a HERO!.. YOU BETRAYED ME BY DOING THAT, YOU KNOW!? I THOUGHT I COULD TRUST THAT YOU WERE A GOOD PERSON!!"
"I THOUGHT I WAS DOING THE RIGHT THING, OKAY!?. I THOUGHT I WOULD BE SAVING PEOPLE!"
"WELL YOU'RE THE IDIOT FOR NOT THINKING ABOUT IT MORE FIRST! YOU KILLED INNOCENT PEOPLE! HEROES, EVEN!"
"OKAY OKAY, YOU'RE RIGHT! I WAS SO SICK OF MY DAD CONTROLLING MY LIFE THAT I LASHED OUT ON THE PEOPLE IN HIS FIGHT CLUB! I ADMIT THAT I WAS WRONG!.." Pressing your hands to your chest, tears in your eyes, which didn't last long thanks to the wind. "BUT I CAN'T GO BACK AND FIX IT!! AS MUCH AS I WANT TO, I CAN'T!"
"JUST GO TO JAIL THEN!"
"YOU SAY THAT AS IF I DON'T HAVE PEOPLE TO TAKE CARE OF! AS IF I DON'T HAVE KIDS WHO NEED TO GROW UP KNOWING THEY ARE LOVED!!!"
Keigo's eyes widened the moment your heads broke through the clouds. Suddenly, you were both drenched in wet. These were no naturally forming clouds. This was the force of a hurricane! Didn't take long for Hawks' wings to get soggy and difficult to steer with. You were in no better shape of course. You were drenched all over again. The winds tossed you about, Keigo weaving through air currents to follow. Once close enough, the teen caught your wrist so you couldn't be separated like that again.
"YOU KNOW, I REALLY DON'T GET YOU, (Y/N)! YOU'RE THE ONE PERSON I CAN NEVER WRAP MY HEAD AROUND!.. EXACTLY WHAT ARE YOU!? ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE A VILLAIN OR A HERO!!?"
"I DON'T KNOW!!!" You admitted through strenuous, stressful breaths. "...I WANT TO BE A HERO, BUT IT'S SO HARD! THERE ARE SO MANY RULES! I CAN NEVER KEEP UP! YOU GUYS CAN CALL ME A VILLAIN OR A HERO! I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!! JUST LET ME SAVE PEOPLE!!!" Suddenly, a nervous feeling gathered in your gut. Keigo's wild and windy hair poofed out a little bit. And.. the clouds you were departing from grew much brighter. "KEIGO, LOOK OUT!!!" You tugged him down, switching places with him in an instant. You then pried his hand off your wrist and slowed your descent as much as possible. The next moment,
KABOOMMM!
Lightning struck. Your world went black. When your mind slipped back into the conscious world, you were hanging upsidedown. The wind still blew wildly and the storm still thundered overhead, except now there were trees below. Heavily ravished though they were, the plants were a comforting sight after all these recent dangers. Keigo's arms were wrapped around your left leg, his soggy wings flapping hysterically to hold himself steady in these storms on top of landing safely. Eventually, only a few feet from the ground, Keigo dropped you into the muddy earth.
"Ow.." Almost broke your neck there.
"Oh good. You're awake." Keigo chuckled, landing beside you. He helped sit your crispy self up. You did the rest by standing. Shooed the hero away to let you stand alone. The wind was much calmer down here in this clearing of trees. You squinted up at the stormy sky... Who here had a weather quirk? Your dad, maybe?? "Ayye, you made it!" Keigo smiled at someone new. Aizawa appeared from between two trees, his eyes already trained on you. You grew uneasy as he stepped out of the shadow, the intensity of a hunting leopard in his glare. "I can trust this one with you, right?"
"Yeah. Shouldn't be a problem. I can easily apprehend her on my own. Go help Endeavor."
"Yes sir!!" Keigo flew off, over the trees and out of sight. This left you alone with Mr. Aizawa. No quirks. Already injured. The chances certainly weren't in your favor.
"(Y/n)." The man murmured catching your attention. "It would make things easier if you just gave up." You threw your fists up instead, shaking your head. Aizawa sighed, casually readjusted some of the scarfs around his neck, applied some eye drops, and activated his quirk. He slid the yellow slit goggles over his eyes and grabbed a firm hold of his scarf weapon. From a quick glance, looks like he'd somehow retrieved his knife as well. "...And just when I thought you were beginning to learn... Oh well. Let's get this over with, then."
====================
This is where I would have ended the chapter.. if I wasn't such a PSYCHO who refuses to end this season on an odd number!! EWW!
====================
The rain poured, drenching your unevenly shortened hair, heavily beating on your bare shoulders. Now that you were no longer fearing for your life, it was actually kind of embarrassing standing around in the equivalent of sporty black swimwear. At least it was more modest than underwear, but still. You'd need to do something rash to counter this anxiety.
That's when you recalled Topless Tuesday a few months back. Was it embarrassing and weird even with no breasts? Yeah, but... Your Punching Bag persona was the perfect fit for such an occasion. Punching Bag was a fearless warrior who took every challenge as a joke and won simply because they wanted to. There was something admirable about that faceless character of yours. Not only were they brave, but.. they could fight real good too, without the help of any quirks.
You smirked and knelt down to pick up some mud. Aizawa's head tilted as he watched you smother your eyes in a layer of thick mud. You started to laugh like an insane, giddy kid, getting into character.
"What are you doing?"
You stood with a goofy grin, body swaying though you were drunk. "Oh, nothing~ hmhm.. Just that I've been training for this fight day and night all year~" You didn't dare open your muddy eyes again. Didn't need em. Peace washed over you as the adrenaline in your blood accelerated. This time, you were the one in control of your own weaknesses. Your grin was crooked, goofy, and wild. "You think you'll win just because I'm quirkless?.. Well I beg to differ~"
You charged the hero, well trained ears honing in on the sound of splashing mud, lashing scarfs, and wet clothes chafing.
Aizawa was amazed after his first attack strike. Your eyes weren't even open and still you easily evaded his attacks. You slid in close and kicked at his legs. He jumped over you and landed, you spinning and kicking again the moment he landed. He narrowly dodged that attack as well. Your giggles and smiles were what off-put him the most. The mud became your new clothes. You used its slippery surface to your advantage, just as you had used your own blood and sweat on the stage to your advantage in fights before. The clapping of thunder were like the hollering and cheering of the excited crowds. The flashes of lightning and shaking throughout the air like the lights and blaring sirens. The biggest difference between here and there was the wind that whipped about your now shoulder length hair.
Aizawa was good at fighting like this too. Though not quite so used to the slippery mud, he adapted pretty quickly. And he had fought in rainy conditions like these many times before. Not to mention he was already a master of fighting in the dark. But you were just so slippery. His scarf couldn't get a hold on you long enough to consider you snared. His clothes were made heavy with mud and rainwater, making every movement more labored than usual. He couldn't risk activating OFA again. After all, no one's life was at stake right now. The only thing he was really fighting was the clock, since he needed to apprehend you as quickly as possible so he could assist with AFO's final moments. You simply didn't want to go to jail.
He slid in the mud, missing your twirling self again. "So I take it you've been expecting a fight like this? Even though we're supposed to be on the same side." Your past Sensei huffed.
You slid into a standing position again, back facing the hero but prepared to bounce whenever. "Eh, not exactly.. I have so many enemies by this point, though, I have to be prepared for anything!" You then tilted your chin back over your shoulder, a very different, almost judgemental smile at play. "Doesn't help that I've been betrayed by you before~ I came to expect that kind of treatment from others." Your forced smile transitioned into something far more genuine and mocking. Just as you hoped it would, your comment cut deep.
As the fight continued, it was only made clearer and clearer how evenly matched the two of you were. You both had close to the same amount of training years on your belt, and both knew how to play into the other's weaknesses. Aizawa had never seen you quite like this before, though, which out here became his weakness.
Yours was stamina. You needed an opening fast! Aizawa caught you off guard and kicked you to the ground. You tumbled over and slid a few feet. You rolled out of the way of another attack, forcing him to draw nearer. As he came close, your eyes opened with an idea. It was a horrible.. despicable plan... But it was your best shot. Or else you'd eventually loose all your energy and be stripped away from everything you cared about.
You grabbed a fist full of mud and threw it at Aizawa's goggles once he came close enough. He fell back a step and closed his eyes while rubbing the mud away. He trusted you enough at least not to kill him. His eyes weren't closed long. Just a brief moment. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes again. Except this time he didn't see you. Instead he saw-- The hero's whole world suddenly fell into a very, very slow pace. He pried off his goggles to get a better look. And in that moment, his mind blocked out the sound of the rain, the pain of his injuries, even the whereabouts of you.
Through a dark horizontal portal fell a body. Though not fitted in an outfit he would expect Oboro to wear, Aizawa couldn't mistake that face. His eyes were dead and lifeless as they were long before. His wispy blue hair a mess like usual. Yet, even with those dead, soulless eyes, the falling corpse and the man made eye contact. Aizawa's breaths hitched. He could only hear the thumping of his heart... That was the very last thing he saw.
Using the dead body as a distraction, you charged the hero, shoving your fingers into his eye sockets. "I'M SORRY!!" You screamed over the rain. Your teacher fell with you into the mud, his face filling with blood. The man just screamed. You couldn't stop yourself from repeating the same useless apology over and over and over and over again! "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll fix it later! I'm sorry!!" When you were sure both eyes were clawed to the point of uselessness, you stumbled up onto your feet. Aizawa cupped his hands over his face and rolled around in the drenched earth. Mud and blood alike covered you. You tore your eyes from the sorry man.
Your whole body trembled. You stared down at the man's blood caking your right hand and gagged. You hugged yourself and dry-heaved, so overwhelmed by what was going on, what you had done; but you had no food nor acid in your stomach. The rains helped to wash the mud from your eyes; the blood from your hands.
Without saying another thing, you darted off into the forest, eyes open now, running in the general direction of where you last heard Present Mic screaming.
Should you continue? Or should you just run away? If you insert yourself into the fight again, whose side would you even fight on?! You've only made things worse by adding Aizawa's blood to your hands.
When he could manage the pain throbbing throughout his entire skull, Aizawa started feeling around for the body he'd just seen but only briefly... There was no body to be found. It had fallen into another portal already. He searched and searched until convinced he was going mad.
---------------
There were only four heroes left by the time you returned to the fight, but oh man were they vicious. Hawks, Endeavor, Present Mic, and Star And Stripe had a whole system going against their primary target. Essentially, the goal was to hold him here and b#### slap him back and forth between the lot of them until he either lost the will to fight or lost consciousness. Though the sky still crackled overhead, the storms had dwindled, steadily giving away more and more of the sky to the stary night. It was clear your father was focusing most of his energy on defensive moves now. His greatest threat by far was Star And Stripe. But, with his ability to rewind the state of matter, it appeared he was fairing quite well. Annoyingly so. Though that horn on his forehead had certainly shrunk since the quirk first activated, he was using the power conservatively enough that at this rate it was more likely for the heroes to tire before he did.
(No reason other than this one has best vibes.)
You growled under your breath, squeezed your eyes shut, and made the decision here that this was where it ends. The rain water was so light now. You wished their drops were a heavier like before.. It would fit better with the mood.
If you were doing this, you'd better make it count.
|||Hellfire Wings
Bright blue flames spouted out of your back in the shape of wings. Though smaller than you'd like, you used them to take a running start into the air. You soared. Up and up and up and up.
Tears sprouted from your eyes, dried quickly by the wind. 'Goodbye, Izuku... Bye Himiko... And Shoto, and Katsuki, and Eri, and Fuyumi, and Ms. Inko...' You bulleted past your father, deploying two torpedo feathers which broke through his defenses. The inescapable effects of Decay and Blueflame wrapped around your father in an instant. He cried out and grit his teeth, forced to use up all his Rewind reserves little bit by little bit.. just to keep himself alive. '...and Tenko and Iguchi... And all of class 1A... Goodbye Ms. Yamashi, and Kai, and Pops, and Hari, and the rest of the squad...' You flew wide circles around the scene as your father continued to fight off the heroes even though he was essentially doomed. 'Bye Jin... Bye Aizawa.. and Keigo...' ... "Bye everyone." Now that you listed them all, now that pictures of their bright smiles and or fun moments replayed in your head...you really did have a lot of people who counted on you.. There were a lot of people near and dear in your life. So many bonds and fond memories that were often overlooked. As much as you wanted to continue living as you have been, continuing to see and do the things you have been doing, with the people you care about most...
...You made mistakes. You did some terrible.. terrible things in the past. And, indeed, you didn't trust yourself to get any better either.
So, this is it, then.
This was how your story ends.
...
At least you can end it on a triumphant note.
Once his horn shrunk to nothing, you killed the effects of your quirk. Your wings vanished. The blue flames eating your opponent died to the trickling rain. You angled yourself as you fell, like a shooting star crashing into the villain. Both of you fell to the earth, him somehow in even worse shape than you.
THUD.
His impact cratered the field he landed in. The storms overhead completely cleared out. You landed not far away, creating your own, smaller crater beside his.
You don't exactly remember when or how you started crawling, but suddenly here you were dragging yourself toward the center of the bigger of the two craters. Dust was settling still. You coughed, listening closely for the other's labored breaths.
When you found him, his breaths were oddly peaceful. Though calm in how he laid over the uneven rock, his eyes were wide and alert. Then came you. The wheezy, sorry excuse of an immortal daughter dragging yourself to his side. You weren't sure if you were here just to check that he was alive or to fall on him for comfort. One thing was certain though. You felt very similarly to how you did while on the beach. No limbs gone thankfully, but it sure felt like it.
"I won't embrace you." His scratchy, stern voice stopped you in your tracks. With all those injuries, especially the burns, it was a miracle the man was even alive. You laid on your belly staring for a moment, processing the man's words. For some reason, this was the last thing you expected to hear from him.
But it made sense.
Tears fell from the man's over vigilant eyes, sliding down and stinging his burnt face. He glanced every which way at the slightest of sounds as if fearing for his life. However, his body was unable to do anything but breathe and barely speak. He swallowed a large, dry gulp of air which stung his throat. "...I was.. hoping..." More tears slid out as he blinked. "You would..." He sniffled. "...Save me one day..." Then, his eyes filled so much that he couldn't even see. "..I was wrong. It's what I deserve, but-- ...What even was the point in it?.." Lip trembling, "...I should have.. never created you... Never even tried...
If you don't see me as your father, then fine... I have no need to see you as my daughter either..."
...
Your mouth fell open. Like.. a massive hole of confusion and bitterness was just torn into your heart.
Feeling the nerves in your legs again, you stood, though difficult it was, and stumbled back out of the dusty crater.
When you emerged from the settling soil, covered in mud, sweat, blood and ash, you ran into the remaining heroes gathering to apprehend your father.
You fell to your knees, then bowed with your forehead on the ground, hands out before you in the grass. Though confused at first, the message was pretty obvious. But, just in case..
"I give up... I am yours to arrest."
'...Bye, Dad.'