MHA: Undying

“YOU ARE NOT MY SON.” All Might clenches his fist as he bends his legs. “BUT AFTER I TAKE YOU DOWN, YOU WILL TELL ME WHAT YOU DID WITH HIS BODY. HE DESERVES A PROPER BURIAL.”

I can’t help but snort at his words as I set myself, raising my knives in front of me. “Nice to know that some things never change. You still have your head so far up your butt that you can’t see anything but your own beliefs.” I grin. “I’m going to enjoy removing both of them.”

Behind him, Izumi raises her hand, her eyes darting between the two of us even as she falls to her knees, her breathing heavy. “W-wai-”

Her words are meaningless. While Midnight’s quirk starts to flow from her, All Might launches himself at me, his fist coming down towards my head before I can react. It’s a good thing I have good instincts.

I jump forward and swing a knife into his upper arm, barely getting enough of a hold to bring myself up as his fist buries itself into the arena floor. I give a little wave while standing on his arm, taking immense satisfaction in his stunned expression. “You’re getting slow, old man. Your injury giving you issues? Spreading, maybe? Must be getting frustrated, huh?”

I lash out with my foot, planting it firmly on his face but only getting a grimace as a reward before he reaches over with his free hand to grab me. Scowling, I back flip off of his arm, giving my knife a firm tug to get it free.

Skin lacks any reinforcement, but excessive muscle mass makes inflicting anything more than a superficial injury much more difficult. If my knives weren’t quirk reinforced it’s unlikely that I would have done anything but cut the skin. Conducting second test…

I roll under a wide swing, coming up on his injured side. “Now!” I watch as his eyes widen, as the realization that I’m with the League of Villains -and thus, know his weakness- enter his mind. He twists his body, trying to bring his arms in to cover his injury. But he’s too slow. He clenches his teeth and-

I put a gun to his head and pull the trigger.

BANG!

…

I duck under a jab as I scowl, unable to properly glare at Izumi without taking my eyes off my opponent. I can only direct my annoyance at her mentally while keeping her in the corner of my eye. She has one hand outstretched, the green glow of her quirk fading from her using it to jerk the gun away. Luckily I managed to hold on to it, but the bullet ended up going into the sky instead of into his head. How am I supposed to properly find out if he’s bulletproof without shooting him myself!

Izumi’s other hand is pressed to her chest, and she’s taking slow, deep breaths as she looks at us, and even though her emotions are clearly a wreck, there’s determination in her eyes even as she sways unsteadily. Not very smart to take deep breaths while Midnight is putting out with her quirk, and the hyperventilation didn’t help either.

Of course she’d get in the way.

I go into a roll as All Might brings his hands in from both sides to grab my arms, going between his legs and coming up behind him. And more importantly, out of Izumi’s sight. I raise my gun for a second try and start to pull the trigger.

Bang!

All of a sudden a different gun goes off, and mine drops from my hand as a hole gets blown in it, blood splattering onto All Might’s back.

“Flooded Dam,” I curse to myself as I sidestep with All Might’s turns to stay behind him. “I thought that Snipe was patrolling the town!” It certainly hasn’t been long enough for him to get back to the stadium yet!

A second shot rings out, this time chipping off part of the arena floor next to my foot. And thanks to the damage done I can follow the angle to its source…

I blink and miss a step from surprise when I see that it is not Snipe who shot me, but instead a raven-haired girl sporting a spiky ponytail and a determined expression. I can’t help but laugh even as All Might manages to land a swing, my flight away from him signaled by the sound of my arm breaking much worse than the clean one I did to myself to get into the Festival, as well as a couple of ribs. I cough up blood that stains my teeth as I smile at Yaoyorozu.

“Glad you took my advice, Little Rich!”

She doesn’t reply, keeping the gun trained on me while the students around her stare at her with their mouth hanging open in shock. And a few in suspicion. The exceptions are a pink girl who’s staring at Izumi worriedly, Uraraka who looks completely confused -understandable- and Kachan, who’s pale and angry.

I land on the edge of the arena, rolling to a stop before I go over the edge. I test my weight on my broken arm but immediately come to the conclusion that it can’t support me. I push myself up to my knees using my uninjured arm. My mask is cracked now, letting wisps of Midnight’s quirk through. A quick glance confirms that Izumi has already succumbed to it, laying on her front, passed out.

Eight- no, five minutes before I pass out. Even though her quirk is more effective against males than females, Izumi took it all to the face while what seeps through my mask can barely constitute as leftovers.

I smirk at All Might, even though it’s hidden behind my mask. “Well, this is a change of pace. Upgrading your ‘Worst Father of the Year’ award? Gotta say, moving up from neglect to abuse isn’t really original. How about you try switching things around? Izumi’s defenseless and right over there, so how about-”

A fist to the face forces me to be silent and breaks my mask, my goggles, and probably my jaw but definitely my nose as I fall back to the ground. Maybe a minute before her gas knocks me out.

“SILENCE, VILLAIN.” All Might’s voice booms across the stadium, halting the audience’s evacuation. Much to the other heroes’ dismay. “YOU HAVE LOST. AND ALL YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED HERE TODAY IS PROVING THAT UA, AS ALWAYS, STANDS STRONG AGAINST VILLAINS! THAT GOOD WILL ALWAYS TRIUMPH OVER EVIL! THAT THERE IS NOTHING-”

“I planted bombs in the tunnels under the stadium seating, and if you don’t shut up I will have them detonated.” Jaw isn’t broken then, though the grinding sensation when I speak certainly points to something being wrong.

“-YOU CAN- WHAT?”

I laugh at the utter bafflement on his face, choking a bit on some blood. “You didn’t really think I came here today to kill you, did you?” My laughter intensifies as his expression changes. “You did! Wow, you’re even dumber than I thought you were. No, All Might.”

I bare my teeth at him in a bloody grin as my vision darkens, and the virus’ timer finally hits zero. The display screen changes from showing Izumi and Shoko’s images for what the match was supposed to be, to a video of me.

“You’re not important to Shigaraki’s goal, Toshinori Yagi. Not really. It’s your reputation that needs to be broken for hero society to fall. My payback is just the icing…on…the…cake…” My voice trails off as darkness claims me, but I don’t wake up across from Receptionist’s annoyed face.

Instead, the next time I open my eyes I’m surrounded by the glares of glitterfied UA heroes, and am strapped to a hospital bed.

“Oh sweet niblets.”

`~`

The video plays as Midosagi falls unconscious and the audience stares at it with apprehension, ignoring the heroes who are trying to usher them out and to safety. But with the villain defeated, what danger is there? That is the mentality propagated through the population, cultivated through countless years.

As for the bombs, the microphone Midosagi was using to project his voice over the speakers was located within his mask. So with it destroyed, his warning went unheard.

Unaware of the potential threat to their lives, the audience watches as the video starts with bated breath, wondering what the person claiming relation to All Might has to say.

Meanwhile, Principal Nezu is rushing through the secret tunnels in the stadium, trying to make it to one of his emergency offices before the video plays. Because he knows the kinds of things that Midosagi can release to the public. Depending on what he reveals, society may fall.

But he doesn’t make it in time.

“Hello, hello! Is this thing on?” A Midosagi wrapped in a cloth waves at the camera, or rather, the person behind the camera. “Good, thanks again for helping me with this.”

There’s no response from the person, though the sound of a door closing echoes from the screen. He nods before looking directly into the camera. “You may be wondering who that was, but guess what? You don’t~ get to know~ow.” He mocks them in a sing-song tone before his eyes suddenly go serious above his mask.

“If you’re watching this, then I probably got overwhelmed with emotion and did something stupid. Which also means that I’m dead.”

A wave of shock runs through the crowd and they turn their attention to the beaten and bloody body of the boy down in the arena. Feeling the sudden rise in tension, All Might crouches down and makes a show of putting two fingers on Midosagi’s neck. He stands up.

“HE’S ALIVE.”

His words cause the audience to be relieved, and the medical bots arrive to take him to the infirmary. Though a couple of heroes stealthily withdraw to head there themselves, cautious of the boy waking up. Mostly.

“I figured that even if I’m dead, the truth should be known.” Midosagi takes a shaky breath as he lets the cloth fall back behind him, revealing that he’s shirtless. But that’s not what has the audience gasping, a few of them retching.

No, that dubious ‘honor’ belongs to the myriad of scars that cover him. From his hands to his shoulders, from his waist to his chest, they would be hard-pressed to find a single decently-sized piece of unmarked skin.

He raises one hand and completely removes his mask, including the neck wrap, which he places to the side. Another susurration goes through the crowd at what they see. There’s a jagged scar that encircles his entire neck, as if… they don’t even know how someone could have gotten a scar like that and survived.

“My name, is Izuku Midoriya Usagi. Though most of you would know me by my villain name, Midosagi. But that was not always my name. The name I was given at birth…”

He takes a deep breath before leaning back, cushioned by the cloth barely tied around his neck to make a cape. “My birth name, was

Izuku Yagi. Son of Toshinori Yagi and Inko Yagi. Brother of Izumi Yagi.” Looks are directed at the unconscious girl as she’s carried from the stadium as well, her face pale and sweaty in unconsciousness.

“Congratulations!” Midosagi claps, a wide smile on his face. “Now you know who I am!” His smile drops. “What you don’t know is that I’m not the only one who’d be better known from my ‘professional’ name. You see, Toshinori Yagi is…”

He pauses for dramatic effect before bringing his hands up in front of his face and making celebratory noises. “Do-do-do-dooo!” He throws his hands out to the side. “A hero! And I bet none of you would ever guess what his hero name is! Could you? Go ahead, guess! I’ll wait.”

He crosses one leg above the other and holds it with his hands, indeed giving the audience time to guess about his father’s identity. But they don’t have to, all of their eyes going to All Might who’s staring at the screen with slowly dawning realization and disbelief written on his face.

Midosagi claps. “All done! Now, if any of you guessed ‘All Might’ congratulations! You are corr~rrect!” He makes another celebratory noise before leaning forward. “If you want to know what he looks like when he’s not buff, check out the roster sheet for the people who work at Might Tower! It’s public information, so just go ahead and search up ‘Toshinori Yagi. Now, all of you get a prize! For guessing correctly, I’m going to tell you a story. You wanna know how I got these scars?”

He gives his widest smile yet, the corners of his lips bleeding from how wide he stretches it. He points to a hand-shaped scar on his upper left arm. “You see, someone, not naming any names since it will be like a game of hide and seek for you all to figure out. Anyways, someone decided that they didn’t like the fact that I was standing a few centimeters away from the wall while they walked through the school’s hallways. Something about how I shouldn’t try to avoid them.”

He shrugs. “Let’s ignore the fact that the day before they specifically told me to stay away from them.” He waves it aside. “Not important. Anyways. He said that I needed a reminder about why I shouldn’t ‘look down on him’.” He snorts. “Talk about insecure, am I right?”

He pauses a moment before giving another shrug and pointing to his left wrist, where the skin looks… warped, for lack of a better word. “Got this one when a different someone decided they didn’t like how I draw. So they twisted my hand. ‘Not as bad as the other one’ you may think, but here’s the kicker.”

He leans forward and puts a hand to the side of his mouth as if sharing a secret. “They used their quirk and kept the skin twisted for hours.” He waves the scar closer to the camera as he makes his voice more nasally. “Gross, right? But wait, there’s more!”

He points to a different scar and tells its story. Then he does it again. And again. And again. Each scar seemingly has an inane or otherwise petty reason as to why they were inflicted upon him, and the crowd is starting to get angry. Yes, he is now a villain. But from the way he’s talking these were all inflicted upon him before he started on that path! Hell, with how young he looks they don’t think he was even in high school when he got them!

Finally, he points to the scar encircling his neck, and the audience tenses for what they believe will be the most horrifying story.

“This one I actually got… let’s say by accident.” He chuckles before tapping his head with a fist and sticking his tongue out while looking away from the camera. “Tee-hee.”

And just like that the video gets screamed at by the inevitably betrayed audience. He laughs as he rocks backwards. “Sorry, sorry. But you know…”

He trails off leadingly. “It does lead you to wonder where All Might was during all of this, doesn’t it?”

A murmur runs through the audience as they realize that, if he’s telling the truth, then as his father All Might should have known about the abuse. Hell, the torture.

“Well, if you want to know…” He pauses for a good five minutes, all the sympathy he built up with the crowd beginning to give way to irritation. Human empathy at its finest.

He throws his hands out. “Then you’ll just have to wait for part two of my podcast: ‘The Truth Revealed’!” He laughs while a few scattered boos ring out from the crowd, quickly silenced by the glares of those who understand the seriousness of what’s been revealed.

“But I’ll give you a little teaser.” He says as he gets up and walks to the camera, crouching down so his face fills the screen, eyes blazing with anger.

“All Might didn’t care enough to notice.”

The video cuts off, darkness filling the screen. The crowd looks down at the arena to see the number one hero's reaction, but he’s already gone.