Chương 26: Endeavor
Endeavor was hosting a press conference.
He practically growled when yet another reporter had the audacity to question his property damage. Seriously? Who cared if a few buildings burned down as long as he put those villain scum where they belonged? He wouldn't even be holding this press conference but his PR team insisted that it was important to be visible if he wanted to maintain his place as the number one hero, especially since some idiot wannabe reporter had released his sealed property damage reports yesterday. He was going to find whatever idiot thought that was a good idea and ruin their career, but first, he had a press conference to get through.
"Endeavor, what do you have to say about your missing son, Shouto? Are you any closer to finding him?"
Endeavor grit his teeth. Of course they were trying to bait him by reminding him that his masterpiece was still missing, "There have been no leads at this time, but I assure you that I will find Shouto and bring him home. Those villains are going to regret taking my son."
"Well, that's rather rude, isn't it Father?" All eyes went to the speaker and Endeavor's eyes widened as he saw his son walking up behind the mass of reporters, the villain Dabi smirking beside him, "If you wanted to talk to me so badly, you could have just asked. No point in making threats if you can't follow through with them."
The reporters parted to let Shouto and Dabi through, most scrambling to get out of the way of a known villain while the braver ones shoved mics in Shouto's face. Both kinds were ignored as Shouto and Dabi continued moving toward Endeavor, staring at him steadily. Endeavor cursed. He wanted to attack Dabi, but couldn't risk harming Shouto, not to mention the impact it would have on his rating if any of these stupid reporters ended up as collateral damage.
Shouto had changed since he last saw him. He'd cut his hair, for one, wearing it in some ridiculous style that was popular among the uncultured masses for some reason. Endeavor scowled. He'd have to make sure Shouto grew his hair out again so he looked dignified and set himself apart from the rabble. He also carried himself with more confidence, which Endeavor would be almost proud of if his masterpiece wasn't walking side by side with a villain without attacking him.
Shouto's outfit was frankly ridiculous, it was almost as if he'd picked it out to match Dabi , but that couldn't be right. His masterpiece would never sink so low, so it was probably some horrific coincidence or something the villains had forced him into. He wore a dark red tank top and black jeans with holes in them. He'd paired the outfit with a billowing navy overcoat similar to Dabi's, except without sleeves, showing off his muscular arms. Another unfortunate choice Endeavor would have to beat out of him.
Shouto felt powerful. He could hear whispers running through the crowd, wondering if he'd escaped and what he was doing with a member of the league. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a few horrified expressions as some of the smarter reporters connected the dots. Good.
Endeavor was scowling at him, most likely judging his new aesthetic and fantasizing about the best way to beat it out of him. Too bad he'd never get the chance. He could see Endeavor mentally weighing the benefits of flat out attacking Dabi right then, but Shouto knew his father wouldn't be able to without risking his ever important popularity rating. Endeavor was predictable, if nothing else.
It was going to make him easy to kill.
"Shouto. I give you permission to freeze that villain." Oh, so that's how Endeavor was going to play this, huh? Just give Shouto emergency permission, then he won't have to worry about his popularity going down even if there was collateral damage because what father wouldn't encourage his son to protect himself?
Shouto gave his best innocently confused expression, "But, Father, why would I attack my own brother?"
Whispers broke out among the reporters and Shouto glared at Endeavor, "Oh, that's right. I don't think you ever told them about Touya, did you? Afterall, he didn't have the perfect quirk like I did," Shouto spat, "he was just another one of our mother's failures. Isn't that what you told us growing up?"
"Hey Dad." Dabi smiled. "Did you miss me?"
Some of the reporters were on their phones, trying to figure out if Touya Todoroki really existed. The records wouldn't be too difficult to find, Izuku had made sure of that. Endeavor himself looked like he'd seen a ghost, which in a way, Shouto supposed he had. It must be difficult to have the runaway son you'd written off as dead come back into your life as a villain.
"By the way Father, I won't be… how did you put it? Ah, that's right, coming home anytime soon. In fact, I don't intend to come home at all." He felt a thrill at Endeavor's enraged expression. "I'm not just Shouto anymore." Shouto said, tossing his arms out to his sides dramatically as he stared down his father, "I go by Freezerburn now."
In unison, both he and Dabi shot fire at Endeavor, who simply scowled and remained unmoved. Some of the smarter reporters started to run away and Shouto rolled his eyes and froze them in place. Their plan relied on having a captive audience, after all.
"Ah, ah, ah! We can't have that!" Dabi sent a jet of superheated flame out to the side and ignited a trail of gasoline they had set before the press conference, creating a massive wall of flame around the area. The reporters started to scream and push against each other as they realized they were boxed in.
"Give up this childish rebellion, Shouto." Endeavor's voice rose above the sounds of the flames, "I don't know what poisonous lies this man been telling you, but I created you to be a hero, not whatever this is. Don't ruin your future."
The media had started to calm down despite the hostage situation and had their cameras trained on Shouto, waiting for his next move. He returned his father's glare, "What future? My future as a hero? Or a future as your masterpiece?" Endeavor's eyes widened minutely. "Either way, it's no great loss. I didn't ask for either one."
"Shouto…" Endeavor growled, but Shouto ignored him, making sure to speak loud enough that the cameras could hear him.
"You were the one that forced my mother into a marriage she didn't want, just to get your hands on her quirk. You were the one that isolated me from the world from the moment my quirk manifested so that others wouldn't get in my way. You were the one who beat me black and blue every day of my childhood and called it training."
The only sounds that could be heard were the roar of the flames and the approaching sirens. The media held their breath as they waited to see how Endeavor would respond to his accusations.
"Come home, Shouto. You will become a hero."
Shouto sighed and shook his head, "If being a hero means being like you, I'd rather be a villain." He looked up at his father, "At least I'm being honest about who I really am."
"Enough, Shouto." Endeavor growled. "I will not stand for this!"
"Then fall." Shouto stomped down with his right foot and sent a river of ice toward the podium his father was standing behind, encasing it in solid ice. Endeavor simply kicked the block, knocking it to the floor where it shattered with an icy crash. He ran at Shouto, but had temporarily forgotten about Dabi, who came at him from behind, barbequing his back with blue fire.
"Hmph," Endeavor turned toward Dabi with contempt, "did you forget that never worked when you were younger, Touya?"
"Oh, I'm just warming up!" Dabi taunted. "Besides, you can't even go all out right now because of all these reporters, so you can't hurt me either."
Endeavor shot a ball of flame as Dabi, who dodged to stand beside Shouto in front of the reporters, effectively using them as a shield.
"If we're going to fight, let's fight!" Endeavor yelled. "Only cowards use hostages."
"And only cowards beat their kids, so I guess that makes us even!" Dabi yelled back.
The sirens were getting closer now, they'd probably arrive in under a minute along with at least a handful of heroes. Shouto and Dabi exchanged a look before turning around and firing into the crowd, superheating the air, but being sure to keep their attacks weak enough that the reporters would only be injured, not killed. Arriving heroes wouldn't be distracted by rescuing corpses, afterall.
Endeavor tackled Dabi, obviously seeing him as the bigger threat. Shouto rolled his eyes switched to ice. Might as well create a variety of injuries for the heroes to deal with when they arrived. Dabi and Endeavor grappled on the ground for a few moments before the fire trucks arrived and water started falling. A few hoses focused on carving pathways through the wall of flames, allowing some heroes through. They took one look at the hundred or so injured, screaming reporters and cursed.
"Let's take this elsewhere, yeah?" Dabi smiled. "You wouldn't want to get in the way of the rescue efforts, would you?"
He got up and ran away with Shouto on his heels, letting Endeavor chase after them. Apparently the area of the city they were in had already been evacuated, because they didn't run into anyone else. The other heroes apparently trusted that Endeavor could take care of his sons and didn't come to help. Everything was going according to the plan.
Shouto caught Dabi's eye and they headed into an evacuated office building, making it a few floors up before turning around and letting Endeavor catch up to them. Endeavor burst in through the door, rage mixing with betrayal in his eyes, which just made Shouto angier. What right did he have to feel betrayed after what he had done to them?
"You're weak, boys." Endeavor advanced with flames in both his hands. "I thought I raised you better than this."
"Oh Dad." Dabi replied, "This is what you raised us for."
Endeavor sent a stream of fire at Dabi, who returned it with one of his own. The enclosed space turned into an oven as the flames burned hotter and the heat was unable to escape. Shouto used his right side to cool both himself and his brother, but left Endeavor to overheat.
"I've indulged you for far too long. Let's finish this." Endeavor said. "It's a shame to have to damage my masterpiece, but it's worth it to get you back on track. Flashfire Fist: Prominence Burn! "
Shouto created a massive dome of ice just in time to shield them from the attack, but it was vaporized almost instantly. The jet of fire ripped through the wall behind them and pushed both him and Dabi out onto the street. Shouto could dimly hear a helicopter recording the fight from above.
"Dabi? Are you ok?" Shouto crouched next to his brother, who was kneeling on the ground, and cooled the air around them.
"I'm fine, Shouto." he grunted, standing up. "It's not like I'm not used to it."
"Surrender now." Endeavor ordered, jumping down to the street and walking toward them. He was breathing hard and sweat had soaked through his costume, which was only made worse by the raging fire behind him. Shouto gave Dabi a small smile, who returned it with a grin and created a firewall around the three of them.
"Seems like you're looking a little worse for the wear there, huh Dad?" Dabi taunted. "Isn't Prominence Burn one of those special moves that makes you overheat?"
"It doesn't matter, villain." Endeavor kept advancing. "This fight won't last much longer."
"Are you sure about that?" Shouto stood up straight and frosted over his left side. "I can go on for hours."
Endeavor scowled and shot another fireball at Shouto, who blocked it with an ice wall, "The more you use your fire, father, the more I can use my ice. You should know that, considering that it was you're the one who wanted this quirk so badly."
Endeavor was panting now, but stubbornly kept up his attacks, even letting lose another Prominence Burn, though the second was much weaker than the first had been. Shouto smiled slightly when Endeavor went to take a step, but stumbled, swaying slightly as he regained his balance. Shouto nodded at Dabi, who shot another fireball at Endeavor's back. His heat exhaustion made him too slow to doge it and he cried out as the flames burned him.
"How do you like that , Dad?" Dabi spat. "How does it feel to burn as you're forced to overuse your quirk?"
Endeavor just grunted and shot another attack. Shouto glanced up at the news helicopter circling above them. They needed to wrap this up before more back up came.
"Well, Father," Shouto started Endeavor in the eyes when his father whipped around to face him, "I'd say goodbye, but it's really more like good riddance." He slammed his right foot to the ground and sent jagged spears of ice toward his father. Endeavor's eyes widened and he tried to dodge, but between Dabi's flame wall and his own relentless attacks, he had gotten far too hot to continue to the fight. A thick icicle hissed as it struck his chest, but as soon as it melted, it was replaced by another, each one penetrating deep into Endeavor's torso.
Dabi extinguished his firewall and watched as Shouto's ice stopped melting immediately and instead turned red as it was coated with blood. He went to stand next to Shouto and watch their father's face as his angry expression turned to one of pain, then faded all together as the life left his eyes.
There was a long moment where everything was silent. Shouto couldn't hear the roar of fires, or the sound of the helicopter, or the approaching sirens, or even Dabi asking him if he was ok. The only thing he could think was what he had just done. Shouto had actually killed that bastard for what he'd done to their family. Suddenly, he threw his head back and laughed. As hard as he tried, he couldn't stop it as he ran out of breath and felt his cheeks start to ache as Dabi joined in.
He was free.
Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
-- Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
-- Đá
Quyền lực