Bab 17: Escalation and Repercussion.
Things had been quiet in the League of Villains. Tomura hadn't heard from his Sensei in more than a week, and he was beginning to get antsy. Even more, having only one hand was proving to be far harder than he thought. Much, much harder. The only company he had was Nine and even that was a strenuous relationship.
The last thing his Sensei said on the monitor before he left for an errand was "Grow. I expect you to have freed yourself from your shackles when I return. Now then, it is time for me to meet with this 'Shie Hassaikai'. I hope they don't mind me being uninvited."
He had no clue what the fuck that was, but he certainly wasn't willing to question his Sensei. One thing Tomura knew was that if his Sensei said something, it was always correct. He hadn't been proven wrong yet, so now he had to find out what 'grow' meant.
Tomura simply didn't understand. After all, he had grinded every level he could find, squeezed every last drop of XP from the Quirk Factories his Sensei created, and yet still he had to grow. What does Sensei want?
He looked up onto the bar, glancing at the mirror as if about to go onto a deep introspective rant, until noticing a picture he had pinned to the mirror a few weeks prior, several red skulls and arrow marks labelled 'KILL' plastered on it.
"Of course. Of course, how could I be so stupid. I still haven't finished my boss fight with Reinhard. How can I continue the main story without finishing the mission?"
"You aren't capable."
Nine's muffled voice echoes in the dingy bar of the League of Villains, Tomura snapping his neck back to glare at the man for daring to interrupt him. Then, he properly thinks about what the man said, and his sneer only grows.
"Fuck is that supposed to mean, huh? You think you can take him on you cheap knockoff? All you are is bad product, damaged goods. At least I can use my Quirk properly."
"Given your previous encounters with the boy I would hesitate to say you can indeed use your Quirk properly. Alas, I was not speaking of handling this myself. The message was simple, however putting it to motion will be more... troubling for us."
"Well, spit it out already you cryptic bastard! I asked Sensei for some competent party members and all I got was a shitty copycat, the least you could do is spell out the quest."
"I suffer through your incompetence more than any damage to my body that my Quirk causes. Allow me to explain for you, considering you are entirely incapable of comprehending orders. We will never be capable of bringing down Reinhard van Astrea ourselves. We will need assistance. I have called together my own associates to help, but you have yet to even bother. Get to that."
"How the fuck am I meant to find party members? In the wild? You want me to go ask every random NPC on the street if they wanna help me kill Reinhard? Actually, that isn't a bad idea. More client outreach."
"Sigh. Please, consider the value of breathing and stop doing it. You waste what little oxygen I am capable of using. Wait for Kurogiri, and make contact with your own connections. You will need allies in this battle, and without Kurogiri to 'fast travel'... eugh - bring your new associates to you faster, you'll have to properly search for new comrades."
Tomura simply looked around and shouted Kurogiri's name several times over, as if hoping for the man to appear like some shitty Pokemon, until realising that the misty man is dead, and cursing Reinhard once again.
"Ah, Kurogiri, why can't you just be revived by the doctor or something. This is such bullshit. Nine, come on, we'll go find someone. The Doctor can still [Recall] us so we'll be safe to go on a recruitment charge. We need to check those safe houses from Giran, and meet with this Stain guy. Think he's for hire."
♧◇♡♤
On the other side of Japan, All For One was enjoying the feeling of being back in action. At least, temporarily. He wasn't able to use more than 3 Quirks at any given time, but it was still more than enough given his collection to take control of any given area he wishes. This... venture, was one of the more important ones.
Every action he had taken today was fueled by a Quirk he miraculously found in his collection, one he had no recollection of taking even with his several memory oriented Quirks, but one that he was thankful for nonetheless. [Supernatural Intuition], that grants the user knowledge of the most advantageous path in life to take.
"I don't believe we've been introduced, Chisaki. I am the Vile Scourge of Mankind, though I suppose you would better know me as All For One. A Quirk of mine, [Supernatural Intuition] tells me that you have something I need, so I am here to take it."
Chisaki meanwhile was utterly terrified, having had goosebumps break out all over his skin, trouble breathing and sweat on his palms as his fingers twitch to use his Quirk. However, just as he was about to try lift a hand, the demon spoke once again.
"Ah, I apologise if you thought this was to be a civil discussion. You will bring me the girl, and I shall wipe away the debt you owe me for having dared to even think of lifting a hand against me."
Nodding hesitantly, Overhaul muttered a quiet 'follow me' before leading All For One over to the observation room Eri is held in, unable to properly lift his hands and attack the man due to All For One using his [Grand Larceny] Quirk to 'take' his will to resist. After the 10 seconds of activation ran out, he didn't bother applying it again. Chisaki had already been cowed, and any resistance would be met with a gruesome death. He understood that.
Every subordinate of Overhaul within the room had tried to muster a form of resistance, though that was also solved easily with his [Collective Consciousness] Quirk manipulating their ability to properly question the presence of a hulking man in their base as long as they stayed in a group.
The Scourge of Man smiled, a most crooked and revolting smile on his disfigured face. It felt good to be in control again, of that he was assured. Now, time to see about this Eri girl.
♧◇♡♤
"And so, we shall open our meeting with a verse, from the Holy Bible: Matthew 10:28, 'Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell.' Amen."
The 294th Pope of the recently reformed Holy Roman Empire, Guido Amadeu shut the cover of his prized scripture with a loving smile on his face as he gazed upon those he held dear, his Papal Council. He couldn't help but be thankful to both his friends and his God for blessing him in such a way.
From his birth he was already gifted, a child deigned by the Lord to be special. His mother, a beggar had found love with his father, a humble clergyman. Their Union was bathed in the light of God. His infant years were spent during the Italian Civil War, before the Reformation occured, and even though his life was in danger every day at the time, he knew in his heart and soul that the Divine Father was looking out for him.
This was further evidenced by his Quirk, his God given power, personally bestowed by the Lord unto his subjects. A power Heaven sent for him. [Faithful Dominion] granted him more power, strength in both mind and body, dependant on how much Faith people have in him.
It was a power he used to take back Rome from the heretics, winning the Civil War as his Lord had directed him, and was a power that had only grown stronger over his time as the Pope, allowing him to further the Holy cause and expand his territory by taking advantage of civil unrest during the November Revolution in Switzerland, whose public had grown tired of their uninvolved policy during the third Quirked World War, allowing him to annex not only Switzerland but Austria and Slovenia too.
By all rights, he should have been happy at this stage in his life, already having gone down in the history books as a hero of the Faith and a devout defender of the nation.
However, looking over the current International Address from the UN, he couldn't help but frown, his knuckles clenching slightly as he read the missive sent from the Japanese. A boy, a meagre child had dared to call his own power [Divine], and had even gone so far as to claim his strength was gifted to him by the World. Gifted by God! Blasphemy! Utter blasphemy!
He called himself, breathing slowly and reminding himself internally to 'be not guided by your wrath, Guido, for you are the word of God in mortal flesh, and you are above such pathetic sinful tendencies.'
"My beloved friends, my fellow servants of God, today we are gathered here to address the existence of one Reinhard van Astrea, and decide for ourselves whether his existence is that of a heretic or that of a righteous man."
♧◇♡♤
I knew when I texted Nezu about having spotted Gigantomachia the response would be quick, but I didn't expect it to be this fast. I didn't even have much time to practice with Harbinger, only around 30 minutes before I found myself being taken by All Might.
I had asked why we couldn't brief Aizawa and bring him in on this operation, and was simply told that the man was busy. Alright then, I suppose that's fair enough.
We were being taken over to our destination by car, with Skinny Might on the wheel as we drove to Oshika. Tsukauchi had already begun evacuating as soon as I sent Nezu the message, thankfully all he had to mention was All Might and the police force under his branch just kicked into third gear. No questions either, they were all to happy to listen to a suggestion from All Might.
While Stars and Stripes may be the strongest hero in the world, and a lead reason for America having entered a second Golden Age in the many years following the Third Quirked War, much of Japan still believed All Might to be the greatest. Though, no country would dare even breath wrong in the direction of America knowing of the power New Order holds.
They had tried to use Cathleen as a reason to force Japan to have All Might to become a permanent addition to the American roster given the time he spent there, but Cathleen herself never agreed, and All Might was too busy dealing with All For One to agree, though the government were not aware of that. At least, that is what Nezu has told me.
The car ride was tense and quiet, pretty uncomfortable too given I had to lean against Harbinger still on my back. All Might was driving with a steely expression on his face, grim determination on his face as he most likely wishes to end this saga of his life.
I wouldn't be surprised if he wants to kill All For One just to ensure Izuku remains safe. Given his slightly more violent demeanor towards the man in this reality, I doubt he would hesitate this time around.
"Hey, All Might, did All For One ever have any friends in the other nations of the world?"
"Hmm. I'm not too sure of that, Reinhard. I devoted half of my life to dismantling his infrastructure in Japan, but I never did consider the possibility of people accommodating him around the world.
You have to understand kid, this guy was feared and loathed beyond belief. UN didn't even want to let Japan attend their conferences for a period of time. Only reason Nezu ever got into them was because he technically wasn't a Japanese citizen because he was an animal, not a man.
People didn't want to have what happened in Japan happen to them. This guy singlehandedly sparked three international conflicts, his plan was to trigger nuclear war and use his collection of Quirks to survive the fallout, then pick up the pieces to start his own global empire.
Only reason the UN agreed to Nezu's request to not use nuclear weaponry was because they knew if they did they'd just be playing into his hands. Honestly, I can't see anyone other than small time terrorist groups wanting allegiance with him. I heard a scandal that the Pope had been doing shady dealings with him behind closed doors, but they're just rumours."
"Well, I sincerely hope that he doesn't. I've got 3 signals coming up on [Threat Detection], which doesn't make sense. The Ravens only saw Gigantomachia here, but suddenly there's two extra signals."
All Might looks in the rear view, glancing at me briefly as he considers the value of bringing me here given the increased threat level, but ultimately decides to stay with the plan, and sighs.
"We have no choice but to deal with them as well then. Go for incapacitations, we don't know if these guys are gonna be kill on sights like Gigantomachia is."
The car parks as I realise we were in conversation most of the drive, and it is now time for us to confront our newest enemy, and is friends by the seems of it.
♧◇♡♤
Myself and All Might walk through a clearing in the forest and come to find two men and a woman, one sat down, still towering over many trees around us and hunched over with the other man and the woman trying to coax a reaction out of the hunched figure.
Undoubtedly, what we are looking at is the two people having been told about Gigantomachia and seeking to either recruit him or try to bring him back to All For One, especially given Kurogiri is dead. I extend the blade of Harbinger as we come into view.
"Excuse me, might I ask who the two of you are? And just what your business is here?"
"Fuck, its All Might, they didn't say anything about him showing up!"
Okay, so they didn't expect anyone to know about Gigantomachia, which means likely its a retrieval from the League. Especially considering they deliberately shouted that out.
"ALL... MIGHT?"
The voice of Gigantomachia was comically loud in the quiet forest, being so deep and trembling with fury that you could feel the words through vibrations in your feet.
"ALL MIGHT! I'LL KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MY MASTER!"
The battle between the two of them begins when Gigantomachia lunges over at All Might, forcing the man to jump towards him in response, pushing him pack through punches though also being met in strength as he fights. Problem is, Gigantomachia only grows stronger the longer he fights. I'll need to dispose of these two.
I activate the [Divine Protection of Wisdom Eyes] to see what their Quirks are and frown slightly, unexpecting of such powerful Quirks to be here. I expected All For One would take them rather than allow subordinates to hold their Quirks.
The woman, a rather small figure of only 5'2 with blue hair had a Quirk that sounded rather familiar to a certain JoJo power, that of Magenta Magenta though it was called [Force Redirection], allowing her to redirect any damage into the earth, but the downside is that she remains perpetually still doing so.
Her partner, a pale man of elderly nature though was the much more concerning party, as he was not only sickly but seemingly suffering from blood related disease yet he was far more physically imposing than the woman, and also held the stronger Quirk. [Steam Engine] is nothing to scoff at.
The user can entirely produce and become steam, extremely hot and damaging steam, also able to use that natural heat on regular strikes, and can produce more steam the more energy they expend, allowing them to gain a 'second wind' so to speak in a fight.
"Ah, I suppose it is indeed time for introduction. Yes, to introduce ourselves for a challenge. Oh, I do so dearly love the feeling of being challenged, the despair of not knowing whether you are good enough, the fear of not knowing what your opponent is capable of."
"My name is Yaguchi Genpaki, and I have never known defeat. Alongside me is my grandaughter, Yuko, and we represent a branch of the League Of Villains here to retrieve our property. Leave, and we shall make your death a painless one. I do not take pleasure in murdering children, but I will do it if I must in order to fulfill the Master's wish."
Huh. Branches, huh? I suppose that was to he expected given the Orphanages ran by All For One. Still, not what I expected I must as I stretch my shoulder out, pulling out Thorn in my left hand and pointing Harbinger in their direction.
"I apologise for your incorrect assumption, as I shall be the only one walking away from this battle. I promise to make it quick."
I throw Thorn at the ground and use the energy buildup alongside my mana to create a smokescreen, also employing [Concealment] to fight on my own terms.
♧◇♡♤
My first action upon engaging the smokescreen was to immediately activate [Swiftness] and [Sandevistan], wielding Harbinger as I tore in the direction of Yaguchi hoping to dispose of him then and there, frowning though as every swing goes through his steam based body. Not even [Death God] can affect it. Too similar to a Logia.
Sighing, I dash in the direction of Yuko only to feel myself dodge to the right, a significant distance as well, turning back to see a wall of boiling hot steam where I previously was, a horrifying sound akin to a train engine of old following the steam.
[Sandevistan] deactivates and I realise just how fast that blast of steam was even through dilated time. I need to keep them on their toes. I return Thorn to my left hand through a [Gate] and hold it close.
I see Yaguchi's finger twitch and dash around Yuko, having discovered that all he needs to activate his Quirk is a twitch of a muscle, from anywhere on the body. I see the blast of steam coming towards me and swing Harbinger down, heaving as the cloud of gas is dispersed around me, right in the direction of Yuko who hurriedly activates her own Quirk.
In the downtime of his steam release, I lower the blade of Harbinger and shoot both barrels in Yaguchi's direction several times repeatedly, releasing pellets of my own mana that tear into the trees around us, the battle having shifted into the woodlands to avoid Gigantomachia's rampage.
"Augh! You little shit!"
New information learned, he can only temporarily maintain full body steam mode, evidenced by the holes in his left shin, prolonged attacks can lead to exhaustion. Just as I am about to unleash another onslaught of pellets at him, I see Yuko throwing herself in the line of fire, immediately activating her Quirk to negate any possible damage I could deal.
With her immobilised in my line of sight, I sprint over to her with [Swiftness] and grab her head in my hands, snapping her neck just in time to back away and dodge a burst of steam that lasts several seconds longer, firing in a widespread cloud of heat indiscriminately.
I frown upon feeling my [Threat Detection] still ping with 3 hostile presences. It seems snapping the neck still counts as force, of course it would. I suppose i wanted to experiment. I rush back into Yuko and grab her by the collar, spinning around and hurling her at Yaguchi who is unable to deactivate his 'steam beam' in time and collides with her, the force of the impact heavily bruising his ribs.
Yuko disengages her Quirk in order to check on the old man, ashamed at having slammed into him against her will and about to profusely apologise only to hear Yaguchi scream something. She tries to turn but is stopped entirely as the blade of Harbinger embeds itself in her chest, tearing into her sternum and pushing through to emerge on the other side of her chest.
Having read her thoughts and seen the enjoyment she felt at being able to kill me, I don't hesitate to dig the sword a bit deeper. Lugnica taught me one thing, that much is for sure, and that is that rehabilitation is only something you can achieve yourself. She was far beyond such a concept. Yaguchi isn't.
The blade is inches away from Yaguchi's face, blood dripping onto it as he stares in shock at the sight before him, her beautiful eyes having now gone entirely hollow as her breathing stops. I drag Harbinger out of her chest and kick her body aside, unable to look at it knowing I have ended another life, now being face to face with Yaguchi. I point the sword at him.
"You were hesitant to fight, I saw that. You don't need to die here, I promise. We can work a deal out for you, we just need knowledge on every one of All For One's associates."
He glares hatefully at me and I am slowly realising that this whole 'negotiation' thing is far more difficult than I gave credit for.
"Let me explain something to you, kid. I'm an old man, I ain't got much time left. Sickle cell disease, gets worse every time I use my Quirk. I already ain't got much reason to listen, but then you come up to me and ask for help after brutally murdering my granddaughter right in front of me?"
He dissappears in a cloud of steam and reappears a few meters away, that same glare having never left his face as he clutches Yuko lovingly, having used his heat to try and cauterise the gaping hole in her chest.
"You're right, I was hesitant. I never did enjoy killing children. Now though, you just gave me a reason. Steam Engine: Fog of War!"
The world goes white, and I am met with blistering heat.
♧◇♡♤
[Swiftness] and [Sandevistan] activate in tandem as I throw myself as far away from the condensed steam clouds as I can. The attack was extremely widespread, almost engulfing me entirely within a few seconds. My heat resistances are extremely high, but I still have a small graze on my left cheek.
All right. No more mercy then. I need to deal with Gigantomachia, All Might's punches are losing their shockwave and Gigantomachia is only growing stronger. Yaguchi isn't worth my time, and I'm only wasting it here.
"Well, kid, how do you like my Fog of War? Super-condensed steam, thousands of degrees Celsius. Come on, try and hit me. I fucking dare you."
I shrug and throw Thorn into the air and watch it fall into the steam cloud, detonating it right in the center and hearing a satisfying 'AHH!' while I charge mana through my Harbinger, dragging it through the air and once again dispelling the steam clouds.
Yaguchi sees me and panics, however I don't give him time to try that same teleportation bullshit from earlier and rush at him, swinging Harbinger tens of times every second as he desperately tries to maintain his gaseous form, fearfully looking up as he realised my strikes are only getting more forceful the more I bleed.
Finally, the man runs out of stamina, having no more energy left in him only to suddenly gasp as he is flooded with fuel, experiencing a second wind and growing hopeful that he may be able to have vengeance for Yuko. That hope however is quickly snuffed out as he realised I haven't stopped swinging.
My blade leaves cracks on the ground as I tear through his gaseous form, leaving visible blades of wind as it swings in every direction hundreds of times over causing devastation to the surroundings. He screams something along the lines of 'please!' repeatedly, pleading for his life as he realises that this may very well be the end, and hearing that I realise just how far I was going. Frowning, I grab him by the skull of his now physical form and forcefully drain his mana.
I clap my hands, activating my [Alchemy] to mould the ground around him into an encircling dome encasing him entirely. I can't chance him escaping, but I need to go deal with Gigantomachia.
♧◇♡♤
I rush into the clearing i had left the two in before and see All Might clutching at his chest with one hand, gliding through the air as his fist careers towards Gigantomachia's face, connecting with a sickening crunch and visibly damaging the hardened skin.
Following up from this, I jump up and launch myself off of a platform of air above Machia, building momentum as I create another air platform above his head, bouncing off it as I slam my fist into the top of his skull, causing his head to violently collide with the earth.
"FACE... HURT. MUST KILL ALL MIGHT."
I stand up from my position on top of his head and slam my boot down, seeing the force of the blow extending into the trees around us, and activate [No Longer Human], expecting to see the man shrink.
He doesn't. He remains the same height, and maintains the same strength. It seems I can only negate one power at a time. Fuck. Machia, in a fit of rage that only fuels his [Motivation] quirk, which grants him greater strength and durability dependant on how motivated he is to win a fight, meaning he is still getting stronger.
Seeing that he has gotten up on one knee, I drop down from his head and activate [Sandevistan], seeking to ground him permanently as I swing Harbinger towards his achilles, the hardened skin being entirely worthless against me with [Death God], repeating the process on the other foot.
He screams in pain, getting more enraged at how great his failure is that he can't succeed in killing All Might, before settling for remaining on his knees as he uses his arms like a monkey would to throw himself alongside several large rocks at us.
I jump between several of the rocks he throws and dash over to All Might who is simply punching each one that comes near him.
"I have a plan. I want you to make sure he stays grounded. Good luck, All Might."
All Might nods, jumping up and dropping down fist first onto Machia who was still focused on hurling rocks, trees and damn near anything he could get his hands on in our direction, staggering the man and allowing All Might to wrangle his head onto the ground.
I take the chance given and rush over, raising my leg and kicking straight into Machia's nose, disabling his sensory abilities with it, opening two [Gates of Babylon] beside me as well as I hurl two unnamed spears into Machia's eyes, destroying them.
All Might jumps back and claps his hands to overwhelm Machia's hearing, having caught onto the plan with myself mimicking the action, frowning as I see no reaction until I decide to simply dash into the air, form a platform for myself and throw Thorn into one of his ears, detonating it and causing him to fall down with a pained scream as he struggles to get back up.
"HURT... PAIN HURT... WHY MASTER?"
A sad sight to behold for what was once one of the strongest creatures alive. He groans, pitifully trying to raise himself on shaky arms as he fails again and again, only to still.
"Is it done? Did we win, All Might?"
"NO... NO! I WILL SEE MASTER ONE LAST TIME... NO MATTER WHAT!"
His body sickeningly crunches and twists as a new layer of hardened skin covers the shattered previous layer, his arms suddenly gain strength beyond what they previously had as he begins to punch, slam and destroy indiscriminately.
♧◇♡♤
All Might goes in for another haymaker to the skull, but is thrown back violently as Machia returns the punch, the blow far outweighing what All Might was capable of putting out causing him to embed in the shattered crust.
I frown, annoyed with myself for having not just ended this immediately, annoyed that I hesitated out of fear that I would be chained up like a threat for being too strong. Too late now, I suppose.
[Divine Protection of War God], [Divine Protection of Clear Skies], [Divine Protection of Power Bleeding], [Divine Protection of Sun], [Divine Protection of Swiftness], [Divine Protection of Wind Evasion], [Divine Protection of Sword Saint].
I crack my knuckles, shrug my shoulders while dodging the rage fueled assault from Machia as he hopelessly slams his fists in my direction, tearing up the dirt and punching anywhere he hears a noise through his tattered ears.
I dash low, into his stomach and deliver a spinning kick to the gut that raises him slightly, the sheer power causing the residual energy of it to dissipate in the wind, then switching to fists occasionally as every blow ruptures blood vessels, damages organs and fractures bones in Machia's body.
I repeat the process over and over as I continually strike the man over and over again, eventually doing my best to mimic Sanji's Diable Jambe with the speed advantage [Swiftness] grants me, maneuvering myself between the crevasses of Machia's large body until I am once more in the air above him, slamming my foot down onto his skull, appreciating the burst of flame it causes as well as the sound of bones shattering.
I drop down to the ground beside the now slowly dying form of Gigantomachia as he breathes heavily, muttering the word 'MASTER' over and over again. I walk around to face him as I activate the [Divine Protection of Death God], extending Harbingers blade once more, swiftly stabbing into his brain, ending him right then and there. I can't risk having him in Tartarus, especially considering the prison break, and I was fully authorised to kill him as well.
All Might, who had been watching until that point clutches his side as he himself limps over, finally dropping the muscle form as he pats me on the back. Then, he tells us it's time to leave. Before I can respond though, I am greeted with a blast of terrifyingly hot steam that I push All Might away from, then dash away myself.
"You think this is over, you little shit?! That I'll just let you go after you killed her in cold blood like that you fucking animal?! Either I kill you, or you kill me. Now, fight me you fucking coward!"
I glance over at All Might and see him frowning, before shaking his head no. I nod, then sprint over behind Yaguchi to drain his mana once more, this time far more extensively than before.
I rush over to where Yuko's body was and grab that as well, carrying both of them on my shoulders as we return to the car on the edge of the forest, with All Might carrying the now shrunken, shrivelled form of Gigantomachia.
♧◇♡♤
"You killed the girl. Any reason why?"
"Yaguchi, the man, he didn't want to kill me. I thought I could take him back, see what he knows about All For One. Yuko, though. I looked in her mind and all I saw was glee. Joy at the concept of being able to end my life, the life of what she suspected to be a regular 17 year old. I didn't think she deserved the privilege to live after that."
All Might looks at me with a pained look on his face, suddenly regretful.
"That's not something we get to decide ourselves, Kid. Some people, sure, they're too far gone for the system. But not everyone is a 200 year old megalomaniac. You don't know if she was suffering from some mental illness, or if she was under the effects of a drug. You don't get to decide who lives and who dies based off your own concept of morality, Reinhard. Though, I suppose that sounds hypocritical after bringing you out here to kill a man."
"I get it, All Might. I'm sorry. I took a glimpse at her thoughts and was met with overwhelming murderous joy, and simply assumed the worst. I was taught from a young age that getting rid of one's problems is the easiest way to save the most lives."
"Thats where the problem lies, Reinhard. You don't get to choose the easy path. Being a hero is all about taking the hard path, having to face evil day in and day out, but remain stalwart towards justice. In all my years of heroics, I have seen the worst of humanity, the most depraved of people and yet I have only ever tried to kill those closely associated with All For One. I was driven by vengeance."
"Point is, kid, I understand where you're coming from. I've accidentally killed people too in bad situations. But you've gotta learn that murder doesn't solve problems, it only makes more. I hope you'll come to understand that soon. You're already far too accustomed to this than what any normal kid should be. I'd hate to see you lose yourself under pressure."
"I understand. I'll try not to let it happen again in the future."
"Hey, don't get all sad on me, Reinhard. You're young, you're trigger happy and you're in a life threatening situation. Half of this falls on me. I was right, you were powerful enough, and had you not been here I would most certainly have lost, but you still got a long way to being a hero in my eyes. It ain't all about the power, its about keeping people safe."
"So why can't I just keep people safe my way then? Why should I put my faith in outdated, incompetent and biased judicial systems when I can remove the problem from the equation entirely?"
"Because sooner or later, you'll become used to it, and when that happens you'll stop being a hero. If you wanted that kind of life you'd be better off a dog of the HSPC. You'll learn, I'm sure. There are times when it is necessary, but in most cases you should always choose the nonlethal option. If you follow down that path, people are gonna fear you more than anything else, and then it'll just be a self fulfilling prophecy of you being deemed a danger to world safety by the UN."
"I see."
The walk back is silent after that.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
emonoc
emonoc man, adhering to morality is harder than I thought. feels weird writing a protagonist who wants to do better after spending 50 odd chapters writing about a morally void psycho.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone