A Possible Future…?

“...thank you. Now, ladies and gentlemen alike. Let me be the first person to congratulate you all for all of the hard work that you’ve put in this past year. Not too long ago you shipped out from Japan here to Korea as part of the Pacific Recovery and Reconstruction Initiative, our attempt at sharing the stability that we managed to regain after the end of the Third World War. And out of all of the projects that are part of the initiative… This one has been the most successful.” The Colonel paced back and forth behind the podium, “Not only has this division managed to complete its work on the Busan Transport Hub, but it has completed it almost half a year ahead of schedule.” The room erupted into cheering and clapping, eventually settling down. “You have all put in more work than I could ever ask for. Of course, I would like to give a special recognition to our attachés from the Hero Corps. Lieutenants Izuku Midoriya and Ochako Midoriya.” The claps erupted again as the two of them stood up, the center of the attention being brought over to them.

Izuku spoke, “As I’m sure it’s been for all of you, this year was tough for us. But with all your hard work and support we were able to get through it without any trouble. And while we may be officially Heroes in name, everyone here is worthy of being called a Hero too. We look forward to seeing what you all accomplish in the future, and we hope to be right there with you.”

There was more clapping as they sat back down, the attention eventually going back to the Colonel. “Now, in order to repay all of your hard work, everyone here in this room has been given three months of shore leave-” The room erupted into loud cheering, every man and woman happy at the chance to go home. “Settle down. Now, if you’re wondering when you’ll get the chance to put in that leave then you’ll be pleased to know that it’s as soon as five days. That’s when we’ll be receiving the first aircraft to the Transport Hub, carrying in the new guys who’ll be holding down the fort while you take some time to relax. I expect you all to be on your best behavior for the next five days, and to make the appropriate preparations for when the new guys get here. I don’t intend to hand over our hard work to a bunch of newbies without them knowing what to do.” He stopped, standing back behind the podium. “You are all dismissed!”

“Sir!” The crowd gave a salute, then began to make its way out of the auditorium where the meeting had been held.

“Three months, huh…?” Ochako echoed.

Izuku rubbed the back of his head, “After we’ve been so busy, it’ll be weird to have so much time off.”

“I’m not so sure that we’ll actually have that much time off,” she let out a sigh, “I know that you’re probably going to be looking for local work to do as a Hero.”

“And you’re going to be helping your parents, right?” They both laughed.

But, a frown appeared on Izuku’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, we’re doing all this work as Heroes because we want to. But… I’m not sure if what we’re doing will turn out well for Ukamiho.”

“You mean because of how often he’s with babysitters instead of us? Or is it because we're here instead of Japan?”

“Both, really. He’s our son, but we spend only a few hours with him at most in a week. Not to mention he’s lived longer here than in Japan and he’s barely seen his grandparents.”

She lowered her head, “You know, you’re right. We weren’t even there when he was taking his first steps.

“Maybe it’s being a little selfish, but after I eventually heard what happened to Tomura Shigaraki’s family from All Might and Gran Torino I’m not sure that I want to risk the possibility of a bad outcome for our son.”

She cocked her head, “Izuku, I don’t think you need to worry about that. You told me the same story that they told you, and from what I could tell almost all of it was All For One’s fault.”

“A lot of it was, but not all of it. I just don’t want to make the same mistakes, not while we have the chance to avoid it.” The two of them eventually made their way over to the barracks that they’d been assigned to when they were stationed at this base. As they entered they passed the rec room that was formed around the entrance, finding many of the soldiers and workers who’d they just been in the large auditorium with. There many of the men and women had already begun the process of packing their things, already preparing to go home. Others were writing up large notebooks full of checklists and instructions for their respective posts, that way their positions could easily be filled while they were out on shore leave. However a few of them were gathered on chairs and couches, sitting around the TV.

The two of them looked over, the group was watching the news. “DId something happen while we were in our meeting?” Ochako asked.

“Nah, not really,” one of the soldiers reclined in his chair, leaning back and stretching his arms, “Just another one of those groups of anarchist kids causing trouble again at home. This time they ended up raiding some police captain’s property.”

“It wasn’t just ‘some police captain’s property,’ you idiot,” a man across from the other soldier sneered, “That place was full of everything and anything that those League of Villains guys had left behind.”

“...Wait, stuff left behind from the League?” Ochako questioned.

“That can’t be right,” Izuku said, shaking his head. “After the end of the war Mr- Er… The Imperial Government ordered that any matériel related to the League of Villains be destroyed.”

The soldier shrugged, “That’s what I thought, and I guess what everyone else, including the government, thought too. But it looks like whoever was in charge couldn’t resist keeping some of the stuff for himself and made his own personal stash, then started selling it off like some kind of twisted form of memorabilia. They’re starting an investigation right now to try and find out just how much of it is still around, and how much of it other people have.”

Izuku could feel a drop of sweat roll down the back of his neck. Even after everything that had happened… There were still some people around that had some sort of allegiances or ties to the League of Villains. That fact especially bothered him. At least back then the League of Villains had a face, and a target for him and everyone else to work against. Shigaraki, Dabi and then All For One. But now… There was nothing. If they tried to root out some kind of revived League they would essentially be thrust into the middle of a guerilla war, against those they thought were everyday people.

“...Has anything been confirmed?”

“Not really.” The soldier sat straight up, “The only thing that has been confirmed was leaked to the press, and it's that one of the items that was kept and then stolen was some mask and helmet.” Mask and helmet…

A chill went down Izuku’s spine.

“Then what can I do to have you let that woman go?”

“Nothing, you’ll just have to watch as you see the result of the society All Might heralded in.”

Those words echoed in his mind, firmly etched in blood.

He balled his hand into a fist, and squeezed it tight.

Something… Something was coming.

Click. “Let’s see… Yep, there it is. Blinking light. Alright.” A sigh. “Okay, well. Here goes nothing. Ahem. Well, hello there prospective listener. If you’re hearing this message, then it’s because you managed to find it inside one of the former HPSC that I used after I snuck back into the country. I’m sure I don’t need to introduce myself, the former number two Hero who was ‘too quick’ when it came to doing my job, but not quick enough to escape the shadows of my past that were quickly catching up on me. Ah, well, as they say it’s all in the past now.” There was an audible creek in the audio, that of a folding chair being sat down in. “To be true to my image, let me get straight to the point with this message. The sole reason that you’d find this tape is because I’ve been killed. Why? Well, that’s because after I’m finished recording this message I plan to sneak my way onto a plane and assassinate the so-beloved Spartan Emperor himself. I’m not under any delusion that it might be anything other than a one way trip, but I at least hope that if I die I manage to drag that bastard down with me. Unfortunately with how he scorched a lot of my feathers after that bomb in Washington I don’t think I’ve got much of a chance. But what can I say? I’m an optimist.” There was a nervous laugh, “Ah, that sounds stupid. Well, regardless, in case that plan fails then I’ve set up a sort of contingency plan. You. Hopefully if you found this message it’s because you hate Spartan as much as I do, and if that’s the case then you want to take him down just as much. Attached to this message I’ve left the locations of several caches I hid around Japan, and they’re filled with the kind of goodies that make for perfect assassination and terror tools. How you use them is up to you. I only ask that you put that bastard a hundred feet deep into the ground, and bring down the lie that he’s established by any means necessary. That is all I ask.” The message came to an end.

She smirked, picking up the media player and tossing it onto the empty couch that sat in front of her as she stood the home of her recently married ‘husband.’

Hawks. What a complete and utter moron.

He had tried tearing down the establishment, to right the wrongs of an evil system… All by killing only one person and expecting the rest of the dominoes to follow. But that wasn’t how change was achieved, or how true justice was met. No, true justice was bathed and steeped in rivers of blood and poison. It was extracted from the lives of mindless masses, the kind that fought to defend it without knowing what it meant.

“But you already knew that, didn’t you? Big brother.”

She picked up the masked helmet from the couch, turning it around and staring it in the face. Then she ran one hand across it, finding the single bullet hole that marked its side. Yes, he knew that.

It is why he had chosen to drop out of school and run away from home to become a Villain.

It is why he had joined the League of Villains when he’d heard their association with Stain.

It is why, when the end of the world came, he’d still been out there fighting for what he believed.

It is why when the Heroes came, he chose to let his own blood flow.

She raised the helmet over her head and slid it on, letting the familiar scent that she once knew roll over her.

Yes, she understood everything now.

The Heroes, Spartan... They all needed to pay in blood and poison for all they’d wrought.

That was the reason why these last seven years she had sculpted herself into the perfect tool for revenge. She’d sculpted her body, allowing her to marry into the degenerate pool of ‘Heroes’ that had spawned from UA. She had sculpted her mind, allowing her to become a trusted doctor that would know how to use what she found. She had sculpted her claws, allowing her to take the lives of those who had wronged him. And she had sculpted her tongue, bringing to her the hearts of others who felt the same rage that she felt against Spartan.

All of this…

It is all for her sweet big brother.

And she would take as much time as she needed to make the world that her big brother dreamed of a reality.