Chương 24: Chapter 24
"You know, maybe this was a bad idea?" The Herrscher noted as she looked the front of Izuku's apartment. She was in her 'casual' clothes as she stood outside.
"Don't tell me you're actually scared of my mom?" Izuku wondered aloud as he looked at the Herrscher's response. She could easily kill tons of Honkai Beasts, fly them to the moon and back in a single night, and piss off numerous pro heroes, but she was intimidated by his mom.
"I'm not scared." The Herrscher denied. "I'm just thinking the idea might not be good. Your mom is a nice lady, and she ought to enjoy the peace of mind her ignorance and obliviousness can provide."
"She's not going to stop bugging us if you don't show up and reassure her." Izuku told the Herrscher. "She's worried about you." He sighed.
Void sighed. Of course, leave it to an exception, a bleeding heart, to worry about her, humanity's destroyer. "Your mom is a fool for worrying about me."
"I beg to differ."
"Whatever," Void huffed as she slapped her cheeks and got into her human persona. She pulled her sleeves down till there was excess over her hands and slouched her posture. The last piece was pulling up her hoodie and fixing her glasses on her face. She cleared her throat, trying to pitch her voice slightly higher than usual. "Testing one, two, three." She repeated. "Neko-charm," She cheered.
"What?" Izuku questioned.
"I needed something weird to say," Void answered as she knocked on the door.
A few minutes later, the door opened revealing none other than Inko Midoriya herself. The short woman looked at the girl before, her eyes widening slowly. "Hey, Mrs. Midoriya," Void…no… 'Sirin' greeted.
"Sirin," Inko greeted warmly. "How are you? Is everything all right? Izuku stepped out not too long ago. Do you want me to call him?" She prattled off.
"No…no its fine Mrs. Midoriya." Sirin assured her. "I actually wanted to come and see you." She explained. "I think I may have overreacted the last time and I wanted to apologize."
"Oh, do you want to come inside?" Inko offered.
"I wouldn't want to impose," Sirin told her.
"Oh, alright, we can talk out here if you want to," Inko told her.
"Um…well…I was actually thinking maybe we could talk about it, while we take a walk?" Sirin offered. A walk was good, it kept them moving, and she liked that, to move, to not stay still for too long.
"Sure," Inko said. "I'll just go and lock up." She informed as she headed back inside leaving Sirin alone with her thoughts and the green-haired boy she shared them with.
"A walk?" Izuku wondered. That wasn't exactly the plan they had in mind, but it seemed to ease the nerves of the Herrscher.
"I'm not good sitting still, plus it will be far easier for me to just get lost in the ground and ditch your mom." Void reasoned.
"You say that but…" Izuku trailed off.
"But what?"
"Nothing," Izuku answered. No sooner had he finished, than his mom opened the door in some casual clothes for a walk around the area.
The walk was…awkward if Izuku had to best describe it. Neither party had spoken to the other for the duration. With his mom, he understood her silence, she was being polite, but the Herrscher's silence was not something he'd expected. "I wonder if it's due to her nature." Izuku pondered.
From what he knew she was a being of rage, hate, and sadness. She was made of negative emotions, so perhaps she just had trouble processing those feelings in any other way. "Void…you need to talk to her," Izuku told her. "It was your idea to do this."
"Don't remind me." Void sighed internally. After walking to a rather familiar park, the Herrscher stopped and turned to Inko. "So about the last time we met," She started, slipping back into the 'Sirin' persona.
"I'm sorry if I did something to upset you or offend you." Inko apologized right away.
"No…no…that is not necessary," Sirin told her. "It was my fault that I overreacted." She explained. "I have a lot of bad memories with people or things touching me." She elaborated. "It's a personal issue, and I should have explained it to you beforehand, I just wasn't expecting you to be so forward," Sirin told Inko.
"I see, well, for what it's worth, I'm not upset by your actions," Inko told the girl. "I understand that we all go through our own hardships, some more difficult than others," Inko continued. "From what you've shared, you've had a hard life, let me and Izuku help make it easier," Inko told her.
Sirin stared dumbfounded at the woman. "You…you don't even know me," She reiterated.
Inko sighed. "Maybe, but still, what's the harm in helping someone." Inko wondered.
"Oh bother, you're naïve just like Izuku. No, now that I think about it, you're probably where he got it from." Sirin chuckled.
"I'll take that as a compliment," Inko told her. "Izuku," She repeated softly. "I won't lie to you Sirin, I was wary about you from when we first met," Inko told her.
"My son was secretly sneaking a strange girl into my home, without me knowing," Inko explained. "Any mother would be worried. Not to mention it is very easy to assume the worst. I thought he and you were…" Inko trailed off. "I'm not ready to be a grandma just yet." Inko exhaled.
"Wait…no…we never did any of that." Sirin quickly dismissed. "We never even kissed or hugged let alone that," Sirin informed as her face turned red. "We're just…good friends." She reiterated.
"I know that now," Inko told her. "At the time I was panicking and thinking a hundred different things worse than that. The point is, I'm not worried as much now, that I've met you." Inko explained. "You seem like a nice girl all things considered, and you and Izuku seem to get along well enough."
"Yeah…you could say we share many things with each other." Sirin laughed.
"That's good," Inko told her. "I know it's not my place to pry, but if you ever need someone to talk to besides Izuku or need help with anything, you can come to me," Inko informed.
"I'll keep that in mind," Sirin told her. However, their conversation was soon cut short by a loud rumble.
"What was that?" Inko questioned.
"My stomach." Sirin bashfully answered.
"You didn't eat?"
"I did but I was in a rush," Sirin answered.
"I know a food stand nearby," Inko told her.
"No that's not necessary," Sirin argued. Her stomach grumbled again. "Fine, maybe one." She told Inko.
"Where is it?" Eri wondered as she glanced around the lab. Overhaul was supposed to do another 'test' to try and fix her, but he had been called out to do some grown-up stuff, so she was now all alone. Looking around she noticed how his lab had recently been cleaned. There were now some empty beds, though the mattress still looked stained with blood and now there were some giant jugs filled with some strange glowing pink substance.
Curiously she made her way over to the container. It looked so pretty. She glanced at the label trying to decipher the words it spelt. "H-O-N-K-A-I. Hon-kai, Honkai." Eri said as she read the label. She tilted her head in confusion, she had no idea what that was.
Next to the Honkai container though she noticed a recording device. Overhaul often used those to record his voice. Maybe he had an explanation for it. She reached for it and picked it up off the table. She pressed play and then held it up to her ears.
"Honkai Test # 423: The potential cure." Overhaul's voice spoke. "I've done it. I found what may be my second breakthrough in the eradication of the quirk epidemic. The Honkai has proven itself useful in destroying quirks, not just temporarily like with Eri's quirk but also permanently." Eri's eyes widened at his words.
"A…A cure." She thought. Her arms started to shake with joy. Was it true? Did he finally have an honest-to-goodness cure? Eri stayed at the liquid once, it's pretty color was so calming and its warm glow felt so safe now. She smiled as she pressed play again.
"All a subject needs is to be injected with a small dosage and it can destroy the quirks in less than a day. Not just emitters, but also transformations and mutations, unlike Eri's quirk which only does the former. This is a huge breakthrough…with this…" Eri cut it off.
A cure, it was a real-life cure. She looked around the desk taking note of all the vials he had that stored the Honkai. All she would need was a little dose. She looked at one of the syringes, still holding a few drops of it. She hurried over to it, stretching her arms she reached out for the cure.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Overhauls snatched her arm and lifted Eri up by her collar. "I TOLD YOU TO STAY PUT!" He growled. He then noticed the Honkai nearby. "Wait..where you….are you insane?" He questioned.
"The cure…" Eri said weakly.
"It's not done yet." Overhaul told her as he quickly moved back to the operating table and dropped Eri on it. He wasted no time using his quirk to make a dome around the Honkai-related experiments. "Don't go interfering with it again, not until I tell you." He warned her. "Especially the Honkai."
"But…"
"NO!" He growled. Eri closed her mouth. "Good…now then…let's resume your treatment today." He told her.
"This is delicious," Sirin noted as she took another bite of her food. "What is it?"
"It's called loaded fries. It's basically French fries with some minced-up chicken mixed with a sauce on top." Inko told her as she finished hers.
"It's giving ramen a run for its money." Sirin smiled as she finished her meal.
"I suppose it does," Inko told her. She turned and paid the vendor and the two left the stand. "I'm really glad we got to have this talk," Inko told her.
"Yeah…me too," Sirin answered.
"So…where should we go…LOOK OUT!" Inko hurriedly pushed Sirin out of the way.
"HUH?" Sirin questioned as she looked up. She saw what she assumed to be a villain stomping around on the road.
"VILLAIN!" Some shouted as panic began to set in. It was a villain attack. Sirin rolled her eyes as she stood up. Inko beside already panicking.
"Easy ." Sirin tried to reassure her as she helped her up.
"Sirin, we got to go." Inko gasped.
"Yeah, let's hurry and go before we get caught, quick follow me," Sirin said as she turned to head away from the fight. So much for having an easy day.
"SIRIN!" Inko screamed. Sirin turned around only to see a long tentacle wrap around Inko before it pulled her away, the old woman screaming at the top of her voice.
"MOM!" "INKO!" Both Izuku and Void said together as they watched Inko get held up by the villain. He looked human enough, but he had several giant octopus arms sprouting from his back, several of which were holding a few hostages. Accompanying him were what looked like a humanoid rhino and an anthropomorphic scorpion, along with some others.
"We got to save her." Izuku told the Herrscher.
"What?" The Herrscher responded. She felt his desire pull her, tugging her forward. Her body responded if haphazardly. Luckily she was stopped by someone else.
"Not so fast, little lady, this a job for a hero," Some random guy told her. The Herrscher glared at the person, some low-ranked hero, and then took note of the other heroes arriving on the scene. Her body relaxed but she still felt Izuku tugging at her. Realizing the situation they were in, she took the Hero's advice and evacuated from the area.
"What are you doing?" Izuku argued. He still hadn't realized the effect he was having on their body.
"Seems like the heroes have it covered." The Herrscher excused as she looked back at the scene. "Probably for the best." Void dismissed as she tried to reassert control on her body.
"What?" Izuku argued. "Mom's in trouble, you have to help her." Izuku reasoned.
"Seriously," Void deadpanned. "You do realize if I show up things will get even worse right? Not only would we out ourselves to Inko, but we'd also reveal she's connected to us," She pointed out.
"That won't matter if she's dead," Izuku argued. "I saw how you were acting back there. Even if you claim to pretend, you do like my mom." Izuku tried to reason. "I know that much."
"No…I…"
"Save it," Izuku said. The panic was setting in. "I know it's important to trust the pros, but we both know you're stronger, and the pros aren't always guaranteed to save them." He pleaded. "Please…you have the power."
"But it's not my responsibility," Void retorted. It didn't last though as much as she didn't want to admit. "Fine…I'll do it." She told him. She was going to do it anyway but still.
The Herrscher hurried into a nearby bathroom and entered into one of the stalls. Shutting it, she let her power flow, changing into her usual outfit and then warping to the top of the roof.
"Alright then." She cracked her knuckles. It was going to be her versus these six sinister-looking villains.
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