Chapter Text
“You!” A shout echoed from behind Izuku as the massive structure before him garnered his awe. But he couldn’t spend too long admiring the towering heights of UA, or its majestic gardens that lined the walkways to the school’s entrance, because someone was behind him.
“Bakugo…” Izuku turned on his heel to face the wrath-filled blonde.
Momo tensed up beside him, stepping back from the situation, but ready to throw herself at Bakugo if the chance arose. She knew this was Izuku’s battle, so she’d give them space for now, it was what he wanted, much to her chagrin.
“You don’t belong here!”
“Why?” Izuku asked simply, his voice level despite the pounding of his heart. He wasn’t scared, not in the slightest. By this point, he and Bakugo, if nothing else, were equals. But in reality, Izuku far outpaced his childhood friend. He was filled with emotion, desperately trying to remain calm, for the sake of maturity.
“Extras don’t belong at a place like this!”
“I don’t think it’s fair to call me that.” Izuku responded. “I helped clear a Recursive Gate for my Entrance Exam. I survived a freak accident in a Gate. I went through a Reawakening and got a Quirk. I’ve been through more than enough to no longer be an ‘extra.’”
Bakugo scoffed. “Once an extra, always an extra! It’s not about what you have now! You’ll always be the same person deep down!” By now the surrounding trickle of students had noticed the altercation, gathering around the duo in curiosity. Bakugo’s shouting never helped.
“You’re right. I am the same person. The same person who wants to provide for his family, and save lives.” Izuku shook his head. “We were friends once. Good friends. The type of friends that basically lived with each other. We were almost brothers. Why? Why throw all that away for some stupid pride?”
“Pride?!” Bakugo shoved his finger into Izuku’s chest. “You don’t know a damn thing about pride! Just some worthless E-Rank who pathetically threw himself into Raiding Teams so he could scrounge around in the dirt for money! You don’t know a damn thing!”
“Yeah? And do you know what it’s like to have death breathing down your neck? Do you know that feeling so completely that you remember it when you go to sleep and wake up?” Izuku spat out, all of his pent-up anger and sadness spilling out. “You’re right. I don’t know alot about pride, not like you, because I realized, in all the times I’d come close to the reaper, pride means nothing when you’re seconds away from death.” Izuku’s aura began to leak out, Monarch’s Presence being activated, freezing Bakugo in place. “I can take pride in avoiding death time and time again. And I can take pride in saving people from a Gate that held thousands of High-Orcs. So yeah, you can keep your pride about always being Number 1, whatever that means. But I know that I wasn’t born with some silver spoon in my mouth, yet I subverted death day after day. You’ve never faced that thing down, not like me. In my mind, that makes you the extra.”
Every capillary in Bakugo’s body damn-near bursted with rage. It was so intense, that even Monarch’s Presence was swept aside.
“SCREW YOU!” He screamed, swinging his fist at Izuku’s face.
Izuku just leaned back. “You really can’t just put this behind you? You can’t think rationally for even a moment? Forget the past. You and me both. Let’s just go back to being friends.”
But Bakugo didn’t listen, swinging again and again and again, growing more frustrated with each miss. Izuku wasn’t retaliating, just avoiding as he tried to speak with him.
“I SAID SCREW YOU!” His open palm flew towards Izuku, who delicately slapped it aside, directing it upwards, so that the explosion that erupted from his hand hurt no one.
“Yeah… Well even as an E-Rank, I managed to avoid attacks from vastly stronger opponents. You really think you can hit me like this?” Izuku recalled his experience in that Dungeon for the first time, that spider-like creature attacking him. Even though he’d lost an arm during that, he’d managed to predict it and save himself from absolute obliteration. This… This was pathetic in comparison.
“I’m not gonna fight you,” Izuku declared.
“Why?! Because you know you’ll lose?!”
Izuku stared directly into Bakugo’s eyes, unleashing every ounce of Mana he had within himself, even drawing upon the strength of Momo and the other Shadows. “No… Because extras aren’t worth my time.”
In that singular instance, Bakugo felt something creeping up behind him. A cold deity with a scythe in its hands. One that had beset Izuku too many times to count.
DEATH
Bakugo froze, a cold sweat running down his back. “What is this… feeling? Why can’t I move?”
“Yeah… that’s what I thought,” Izuku said. “I faced that every day and still managed to keep moving forward. But you’re just standing there. If this were serious, you’d already be dead.”
“HEY! HEY! What’s going on out here?!” A voice shouted from the entrance of the school, near the back of the crowd.
“Woah… she’s hot.”
“Is that clothing allowed?”
“I mean, we’re all over 18 so I say go for it.”
Izuku didn’t even have to see or sense the person to know who it was.
“Good morning, Miss Midnight,” Izuku respectfully greeted, bowing low to one of his soon-to-be teachers. “Me and an old acquaintance were… disputing some bad blood.” He rose back to his full height. “But we’re all done now,” He said conclusively, Bakugo still grappling with the existential sensation that Izuku could now exude. “I’m sorry for causing a scene.”
“I… see…” Midnight paused for a moment. “Well I suppose it can be forgiven. After all, I do owe you and your fellow classmates, Yui Kodai, and Setsuna Tokage a sincere gratitude for saving all of our lives.” She returned Izuku’s bow, causing a few of the boys in the crowd to groan with jealousy.
“How do you do that in such high heels?” Momo muttered, leaning around the crowd to see her technique. She was a fashion-privy girl herself, but she’d never really mastered things like high heels or even really makeup. She lived alone for so long that function greatly overshadowed form. Of course, that didn’t mean she wasn’t learning to impress a certain someone close to her.
“Oh I’d be more than aroused… er excited to teach such a pretty girl like yourself how to strut her stuff!” Midnight happily cried out, making Momo blush something fierce. Discussing this in a crowd was a little… too much for her.
Thankfully, the chiming of a bell caused the crowd to begin dispersing.
“Oh dear! Looks like it’s time to begin teaching the youthful and virile next generation!” She began “strutting” off into the school, attracting many a gaze, both male and female.
Izuku turned around, but Bakugo was already gone.
“You okay?” Momo asked, laying a hand on his shoulder.
“Y-Yeah… I just… Heh, it didn’t really go as I hoped it would.”
“Well, you avoided hitting him. Which is both impressive and a little disappointing at the same time,” Momo teased, earning a small smile. “I know you really want him to change. I know you want to put this all behind you and let bygones be bygones. But you need to know that some people… they just can’t change.” She said, knowing more than enough about the nature of humanity than most her age should.
Izuku nodded. “I know… and hey, maybe I’ll get the chance to hit him during training… UA does have sparring practice after all…” He still looked dejected, but he felt lighter. He had gotten some of the angst and bitterness off of his chest. For now, that was enough.
“Well if it isn’t our Hero!” A familiar voice cried out from the school’s front gate.
Izuku’s day brightened as he spotted the girl who had called out, and the girl beside her. “Setsuna! Yui!”
“Sup chumps!” She responded in jest. “Who’s this? Your girlfriend?”
Momo and Izuku exchanged glances, unsure of what to say. Thankfully, that glance was more than enough for Setsuna.
“Oh okay, so you guys are like dating, but super awkward about it around other people, gotcha.” She turned to Yui, who was quiet and expressionless as ever, “Well, looks like you were too late. Guess you gotta push those romantic feelings deep down inside of yourself, where they shall-”
“I am not attracted to him…” Yui said, almost questioningly.
“Oh come on, girl! It’s called a joke, work with me here!”
“It’s nice to meet you both,” Momo said, introducing herself. Izuku had already told her about the two, who knew about the Shadows. And, of course, Momo wasn’t one to so easily forget something.
“So since she’s your gf, I bet she knows all about your secrets!” Setsuna teased, having a backup in case Momo was completely unaware of what she was talking about. She wasn’t about to so easily expose Izuku’s secrets. However…
“Yeah, she knows about what happened inside the Recursive Gate,” Izuku plainly stated. He wasn’t sure how much he could get away with telling the two girls, but for now he wanted to try and keep it as quiet as possible. “Why don’t we meet up during lunch? Class is gonna start soon so I can’t really… ya know… explain everything.”
“Oh! What class are you guys in?!” Setsuna perked up as if the thought of sharing a classroom with the two hadn’t occurred to her.
““1-A.”” They responded in sync.
“Yes!” Setsuna pumped her fist, “So are we!”
Izuku’s smile widened. Not just at her enthusiasm, but about what she showed that enthusiasm towards. Never in his life had someone celebrated being in the same team, class, Raid Party, sports team. Anything. Setsuna was excited to be in class with him and Momo…
“Are you okay?” Yui suddenly asked, looking deep into Izuku’s eyes. She spotted what the other girls didn’t, tears of happiness forming in the corner of his eyes.
“Yeah… Yeah I’m really feeling a lot better now!” His altercation with Bakugo was still fresh in his mind, but he couldn’t keep the smile off of his face.
Momo didn’t even need to ask. She knew the feeling Izuku was experiencing. She had gone through it herself when Izuku and Kei welcomed her into their family without question. The gift of having something you’d never before received was euphoric, in a way that could never truly be put into words.
“Let’s go! Don’t wanna be late on the first day!” Setsuna grabbed Yui’s hand and sprinted off into the building like a bat outta hell.
“Should we do the same?” Momo asked, grabbing Izuku’s hand.
*******
“This is it. 1-A,” Setsuna said, throwing open the sliding wooden door to reveal a quaint classroom, almost too clean to be true. It was like someone had filled the room with a gel that grabbed every mote of dust and removed it all at once.
There were only a few people inside the classroom, who had apparently beaten them to the room. All of them, Izuku knew.
“Hey! Look who it is!” Kirishima cried out, rushing from his desk to meet Izuku at the front of the room. “Man you guys just disappeared! By the time we all woke up in that medical tent you were gone! Some real chivalrous stuff there, didn’t even stick around for a thank you!”
Izuku couldn’t help but smile at Kirishima’s boundless energy.
Also seated were Iida, Uraraka, Jiro, Kaminari, and… Bakugo, who was staring off into the corner of the room not directing an iota of attention towards the newcomers. His gaze was blank, his body limp and drained.
“Itsuka and Tetsutetsu got put in 1-B,” Kirishima bemoaned. “We’d better get to have joint training sessions with ‘em!”
Iida similarly rose, albeit in a more calm and practiced manner, and approached the group. “It’s nice to meet you again.” He said to Momo. “I heard about your parents. I’m sincerely sorry for your loss.” He offered a bow.
Momo’s parents had made the news, their cultist actions and deaths becoming well-known. Including their kidnapping and sacrifice of many individuals. Of course, no one knew that Momo and Izuku had been responsible for those deaths.
“We weren’t… close,” She responded, once more uncomfortable with the situation.
“I see… that makes sense…”
Iida deftly glanced at Izuku, no doubt just as interested as Yui and Setsuna in receiving answers. He was the only one to notice Izuku’s Stealth during the High-Orc fight. Overall, there were a lot of secrets hovering around Izuku and too many people who could sense them.
“I’ll have to bring Iida to lunch with us…”
“Man, I can't wait to see who else we have in here!” Kaminari gestured at the empty seats, about 20 in total. “Maybe some more hot chicks!” He said winking at Momo, Setsuna, and Yui.
Momo lightly chuckled, having seen such flirtation a million times before. Yui did nothing. And Setsuna winked back, not to return his advances, but in jest. Kaminari couldn’t see it through his thick headedness, but Setsuna was screwing with him. She apparently had a habit of being mischievous. Something that Izuku silently made a note of in her file in Documentarian.
*******
[Subject: Setsuna Tokage]
Rank: B+
Quirk: Splitter (Allows the user to split apart their body and regenerate to an extent)
Notes: Stronger than she appears. Immune to a lot of debuffs by splitting her body apart to avoid targeting. Jokester. Don’t trust too deeply.
*******
Izuku had been using it far more than he expected. He had wanted to get new notebooks, but this thing was just too good. He could mentally make notes whenever he wanted, and access it all without worrying about someone other than Momo seeing it. He could even access the information mentally, without pulling up the System display, by directly porting it into his brain.
“I’m glad you guys all got in,” Izuku remarked.
Jiro scoffed. “After all we went through in an Entrance Exam?! We better have gotten in!”
“Seriously!” Kaminari shouted in agreement. “Hey I never got to ask, how did you guys get us outta that mess?”
Izuku’s brain froze. It was the one thing he’d never accounted for. Someone like Aizawa hadn’t really questioned him and he had dodged the reporters that had been there that night.
“There were some caskets of some explosive stuff in there!” Setsuna shouted, excitedly going into detail over something that didn’t happen. “Yui made ‘em big and Midoriya blew them up!” She also gave details on how they all avoided getting put to sleep, with Midoriya using his Elemental powers to shield himself in her explanation. “All of that gave us enough wiggle room to kill the Boss!”
Of course, this was all false, and they never would’ve won without the Shadows, but it wasn’t a half-bad explanation. Setsuna’s excitement, paired with Yui’s occasional sleepy nods, made it convincing.
“Oh… were you the guys who cleared that Recursive Gate?” Asked a dull voice, one to match Yui’s.
Both Izuku and Momo had felt his presence, but in Awakened circles, unless you felt threatened by someone’s Mana, it was rude to greet them because you had noticed them through supernatural methods. Or at least, that was how it went in Japan. In America people used their extraordinary senses to play practical jokes, a fitting custom for such a country.
Basically, you were only supposed to pay attention to someone with your five natural senses and not the sixth supernatural one. Izuku wasn’t great at it. He had only recently acquired such finely tuned perception, so he had a tendency to make note of everyone around him with his Sense Stat.
“Then again, S-Ranks probably don’t care about that etiquette… so I don’t- No… no. I may be an S-Rank, but I can’t act any differently.” Izuku silently chastised himself as he briefly considered his new freedom from such pleasantries. If he gave in to that today, then tomorrow he’d be taking advantage of his immunity from the law. In his opinion, it was better to act as if he was still a lower Rank regardless. After all, some things could only be seen and earned once you had stepped down from your high horse. That was what Izuku thought.
“Well… cleared is kinda subjective here,” Kirishima said with a lopsided grin. “It’s these three who pulled all the weight.” He gestured to Izuku, Setsuna, and Yui.
“Hmm…” The boy had both white and crimson-red hair, with matching heterochromatic eyes, and a burn scar over the left eye.
Izuku didn’t have to ask his identity. His Mana was calm, but calm in a way that a liquid inside a pressurized can was. Still, but ready to explode. Shoto Todoroki, an S-Rank. Or possibly more.
There wasn’t much that could harm Izuku or Momo these days, but he got the sense that Shoto was not an enemy he could afford to make.
“Why am I this nervous around him? Igris is strong enough to handle him solo right? What’s wrong with me?”
Izuku tried opening his mouth, but nothing came out, and Shoto moved past everyone without another word, taking his seat silently.
“Uhh… hi?” Kaminari tried greeting, but Shoto just glared at the dumb blonde.
“Got it…” Kaminari muttered, shooting a pleading glance at Izuku and the others.
“Even Iida was warmer when we first met him…” Momo whispered to Izuku. “At least he responded with honest, logical answers…”
“I can hear you.”
“Well I figured as much,” Momo commented with a small tinge of pink on her face, slightly embarrassed despite having a plan.
Shoto squinted. “You knew I’d hear. Which either means you don’t care about what other people think of you, or you did it to goad me into talking.”
Momo shrugged. “It worked didn’t it?”
“I won’t relegate myself to small talk with you.”
“Seriously dude?” Kirishima asked with a half-scowl half-smirk. “We’re gonna be working together in Raids. It’s pretty important to communicate.”
“It’s not like I’ll need you in there.”
“And what if a teammate needs you?” Izuku asked, not afraid to imply he’d need help. No one wanted to be the person that acted weak, not in front of the person claiming to be superior. But Izuku knew what it meant to weaker Heroes when you rescued them. He’d been in such a situation many times, and recently had experienced the opposite, in saving the rest of his Raiding Party.
“Then they shouldn’t be there.”
“By that logic, a Support-Type, like a Healer, shouldn’t heal you, because you shouldn’t need it,” Jiro pointed out with a smirk.
“It’s not like I’d ever need a Healer. The only worth you people would have in a Dungeon with me is being a Porter.” Basically, Shoto was saying the only thing they were good for was carrying his gear or treasure.
“Not knocking Porters,” Izuku said, “But you really think we’re all that lowly?”
“Yes.” Shoto answered without hesitation.
“Dumbass…” Bakugo muttered under his breath to the S-Rank, too quiet for anyone to hear.
*******
No one spoke to Shoto following that. Thankfully, the classroom was beset by the final wave of students, who cast aside the tension with their chaotic entrance.
Izuku had time to say hi to Uraraka, who had been silently sitting there, clearly feeling out of place and her discomfort wasn’t made easier by Shoto.
There were a bunch of people, including a strange-looking fellow named Tokoyami, with a bird head in place of a human head, which no doubt made him a target for ridicule. Many would likely associate it with a Villain’s appearance. There was also Ibara, a devout Christian with what looked like vines for hair, and Kamakiri, another young man who looked monstrous in appearance.
Overall, the class was about 20 people, but before Izuku could properly acquaint himself with everyone, a stern voice said: “Sit down… and shut up…” Eraserhead, Shota Aizawa, had just entered the classroom, bags hanging off his eyes like the scarf around his neck.
“Welcome to homeroom. I’ll be your instructor,” He said this all with the excitement of a dead fish as he continued introducing himself.
“Tomorrow we’ll be assessing your Skills in a live Raid. I trust you all submitted your Hero Outfits for the school to make?” He asked, referring to a magical implement that would cover you, and any armor or weapons you had, in an illusion. It was like the masks Momo had made for herself and Izuku at the hospital. It felt totally real, and allowed for Heroes to have a uniform look no matter what armor they had bought to replace their last set.
“I understand some of you had a tough Entrance Exam, so we’ll be taking extra precautions to get you back into the groove of Raiding slowly. Some of you have Raided more than others, and some of you are inherently stronger than your classmates, but Hero Work is Hero Work. Treat others as your equal.”
“Ohhhh that request isn’t gonna go well…” Izuku thought to himself, thinking of both Bakugo and Shoto. He had saved many members of his class, but Izuku had no trouble treating them as equal, after all, Setsuna and Yui had managed to give him a hand against Tusk and the Orcs. But Bakugo and Shoto seemed to adhere to a strict belief in the Class System.
Thankfully, neither chose to speak up and disregard Aizawa. However, that only made Izuku more nervous. Because it meant that instead of the issue being resolved in class, it would be brought up in a Dungeon, and you didn’t need to be a Hero to know that bringing personal issues into a Raid was a stupid idea. You were already fighting for your life.
“But for now, I’d like to go over the basics of Hero Formation. Open your books to page 13…”
*******
“Phew… that was tense…” Setsuna said, plopping down on the seat next to Izuku, with Momo on his other side.
“No kidding. Not like I figured the son of Endeavor to be a joy, but Shoto’s brothers are far more accommodating than he is,” Momo said, recalling her time with Natsuo and her memories of Dabi’s interviews on television.
“And what’s the deal between you and Bakugo?” Setsuna asked.
“It’s… we were friends… uh… I honestly don’t understand what happened.” Izuku chuckled nervously with all the attention on him. “One day we were friends, the next he started acting like… well like himself. But it happened not long after he Awakened.”
“He bought into the racism huh?”
“What?”
“You were Ranked E right?” Yui asked.
“Yeah.”
“He bought into the class divide, started seeing you as a lesser human. Same now. You’re clearly stronger than him. But he’s A-Rank, you’re B-Rank officially.” Yui ate from her bowl as if the explanation was the most normal thing. “People are weird.” She said with a mouthful of food.
“Yeah… I just… I don’t buy that explanation. He’s got a superiority complex but I don’t feel like it’s in his nature to discriminate like that.”
“You’re right, he doesn’t discriminate, he’s just a jerk to everyone,” Setsuna chimed in before taking upon a serious look. “He’s discriminatory, trust me. That’s the only reason he hated you in the past and hates you now. He believes you no longer deserve his respect.”
Izuku was unconvinced, but shrugged nonetheless as he waved to Iida, walking through the massive cafeteria.
“How much are you gonna tell them?” Was the question Momo had asked him as they were walking to the cafeteria.
“I’ve already lied to them once. If I repeat that cycle and continue lying, only to reveal things in the moment, then they’ll never be able to trust me.” Was the only response he could muster.
“Alright spill!” Setsuna said back in the moment. Iida had just sat down and explained that he had seen Izuku vanish from the group back in the Orc Raid.
Izuku sighed. “You already know I have Skills and strength beyond what I should. But I’m not a false Ranker. The Rank I received just a few weeks ago was correctly and accurately measured by the Hero Safety Commission. I’m incidentally a different Rank although…” He stumbled, realizing the contradictions in his words. “What I mean is that I’m not hiding my strength for nefarious reasons. I’m not trying to earn more money with it, or commit crimes inside of Gates.”
“No shit, Sherlock!” Setsuna blurted out a phrase in English, which Izuku needed a few minutes to catch. His language Skills were somewhat lacking. “That Orc bastard had most of us asleep, and you had an army. You saved us when you could’ve done whatever you wanted with us.”
Izuku nodded slowly. “Right, I just wanted to make sure my intentions were clear.”
“They’re not clear enough,” Iida cut in. “I do not need to know the source of your power, or its extent. I believe that such things are for you to know and tell if you so wish. However, your intentions are anything but clear. You had enough power to intimidate Bakugo with just your presence.”
“Oh you saw that huh?”
“Apparently you have an army of sorts. You are strong, bottom line. So why are you not already working for strong Agencies? Why are you not using your power in more efficient ways? You could be saving more people by revealing your true power.”
“Maybe… but there are people out there who know about how I got my power. Some of those people were in the cult that Yaoyorozu’s parents were leading. And there are more people like that out there.” Not only were the other cultists still out there, but there was the person that Akihiko had screamed for in his last moments. Stain. “I need to be ready before I go public… but I am still using my…”
“You’re the Shadow Duo…” Iida muttered, putting the pieces together.
“Please don’t tell me that’s our official name…” Momo pouted.
“Ah!” Iida raised one hand over his heart and bowed his head. “I see! Then I have no further questions!”
“Really?” Izuku leaned back. “I mean, I appreciate it, but why?”
“My concerns were that you were in possession of such power, but not using it! I felt you were attempting to coast along and not reach your true potential as a Hero. But if you are simply hiding your identity and saving others in such a manner, then I am satisfied. I was under the impression you were being selfish or irresponsible. Such is not the case.”
“A… Oh…” Izuku stammered, trying to allow the concept of Iida, as a person, into his brain. The guy was just too abnormal sometimes. At least Bakugo was easy to understand. He was either angry or asleep.
“That’s all I wanna hear too!” Setsuna suddenly cried out, amending her previous demand.
“What?”
“Yeah,” Yui chimed in.
“Iida’s a rich boy, but me and Yui come from pretty standard families. If people like the Yaoyorozus are seriously after you, then they’d target others who know. Iida has a whole family of badasses and they have the social leverage to fight such things. We don’t wanna get involved in that shit yet. Maybe sometime down the line we’ll be ready to hear it. We thought it was some basic shit, not that you guys were involved in all the cult stuff.” She paused, frowning. “Not that you guys can’t come to us. If it’s serious we’ll be there to help…” Yui nodded, as did Iida.
Izuku chuckled. “Well… I suppose that puts off one problem for today!”
The rest of the class day passed quickly, and before they knew it, Momo and Izuku were cloaked in their Shadow Duo outfits, lurking above the abode of the remaining cultists. It was time to see if they recognized their Gods.
*******
“Endeavor Sir, we have a message from South Korea and her Heroes. They’re asking for an audience with the Japanese Strike Force.”
An arrogant scowl crossed Endeavor’s face. “That bastard Sung… Well… he’ll be dead soon too, along with the rest of Korea’s S-Ranks. Pretty easy to conquer a country these days… Just feed ‘em to the Villains.”
*******
Three Months Ago:
“What is this?” Shoto said to the open air. Except, it wasn’t air. It wasn’t even reality. It was a white space, as if he was floating through the opposite of the void of space. Looking up were endless reflections of himself, but all doing different things, same looking down. It was as if multiple realities were being shown to each other.
“Oh but it’s not that.” A voice put a stop to Shoto’s thoughts as it intercepted them. “This is my own pocket dimension, my home away from home. A place for my soul, and others, to rest.”
“Who are you? Why can you hear my thoughts?”
“This is how souls communicate. We cannot lie to one another in this space. As for who I am, well, I’m Yogumunt, a higher being, who was sent to help save your planet.”
“From the Villains? You think we can’t handle them ourselves.”
A shape began to form in front of Shoto, but that was all it did, begin to look like something. It was a blob that went from man, to creature, to something indescribable. Even still, the shape managed to make a familiar gesture. “Hahahaha… oh… no I’m quite sure someone of your strength has the Villains handled. However, I’m talking of a greater threat to humanity. One that seeks their eradication through different means.”
“And what do you get out of helping me?”
“Oh… I can’t just be a nice God peeking around the neighborhood of the universe?”
“I wouldn’t trust it if that’s what you told me.”
“Well you’d be right. I’m not being nice. Myself and my brethren feed off of chaos. It sounds evil but in reality, chaos is nothing more than emotion and free will. Humans create a lot of it. Our enemies are seeking to destroy that emotion and free will. But if you still don’t think that’s enough, how about this?” The shape raised a… limb (?) as if trying to hold up an index finger. “Help me… and I’ll help you. Help me save the human race, and in return, I’ll give you all the power you ever need to achieve your dream.”
Shoto’s brow furrowed, knowing full well what his deepest desire was. “You know my desire?”
“We’ve been following your path for some time, Shoto Todoroki. We are perhaps the only other entities in the universe that understand you. We know your deepest wish. We know your target. We know your end goal. This way, all of our strength will be yours, and you’ll sit atop a throne of worship as humanity’s greatest Hero!”
The smallest of grins crossed Shoto’s face as the fantasy sunk in. “Atta boy! Now all you gotta do is save the world… and then… Endeavor will be executed by his own son.” Shoto reached out his hand to the shape, and Yogumunt took it.