章 62: Dark Revival: Ch 4
-Rain of Sins-
-Dark Revival: Ch 4-
Mirio stood still with his arms crossed and eyes closed. Around him training robots exclusively used for the higher UA years closed in like a swarm of blood hungry sharks.
Slowly they crept forward until one stepped over an invisible line. Immediately Mirio's eyes opened and he lunged at the bot with a guttural growl. His hand phased through its metallic armor without a hint of resistance, grabbed its core, and ripped it out in a shower of electric sparks.
The rest of the mechanical soldiers charged, blades and guns emerging from their arms, but Mirio wasn't even phased. He tore each one apart from the inside out, circuits sparking as he vented his frustration. The air crackled with electric sparks as he seamlessly shifted from one robot to the next, leaving behind a wake of disassembled parts.
His movements were a dance of destruction, fluid and relentless. The training room echoed with the clatter of dismantled droids, a song that mirrored the storm raging within him. His fists blurred as he struck with precision, seldom even bothering to use his intangible form and instead facing them head on with his fists, unleashing a barrage of devastating blows.
Nighteye would have scolded him for being inefficient, for letting his emotions get the better of him. But Nighteye wasn't here anymore, and just the memory of his mentor's face increased the force of his punches.
Every robot that dared to cross his path met its demise, their mechanical limbs and gears shattering under his hands. The training room became a scrapheap destruction, painted by a hero working out his inner demons. Sparks flew, and metal crunched under the force of his assault.
From a distance All Might couldn't help but worry a little. Nighteye's death had hit the boy hard, and while he was more than strong enough to recover, there was the possibility he might do something rash… like what All Might had done when he had lost Nana.
All Might sighed and sunk into his chair overlooking the training field.
He might not be healed enough to go out and fight another kaiju, but he could oversee the training of Nighteye's protege.
Mirio was a bright boy. Earnest, and eager to prove himself. Ever since Night Eye had asked All Might to train the kid, Mirio had thrown himself into his lessons without hesitation. But now, with Nighteye gone, that had slowly begun progressing into an unhealthy reckless abandon.
He would probably work it out of his system if he was given some things to punch and let out his anger on, right?
Right?
All Might sighed a second time and sunk even further into his chair.
Nana would know what to do if she were here.
Lacking anything else to do, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his new handy dandy notebook that he'd bought on sale, from a convenience store. The thing barely fit in his palm and had a pen tied to it on a short cloth rope.
Luckily, while he would admit he was thick headed at times, he wasn't a complete idiot. So he had decided to write down the very important sounding prophecy instead of just trying to rely on his memory. Nezu would most likely argue about calling it a "prophecy" but Nighteye could see into the future, so he was calling it a prophecy. All Might and Mirai might have gotten into fierce arguments over whether or not they had control of those futures, but the fact he could see the future had never been in question.
So he had a prophecy. Now he only had to decipher the damn thing.
Burning snow and frozen ash-
Listen well and listen fast.
That was… hopefully just an attention grabber made to rhyme. There were only a few quirks he could think of that were powerful enough to make the sky rain burning snow, and he didn't want to learn about another one the hard way.
Things will walk in skin not theirs-
Creepy. Just straight up creepy. He'd talk to Nezu about looking out for shapeshifting quirks.
God, he hadn't prayed in a long time, but if anything was listening he hoped that this was just a shapeshifting quirk. Those monsters he'd fought against, the reptile one at the USJ, then the skeletons with crow wings, and the giant Godzilla knockoff… There was a cold feeling in his gut about this line, and he didn't like it.
Protect the child with silver hairs.
Silver hair? It might not have been common, but couldn't Nighteye have been more specific? He'd keep an eye out, but as of now that was really all he could do.
Swayed, should she be by the monsters' master-
The world shall fall unto the Rapture.
That thing he'd fought… Charbidi? Skibidi? Karbis? The giant lizard! The Sovereign had called that thing a prototype Rapture. Was this talking about an even bigger lizard? Hopefully it's not too much bigger, it would be difficult to punch if it got any bigger than the one he fought.
Don't let the mystery girl fall in line with the Sovereign, got it.
A rain of sins, an endless night-
An ancient power would be our light.
An ancient power… that had to refer to One for All, right? It was pretty old, and he already used it as a beacon of peace for Japan. What other ancient power did they have lying around?
But one choice made wrong, a hesitation-
Your weapon's maker will take our nation.
Your weapon's maker. Your weapon. Mirai had been talking to him . That meant he had to be talking about One for All.
But if he was referring to One for All, then its maker would mean…
All Might'a hands clenched, snapping the pen into a thousand pieces. Just the thought of that man alive made his stomach churn. Imagining all the horrible things that snake could do lurking in the background for years… it would all be on him too, because if All for One was still alive, that meant he failed to kill him.
"Damn it Mirai. You really had to use your juiced up quirk on the one student who's a religious nut, huh?"
All Might sighed and shoved his newly crushed notepad into his pocket.
If Nighteye really had been talking about One for All and All for One, then the hesitation part might be talking about him hesitating to choose a successor. That had been the whole reason he agreed to teach at UA, and Nezu was starting to get pushy again about it. He might not like it, but the fact was he was slowing down. The world needed the next One for All holder, and it needed it now if All for One really was back.
All Might watched Mirio with a pensive expression as the young man tore through the training regime, ripping apart robots while blazing through an obstacle course where he had to save as many dummy civilians as he could.
Night eye was right to take Mirio under his wing. He really would be a great Hero one day.
…
He would make a great successor.
All Might scowled, physically shaking as he wrestled with his own mind.
But what if he chose wrong!?
He'd already been tearing himself apart over the possibility, and now even his old friend was bringing it up! The stupid prophecy practically spelled it out word for word!
If only he had managed to catch that Green Haired boy! The one who had chosen to charge headfirst into a Villain, even without a quirk, even when every other Hero including himself hesitated to, all to save his friend!
He'd searched high and low, visited numerous smaller Hero schools to give speeches, and could never find him! He'd even asked his own student, Bakugo, about the boy, and was told they had fallen out of contact.
That green haired boy had the heart of a Hero! That boy would have been the perfect successor! And the chance slipped through his fingers! It was madness!
…
Maybe he should listen to Nighteye and move on, even if it meant he wouldn't be able to truly make up for all the horrible things he told the boy on the rooftop.
After all, it wasn't like the answer to his problems would just fall out of the sky.
BZZT
All Might pushed his bad mood down, forcing a smile on his face as he answered his phone.
"HELLO NEZU! WHAT CAN I HELP YOU WITH?"
"Toshinori! Thank you for answering! I'm calling a meeting of the top Heroes. I know it might be a touchy subject, but with what just happened, I need… opinions. "
All Might raised an eyebrow. Nezu almost never asked for other people's opinions.
"OF COURSE I'LL COME, WHAT'S THE MEETING ABOUT?"
"How have you not noticed!? It's on every news channel! Open any of them, it doesn't matter which! I'll see you at the meeting, but right now I need to make more calls."
All Might's brows furrowed in confusion as Nezu hung up on him. What could have happened to make his fuzzy friend freak out so badly?
With nothing better to do, he opened his outdated internet app and typed in SMASH NEWS.
All Might's jaw dropped, and with a blast of wind, he launched himself towards Jaku city- the opposite direction of the meeting room.
-Rain of Sins-
"Ladies and gentlemen of the senate, the votes have been tallied, and it is with great pleasure that I announce that the 'Japanese Protection Act, For A Safe And Secure Society' has passed."
HPSC President Kino watched from a balcony overlooking the senate chamber as half the politicians went ballistic, shouting, accusing each other, and a few even trying to physically jump at the announcer.
Well… she wasn't president of the Hero Public Safety Commission, anymore. As of three seconds ago, she was now President of the Centralized Security Commission, which had total control of all Hero agencies, and wrapped the Police force under her direct control as well.
The military had managed to slip her net, but they were more or less working with her now anyway, so that wasn't too big of a deal. Getting control of them, even just the assets on the home island, had always been a long shot.
But it was, as they say, bitter sweet. Finally the Commission was legally being given the authority and materials that it always should have had, but it came with far too many strings.
Now they were regulated and had to file monthly reports to the pencil pushers to make sure they didn't "overstep" again. And even though they now could legally order Hero agencies to do what they wanted in emergencies, that authority was being given so they could keep an eye on the egotistical fuckers and keep another Endeavor from happening.
Monthly reports to the senate. Responsibility for the Heroes. And a small army of bureaucrats to endlessly slow down, get in the way of, and "oversee" all levels of operation.
Everything she'd wanted, but with enough red tape to make her not want it. How ironic.
If only Martin were still around, he would have these idiots eating out of his hand. He had been the Commission's main source of political power, he seemed to have favors to cash with everyone in politics, and always knew a friend of a friend he could give a phone call to get something done.
With him gone and far too many eyes on them for blackmail or bribes, Kino was going to have to settle for what she could get.
An annoying chime sounded in her skull as her earpiece received a call.
"What is it?" She scowled as she accepted the call. "I thought I told you to handle anything that pops up? I'm busy!"
…
"Wait, I'm sorry, repeat that again… Someone found a way to what!? "
-Rain of Sins-
William Dixie, chief of security of the CSC, grumbled under his breath as he shuffled through a half mountain of paperwork on his desk. They had an army of pencil pushers slaving away at paperwork and he still had to deal with this much of it, it was insane, where did they even find the trees for it all?
A lapse in concentration and his pen slipped from between his fingers and fell to the floor. He scowled and clenched his mechanical prosthetic so hard the servos groaned. It was such a pain to relearn how much pressure he needed to exert to hold things.
But at least the nicknames were cool, he caught some fellas talking about "old silverhand" who survived a grenade point blank while capturing Shigaraki. Granted that wasn't exactly what happened, but he let the men have their fun- they deserved it.
The door to his office opened and in walked a young woman with teal green eyes, light gray hair, and a small scar on cheek due to a small accident with their quirk as a child. But the most notable thing to Dixie was the unkept state of their specialist uniform, the half stutter in their step, the deep bags under their eyes, and the way she constantly glanced around, as if she was afraid something would jump out from any corner.
This was a woman on edge, wound as tight as a spring.
She was also one of his.
"Specialist Washer, name Chawan Mizuki, ID code 9AH652 reporting, sir!"
"At ease, specialist, and take a seat, you look like you've been through Hell. What do you need? More eyes are on us now than ever, as the CSC, and my hands are buried under paperwork at the moment, but I'll be damned if I can't get my men the equipment they need- might just take a bit longer than normal." Dixie asked as he leaned back in his chair and brazenly broke all sorts of protocall.
"Nothing like that, sir. I'm reporting for peace in our time, sir."
His eyebrow arched, and he leaned forward, pushing his paperwork to the side.
"What'd you find, soldier? Kino had you on an investigation, right?"
"Y-Yes sir." Mizuki wetted her lips as she shakily sat down across from him. "She had me look into the increased Detrovite graffiti and internet activity that's been going on since the attack on the UA festival. It was supposed to be a small investigation. Short. A week at most. Just using the more controversial parts of the Security bill to get access to all the private stuff these internet users never expected anyone else to ever see. I'm supposed to report directly to her about this, but uhm… You'll want to see this, sir."
She pulled a drive from her pocket and placed it on the desk.
Dixie picked it up, gave it a brief look over, and plugged it into his computer. With a few passwords to open the contents, and then one last one to access the real information instead of the decoy files, he had access to everything Mizuki had collected.
"The 'Meta Liberation Army', an underground Destrovite group that evidence suggests is relatively organized. It says here you believe they're connected in some way with the Detnerat company, due to some fishy money transfers." He scoffed in annoyance. "That'll make things annoying. Anytime big business is implicated things get messy. Suspected members are…"
The chief of security scrolled down. Then kept scrolling, and kept scrolling, and kept scrolling, as his eyes widened.
Gang leaders. Journalists. Business owners. CEOs. Millionaires. Politicians. Police officers. Detectives. Pro Heros. Prominent military officials.
Even HPSC personnel.
"My God…"
His heart skipped as he read names of men and women he'd personally shook hands with and congratulated on jobs well done. None of his . None of them listed, not yet. But still people with access to HPSC files and locations.
This… this was bad.
His mind thought of a different timeline, where the Security bill had never been passed, where the HPSC would have never known about this group. Where sleeper agents in the HPSC would relay every hidden base and office of the HPSC to the MLA, and have real time info on the President's location.
The Commission relied on secrecy, they were an organization not an army! If the MLA had as many Hero level fighters as this list suggested, they could launch an assault, brush aside any defenses, kill the heads of the Commision before backup could arrive, and leave the entire HPSC disorganized and unable to respond.
It would be a massacre.
Dixie's teeth ground together. And the fact they were reforming into the CSC, and being made to take on all sorts of 'oversight' staff, just opened the door for this MLA to easily slip in more spies.
"Is this the full list?"
"No sir. I cut the investigation short and decided to immediately report to you once Hero agencies started getting involved, but there has to be more! It just doesn't stop, it keeps going deeper and deeper."
Dixie slumped back in his chair and took a moment to gather himself. This was…
"Officially I'm closing this investigation because we didn't find anything, and I'm reassigning you to tracking down the Yakuza. If anyone outside this room asks, this report never existed. I'll draft up a fake report for you, saying it was just some troublemakers online, and send it to Kino."
"And unofficially, sir?"
"Unofficially, you have every resource I can give you without drawing attention, at your disposal, to track these people down. I want a full sweep of the government, Hero agencies, as well as the Commission itself. As of right now, the only people you can trust are the members of our group. No one else, not even the President. You will report to me, and only to me. You are not to mention any of this to a single soul. Do you understand?" He looked her in the eye. "We're gonna catch these fuckers."
"Yes sir." The specialist replied, sitting up straighter with a fire in her eyes.
"Good. Our enemy has spies in our midst, and the police as well. Operating through normal channels for this will pull attention you don't want. Go and meet up with an old friend of mine, he's a private detective, who used to work in the special forces back in the day. Go to an old bar named "Lizzies" on north street, he's a usual there, and you won't have any trouble spotting him. He's an old mutant with a love for fedoras, and a bit on the short side. His name's Perry, but if you use his old forces ID, 'agent P' he'll give you the time for a conversation. Tell him I'm calling in my favor from Panama."
"Sir, yes sir!" Mizuki stood from her seat and saluted. "For peace in our time."
"For peace in our time." Dixie stood and saluted the specialist as she turned and marched out of the room. "Good luck soldier, God knows you're gonna need it."
Almost as soon as the door closed behind her, the phone on his desk began to ring.
The caller ID? President Kino.
Immediately Dixie's mind went to the worst case scenario.
Did she listen in on that conversation somehow? Did she know? Was she in on it? An MLA member? Was everything compromised?
No. He shook the irrational doubts from his head, and pulled his hand away from his gun's holster. That was impossible. The paint he used for the walls had a quirk used to totally soundproof it, he swept his office for bugs every day, scanned the walls with a metal detector once a month, and had one of his loyal men with a quirk detecting quirk working across the hall filing paperwork all day- he would know if someone was trying to spy on him.
Slowly, he picked up the phone.
"Dixie, we have a problem."
-Rain of Sins-
Izuku walked through the halls of Jaku hospital, completely exhausted. Who would have thought that standing in one place and answering questions could be so draining?
Yes, he had found a way to give people quirks.
No, he was not joking.
The procedure is as simple as getting a shot, taking an optional nausea pill, and waiting two to three days.
No, a price has not been decided on.
Yes, he can copy quirks to give out if the owner donates blood.
No, he is not stealing blood from Heroes.
No, it isn't just for the rich.
No, it will not be free for Heroes.
No, the example on the table is not a free sample.
Yes, the fact he had been born quirkless affected his decision to try to make this.
Why was that last bit such a sticking point for them? It was like they thought he was trying to steal something from them. Once one of them asked about that they all spent the next twenty minutes asking questions that just went in a circle around it.
Now he understood why people hated the modern press. "Vultures" wasn't just an apt term, it didn't go far enough in his eyes.
"Mass selling low level quirks across the nation should solve our funding problem for now. After a while we can streamline the production process, roll out stronger ones, and bump the price. Increase Entropy sales on the black market, and we should be able to resume full scale operations soon." Izuku tilted his head back and stared at one of the lights overhead. "And keep the lights on long enough to finish the next rapture project."
"Excuse me, Mr Midoriya." A staff member at a desk waved to Izuku as he passed. "The ground lobby says you have a guest here to see you. I know you don't have any meetings for today, but he was quite insistent."
"I told you. I'm not taking any interviews at the moment."
"He's not a reporter, sir."
"Oh really?" Izuku raised an eyebrow.
"Yes sir, he said he's here for personal matters. One 'Katsuki Bakugo', I believe."
-Rain of Sins-
Amidst the relentless downpour, a solitary figure hunched over on the cold concrete steps of the hospital, his silhouette blurred by the dreary veil of rain. Bakugo sat in damp, worn-out clothes and a beat up jacket, with a stoic resolve and a rapidly thinning patience.
The hospital staff had unceremoniously booted him outside after he refused to leave, and tossed him out into the rain. It did nothing to help his grumpy mood. He could have sworn it had only been a drizzle when he started his walk, and now he was soaked to the bone- it was as if the world had decided to rain more on this specific building, just to spite him.
Yet, with a bitter annoyance etched into the lines of his face, he remained anchored on his desolate perch.
Izuku didn't live in the building, it didn't matter if Bakugo had to catch hypothermia by waiting all day, he'd talk to him when he left.
…
At least the rain had scared away all the reporters.
A raven cawed at him from atop the building, and Bakugo didn't have to speak birdanese to know the fucker was mocking him. He flipped the bird to the bird, and the black avian flew off, joining the small flock circling overhead.
Bakugo shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and grumbled some choice words under his breath as he huddled down further. He would normally have made some tiny sparks in his palms to warm himself up, but… Well, he didn't have a legal license to use his quirk in public anymore.
He was so caught up in the cold and his thoughts that he didn't notice the sharp clack of heels until they stopped behind him and someone cleared her throat.
He looked up, pushing his hood out of the way, to see a woman in a lab coat with long light lime hair and toxic green eyes.
"Doctor Midoriya has agreed to see you. Please follow me."
Numbly Bakugo stood up and followed her into the building, dripping water all through the lobby, and towards an elevator.
As they were passing reception however, his eyes caught on a gangly old man with a mess of golden hair.
"Come on, please, I just want to speak with him for a second! I promise he'll want to hear what I have to say!"
"I'm sorry sir, but Mr Midoria isn't taking visitors at the moment. If you're here to set up a future appointment for the Kronos treatment, I can write your name down on the waiting list."
Bakugo frowned as he passed the man. Something about him seemed… familiar. But he pushed it out of his mind as he followed Yuara up the building to the top floor. She opened a door and ushered Bakugo inside.
There, sitting at a desk the size of someone who made more in a day than most men did in a year, was Izuku Midoriya.
Izuku glanced up from the paper he had been reading, and the moment Bakugo looked at those Emerald eyes he knew .
They were the same eyes he'd looked at while bullying a boy on the playground.
They were the same eyes he'd seen while staring down the Soverign at the coronation.
"Well… It's been a long time, Bakugo." Izuku leaned back in his seat and waved his employee off. "Leave us Yuyara, this is personal."
Yuyara nodded, and left the room with a nasty look at Bakugo, leaving him alone in the same room with the person he'd been chasing for several weeks.
Okay… how did he approach this delicately? On one hand he wanted to apologize for everything he'd ever done, maybe even let Izuku punch him a few times for good sake, but he also needed to broach the topic of, you know, Izuku being the most wanted man in Japan.
Bakugo took a deep breath and opened his mouth.
"I know you're the Sovereign of Sins."
…
" Fuck , man, I suck at this. Can I get a redo?"
-Chapter End-
Ah Bakugo, this is why you always spec at least a few points into speech. Hopefully you don't get shot immediately.
Speaking of getting shot immediately, am I the only one who was suspicious about how easily the MLA was able to swoop in and kill the head of the HPSC?
Yeah? Just me? No one else thought about it? At all? Okay, yeah that sounds right. I'm the wacko conspiracy nut who reads into everything, other people are the normal ones.
Sadge.
*Sips Hot Chocolate*
Shout out to my good friends who help me write these chapters, participate in polls, and give background character ideas, so deserve to get their name signed in the credits.
MidnightHydro! (The Mighty!), Eternal Guard (The Emboldened!), Helios (The Honored!), thegodfather (The Great!), 0RB! (The 0pulant!), Rom Hack (The Robotic Housekeeper!), and Indyk (The Insatiable Imperial!)
Nvsoulsborne, ShelDrake, Tom Tat, Gage Donaldson, The Brandonator, Nuckles222, wolfwind01010, Thrawn, TheButterButter, Twin the Commissar, PrisonDIctator, and Adante!
Alex Estrugo, Blue_port, Eledu, Nyte, Elenium935, Jac, Jaydon Adams, jordan arrow, Max Buckner, phil, Quan Perryman, WiseKitsune, Spam2Spam, Gavin, GrimDeathKnight, Hamza Abdallah, Indie, Aswin Suthan, SonicDJM, EngineerLife24, drwinter169, Prince of Ruin, SILENGE, Lord_of_Pola, Fan38264
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット