Chapter 9: Chapter 9
Upon arriving inside the apartment, the Herrscher glanced around making sure she was alone and that there were no open windows or doors.
"Hey! Insect, have you stopped crying like a baby yet?" The Herrscher muttered to her host. As tempting as it was to just leave him as is, she didn't trust that Inko wouldn't notice something off with her son. The Herrscher needed to make sure he was at least capable enough to look normal.
"Herrscher," Izuku whispered weakly. It was the first coherent sentence she heard from him that wasn't related to acid burns. "Where are we?"
"Home." She answered. "I'm going to give your body back now, so shut up and dry your tears. The last thing we want is your mom getting a heart attack if she finds out what happened." The Herrscher commented. There was no doubt in her mind, that Inko would be hesitant to leave her son's side after, which would make any attempts at control far harder in the long run, it was best to keep them separate for now.
"Okay," Izuku answered.
The Herrscher's body was engulfed in a soft light before it shrank and reshaped itself into Izuku's form.
"I'm free." Izuku sighed
"For now." The Herrscher corrected.
Izuku breathed heavily as he fell to the floor on his knees. He was both mentally and emotionally exhausted from his experience. On top of that, the Herrscher's use had also left his body feeling even weaker than before. He could barely muster the strength to stand back up, but his issues didn't stop there.
"What the?"
"Izuku?" The Herrscher questioned. She felt a tingling sensation start to emit on his skin.
"Something's wrong." Izuku gasped as he saw his skin start to smoke. He felt his flesh start to burn even more than before. "OW…OW….OW," He started to scream. "HERRSCHER!"
"That filthy worm." The Herrscher realized. She had underestimated the potency of the acid. It had remained on her skin and by extension Izuku's. She quickly grabbed what control Izuku was still willing to give, regaining her form. The acid was far less effective on her. No…that wasn't the right assumption, it was just easier for her body to heal off the burns, that didn't mean the acid wasn't on her anymore, just stuck on the surface of her skin.
"What happened?" Izuku questioned softly.
"We need to shower." The Herrscher told him as she hurried out of the room.
"Wait…WHAT?" Izuku questioned in surprise. Did he hear that right?
All Might glanced around at the scene. He should have been quicker. The villains had already been dealt with, but the damage was already done. All that he could do now was try and help. He approached the firefighters and the other public service units and humbly asked for how could assist before they pointed him where his strength would be needed.
The stench of the acid was very potent, even more so with what it had dissolved. It was a truly horrible sight to behold. "What happened to the heroes?" All Might asked a worker from of the shops.
"They tried to stop them but…" The young man pointed to one such puddle that had the remains of what looked like a pro hero costume. Not too far away was another individual partially buried beneath rubble, blood oozing at the side.
After tending to the worker, All Might hurried and cleared the rubble of the hero. His heart dropped at what he saw. "Oh no." He gasped. He called for a medic immediately.
Much to his relief, they came and took the fallen hero, who was unconscious but still very much alive. It was a small victory on their part, one less death. All Might stayed helping the disaster relief while a few other heroes came and join as well, including Wash who was able to clean the acid away far easier.
"What's the status report?" All Might asked Detective Naomasa.
"We don't have exact figures, but we have at least ten deaths, two of them the villains." He admitted.
"Only two?" All Might questioned. "I thought there were three of them."
"There were…the third one, Moonfish, is still alive, if barely. It seems like the Herrscher thought he was dead and didn't follow up." The Detective noted as he glanced at where the fallen villain was being taken away.
"Lucky him." All Might gritted his teeth. He may not have been one of 'those' kinds of heroes, but the Symbol of Peace still found it unjust how a psychopath like Moonfish had been fortunate enough to survive while so many of his victims didn't. "Is there any connection between them and the Herrscher?"
"From what eyewitnesses say, she was watching the attack from atop a building before the Acid user sprayed her. In which case she came and down and killed them in less than ten minutes for the most." True Man noted. "I'd be more than willing to assume she isn't involved given how the Villains supposedly acted, but you can never be too sure."
"I see." All Might noted. He'd need to inform Nezu and the others of this.
"Mr. All Might!" A young voice called. The pro turned his attention to a little kid who had run up to him. "Mr. All Might, please you have to help me. He's trapped."
"Who's trapped?" All Might asked.
"A boy, he threw me out of the café before it collapsed on him." The child cry as he pointed to the building. All Might hurried onto the scene taking care not to do any further damage.
"Hello." The pro called as he began to carefully move the rubble to the side. He got no response. Hastening the paste, All Might kept going but he found nothing there. "I'm sorry young one, but there isn't anyone here."
"But I saw him." The child said adamantly.
All Might looked at the little kid with sad eyes. "Okay little one, why don't you describe the boy who helped you and me and the detective can look for him." All Might reassured the kid. "What did the boy look like?"
The kid went on to describe his hero. Well, All Might thought him a hero if the child's words were to go by. It takes real selflessness to risk being buried alive to save someone. However, as the child described the boy, All Might felt uneasy. The description it sound very familiar to him.
Once they were finished, the duo made sure to bid the child farewell as he went back to his mom. Once he was out of earshot, the Detective turned to All Might. "I'll follow up on this." The Detective noted as he showed All Might the sketch he made. All Might's eyes widened as he saw the image.
The pro grabbed it probably a lot quicker than he should have, but the Detective didn't mind. "Wait a minute, I know this boy." All Might realize.
"You do? Well, that's great. What's his name?"
"Izuku Midoriya."
Izuku found himself once again a prisoner in the Herrscher of the Void's body. This time though instead of being amid a villain attack, he and the Herrscher were in the shower, ready to wash the acid of their body. It wouldn't have been so bad, if...you know…it wasn't the Herrscher's body in particular that was being washed. The Herrscher had turned on the cold water, standing beneath the shower, as she let the acid be cleansed.
For the most part, Izuku tried not to let himself be distracted by the Herrscher's form, instead, he decided to sort out his thoughts and try to make sense of what had happened that day. He hosted the Herrscher that much was obvious now, he no longer was the sole user of his body, much to his shock. That said, the Herrscher's control was perhaps the least unsettling thing he had witnessed today.
Izuku's mind wandered back to the site of the attack. His mind replayed the events that had been burnt into his brain. He had never seen it get so terrible. He had never been at the center of it.
"What's the matter, hero?" The Herrscher taunted as she rinsed her arms. "You seem shaken up. Didn't you want to be a pro?" She mockingly asked.
"That place…it was horrible," Izuku answered her. He felt thinking about everything he saw, how easily the people died before him. He could still hear the screams. He could still remember their faces.
"Ha. That's normal. That's how the real world can get, my dear host. Being a hero isn't all the glamour and fame, that your pathetic pros make it out to be. When you're a hero, you see just what kind of cruelty exists in the world, all the destruction, the greed, the blood, all conveniently left out to the masses so that the rest of humanity can pretend that they are so righteous, kind, and noble." The Herrscher sneered.
Izuku didn't say anything, however, the Herrscher had started to enjoy the conversation and couldn't resist continuing it. "Tell me, Izuku, do you still want to try and be a hero in this wretched world? You're feeling queasy now, but I can tell you, this isn't even the ugliest it can get." She mused. "I wonder, if you do continue, how long would it take till you break?"
"A hero's job in my eyes, has always been to save people," Izuku spoke. "When I was young, I always thought saving people was the coolest thing in the world. That's why I want to be a hero."
"And now? Do you still think it's… cool?" The Herrscher questioned. "Running into a world of horrors, death, and destruction, knowing that your acts of heroism could very well leave you alone, helpless and trapped in the rubble, slowly being crushed to death."
"No. It's not cool." Izuku answered. "I don't think I can ever look back on today and think it's cool…but…I can say it's worth it. Helping someone else…that's the worth of being a hero."
"Haha…I see." The Herrscher noted with a manic laugh. "So, in the end, you are still just a deluded fool." The Herrscher told him. "Still thinking you can be a hero, now that's amusing."
"I can still try." Izuku retorted.
"How?" The Herrscher questioned. "How can you possibly help anyone?"
"Look I may not have a quirk but…"
"A quirk is the least of your worries, my foolish host." The Herrscher cut him off. "Your body is weak, pathetically weak if I'm being honest. You barely have any muscle, and your stamina is just awful." She chuckled. "Honestly what was even your plan to be a hero, hope that if you wanted it bad enough you would get it. Do you even know how to fight? How to defend yourself? How can you protect anything if you can't protect yourself?"
Izuku was silent, yet the Herrscher continued to taunt and mock him.
"Have no fear everyone, Izuku is here, just make sure you aren't too heavy otherwise he can't carry you, or hope even if he can, he doesn't get tired running." She laughed as she started to wash her hair. "If you can't even save yourself how do you honestly expect to save anyone."
"Then I'll train." Izuku defended. "I'll work hard and get stronger." He replied adamantly.
"Is that so?" The Herrscher notes as she moves her hair forward and lets the water cascade down her back. "I suppose that would be a start." A stronger host meant a stronger body for her, so regardless she didn't see any harm in letting him pursue his efforts. Maybe she should even encourage it, let him foolishly make her new vessel even stronger for her.
"Wait, do you think I have a chance, you think I can be a hero?" Izuku questioned. The Herrscher laughed even more.
"Nope. I'm just looking forward to seeing you break. To see as you put all your heart, soul, and passion into this, and then have it all crumble before." The Herrscher explained. There wasn't any better place to fall than from the top after all.
"I should have known." Izuku sighed. Of course that was her reason. Given how much disdain she had for humanity, he didn't know why he'd assume otherwise.
"One more piece of advice." The Herrscher told them as she started to rinse out her chest. "Don't scream like that again." She told him. "It…annoys me." She explained. It brought up too many bad memories. She had thought she had truly snuffed out Babylon from her mind, but she was wrong. The tower still stood in her mind, forever etched into her memories.
"Huh."
"You are my host; your body is mine. Ergo, you should remember, that whatever threatens you, threatens me. So, you don't need to scream loud enough to deafen anyone. I'll make sure to deal with any threats to us." The Herrscher explained. "And should you foolishly find yourself in a situation that could result in your death, I'll be more than happy to squash any attempts you might make to be free of me. Do you understand?" The Herrscher asked.
"Yes, loud and clear," Izuku told her. He didn't know how to feel about that response.
"Good." The Herrscher told him as she finished her shower. Once she was satisfied she was clean, and all the acid was off her body, she released her hold once more, and let their body return to Izuku's form.
"Now, go and freshen up, we are hungry and I want dinner, that cafe food was subpar." The Herrscher ordered.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone