A Dragon's Legacy (My Hero Academia/???)

[Elric of Melnibone]

"You don't have to give me that look."

I grit my teeth. How couldn't I look at this person that way? He was a traitor. He betrayed everything that mattered to us. We wanted the world together, and he threw that away.

"Aniki... what would he think of us if we went through with this?" I clench my hands, and it is enough to draw blood.

"The whole reason we decided to do this was because we wanted to be like him!" I wanted it all. The fancy clothes. The car. The friends with money, and resources to spare. I wanted the world. I wanted everything.

"What we did? It was the same thing he did at our age. He glamorized the yakuza, and now look at us? We made the same mistake he did." He shakes his head. He can see clearly now.

I growl, and that's when I tear my shirt away. The tattoo on my back. The jade serpent. The sign of my pact with the Tojo Clan.

"We're not killers, and he never wanted us to go down that road."

The orphanage. The sunflowers.

It was home but now it was gone.

"You don't get to decide that for me!"

I lost a brother that day, and I had to live with it.

What I had become.

He was right.

Sorry, dad.

***
​

I wipe the blood away from my face.

"You should think again before you shake down people around this neighborhood. This is not a forgiving place for trash like you."

The thug was on the ground. He was bleeding. I toss a wad of cash onto him. That's when I kick him one last time.

"Pick yourself up, and get a doctor. I don't need another corpse to clean up."

Kamurocho. It was the place where you could buy anything. Whether it was a life, or everything you ever dreamed of. You could find it here. There was somebody to cater to your every need.

Whether it was legal or illegal. The police had no power here.

It was a den of wolves.

That was when my cellphone started ringing. The smartphone was a present from my boss.

"What do you want, oyaji?"

"Deku-chan! It is so nice to hear your voice!" The voice on the other end had something unhinged to it. As if the person on the other end wasn't entirely sane. "Is it done...?"

He really, really wasn't.

"He learned his lesson. You know, I thought you quit this life when you started working legitimately? What was it? Did the life of a construction worker lose that glamorous appeal?" There is something sarcastic in the way I say that. I knew the truth. Majima Constructions was just a way for him to cover up the shadier aspects of his life.

He could only stay away from the Tojo Clan for so long. It would always call him back.

"I have no idea what you are talking about Deku-chan! I love this life! It builds character! There is nothing like hard work to make a man the best that he can be!"

I snort. He never changes. The One-Eyed Demon. Goro Majima.

"I need to take a break, boss. There is somebody I have to see." I haven't seen her in ages. Well, not since we played by the beach when we were kids.

"Haruka-chan, huh? You know she is quite popular now. A popstar, and all that. You think she might need some help with the paparazzo?"

I roll my eyes. This was just like him. The boss would see an opportunity, and he would capitalize on it. It would be lucrative. Protecting a celebrity.

"No, you know she can take care of herself. The Dragon of Dojima doesn't raise weaklings. Besides that, if you involved her in any of the Tojo Clan's activities you know he would break you in half." I shake my head. The bastard never learned the easy way. He always had to drag things out.

"Ah, that would be great~" His tone didn't betray him. He would love to fight the dragon again. "Kiryu-chan was something else..."

I shiver in revulsion.

"You have a wife."

"Oh, please. This is different Deku-chan."

The boss chides me.

"It is a matter of pride. In this life battle is everything. The strong seek out others like themselves in order to eat them. In order to test their limits."

"Is that why you went undercover as a hostess?"

He chuckles.

"No, that was just for fun."

I groan. He was impossible. There was a silence. The mirth was lost.

"Go see your sister. I won't bother you."

"Thanks."

***​

I rap my knuckles against the door. A five-star hotel. Something that only my sister could afford on an honest wage. I had to beat that money out of my targets.

Haruka Sawamura. Daughter of Kyohei Jingu and Yumi Sawamura but in the end the former was a scumbag, and her mother died saving the only person my sister dared call her father.

I hear the shuffling of feet, and that's when the door unlocks. I see her for the first time in two years. My sister had grown into a beautiful young woman. Nothing truly extraordinary about her appearance but there was a refinement in that simplicity. No outlandish hair colors, or extra features. It was like taking a look into the past before quirks appeared. Her black hair, and dark brown eyes weren't something you saw a lot today. Her skin was fair, and free of blemishes. You could tell she spent a lot of time outside. Outside of the limelight, my sister wore a sweatshirt. Probably because she went jogging this morning.

Now with quirks you would see people with pink skin, and pink hair. Heck, I didn't even have a quirk and if you looked hard enough you could see something unnatural in the coloring of my hair. At first glance you would think it is black but upon closer inspection you could see the turquoise. My eyes were that same shade of bluish green. A couple of freckles dotted my face, and I wore an expensive suit. A sign of my "employment" if you wished to call it that in the Tojo Clan. I had to look the part.

Her face brightens up, and before I could say anything she quickly grabs me. I am enveloped in her arms, and after a moment of shock? I return the hug.

"Hey, squirt. You're as short as I remember." My sister breaks away from the hug, and pouts. That's when she playfully punches me in the arm.

"I am not short!" The popstar gives me a nasty look. "You're only a centimeter taller than I am!"

"Yes, and that is a centimeter more than you will ever be." I wear a cheeky grin. "Face it, I will always be taller than you! It is your destiny to remain forever beneath me!"

"Jerk." My sister grumbles. "Come inside, I made tea."

I smile, and for once it isn't forced.

***​

"So, how are you going to do it?" I knew immediately what she meant. I scratch the back of my head, and mumble as I write some notes in my sketch book.

"It isn't easy. You know our father had to fight his way out of the Dojima Family."

"You're not in the Dojima Family."

I stop writing, and look up from my sketchbook. I pick up the cup in front of me, and sit down. I drink the tea. It was sweet. Just like how she always made it.

"It is even worse with Goro Majima. You know how crazy he is." I knew that you didn't just leave the yakuza. It wasn't that easy. At the very least I would have to hand one of my fingers to the boss.

"He is not a bad guy. At least that's what dad always said." Haruka looks away from me.

"Sure, the guy is soft when it comes to women but when it come to his soldiers?" A shiver runs down my spine. The bastard was ruthless when it came to his men. He would discipline us with his own bare hands if he had to. "Well, that is another story. I don't want to get buried in cement, and made into the foundation for some building in a vacant lot."

My sister frowns, and she grabs my hands.

"You could ask dad for help--"

"No."

I reject the idea immediately. I already owe the dragon a lot.

"He already covered for me when I..." I clench my hands, and grit my teeth. "...when everything went wrong."

My sister slumps in her chair, and I could see the emotions bubbling underneath her skin. A flash of rage directed at me, and then it quickly became shame.

"He wanted to save you." There is something cold in her voice. It was uncharacteristic of her.

"He did." I crack. My voice loses whatever confidence it had. The guilt was fresh in my heart. Kinslayer. There was no way I was going to see those pearly gates. "I need to fight him. I need to beat him."

"Do you think that you can do it?"

"I am not sure."

The Mad Dog of Shimano. How many times had that monster challenged and fought the Dragon of Dojima? He was one of the most dangerous people in Kamurocho. You don't just face that man, and expect to get out easy. It was life or death with him. There was no middle ground.

"I am more afraid of him than I am of those super-villains you hear in the news. Goro Majima could face a hundred of the Tojo Clan's best soldiers, and slaughter them all. What am I against something like that?" My boss was a legend. Just as much as a monster as my father once was.

"You made a promise, Deku..."

"I know."

I wouldn't break that vow.

"I will do it."

I had to be ready.

***​

I felt the sand between my toes. The beach where I spent my childhood. I turn around, and I see it. The Sunflower Orphanage. The same as I remember it. No one was living there anymore.

I walk towards it, and make my way to the door. I see the etchings on the side. Where we would measure our heights. My brothers and sisters. We were competitive. Always trying to better than each other. There was one of us who always had to be the best.

He had a fiery temper, and an ego to match. The only person with a quirk in our family.

I smile.

"There are a lot of good memories behind these walls." I hear a voice behind me.

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you."

I see him, and he was wearing that same tacky Hawaiian shirt. He was stern as always but his apparel didn't suit his attitude. "You drive taxis now. Your kids have grown up, and left you."

"That's a good thing as far as I am concerned. It means they don't need me anymore. It means they can stand on their own, and make something of themselves." It was every father's dream to see their children grow into adulthood even if it meant losing them in the process.

"There are things that you never taught me. I am going to learn them." I turn around, and face him. He flinches for a moment as he is reminded of someone else. "I want to grasp hold of my life, and take control of it. This time I will do it the way I was supposed to."

"Nishiki..." Kazuma Kiryu meets his son for the first time in years, and he can only think of the friend he lost so many years ago. "Why now, Deku?"

"It has to be now. I waited two years already. I can't wait any longer. I have to throw away my dream, and become a man. I have an obligation to fulfill."

My vow.

This was just the first part of it. The second part would come later.

I had to break free, and save her.

"Is that so?" The Dragon of Dojima cracks his knuckles. "Are you going to be able to back up those words?"

I turn around and face him. I raise my fists to my face, and prepare myself.

"Don't hold anything back."

***
​

Millennium Tower.

The place of beginnings, and endings. Where Yumi Sawamura hid ten billion yen, and where Akira Nishikiyama met his end.

Where that money fell upon the streets of Kamurocho, and gave Shun Akiyama a future after he lost everything.

It's where I would sever my ties to the Tojo Clan. This was my beginning.

If things didn't go as planned? Well, it would be my tombstone. I get out of the taxi, and before I even make it ten feet I hear my father again.

"If you die, and you make your sister cry again? I won't forgive you this time."

There is no hatred in his tone. No malice, and no bitterness. It was a simple fact. He wouldn't forgive me if I lost this fight.

"This isn't a death sentence. It is my rebirth." I turn around, and give him a smirk. "Just watch me, dad. I am going to become stronger than you ever were."

The dragon eases into his seat, and he gives me a strangely proud look.

I open the doors, and make my way inside. I climb the flights of stairs, and I don't bother to use the elevator.

When I reach the top I see my boss. He was smoking a cigarette. His leopard jacket, leather pants, and steel-tipped boots revealed a flashy disposition. As always he wore his eye-patch. He didn't even bother to turn around. He was looking at the moon.

"It's nice tonight, isn't it? The view up here is always great."

"Yeah, you can say that again."

I stand beside him.

"You know you could have just cut that little finger of yours off. It would have been easier."

No, that wasn't true.

"Just tell me something... would you have really left it at that?"

"Of course not. I would have beaten you black and blue. You're not an idiot, Deku-chan. That's what I like about you." He drops the cigarette, and crushes it beneath his heel. "Are you ready? You know there is only one way you can break an engagement with me."

I tear my shirt away, and throw it aside. The mad dog does the same.

"Your tattoo is finally finished, and now you want to leave? You're a yakuza whether you like it or not. It is in your blood. I know it. Kiryu-chan knows it. Why don't you?"

"Oh, I know. It is just that there is something more important than what I want." My friends. My family. If it's for them? I would throw away my dreams in a heartbeat.

I wasn't just some schmuck who answered to an oyabun. I was a dragon now.

That meant I had responsibilities. I had duties.

I had an obligation.

That meant more to me than anything else. If I have to sacrifice my ambitions so I can see their future? Alright then, take them all! I don't need anything else.

A dragon would be eaten, or a demon would be disemboweled.

There was no other way.

I move, the roof shudders, the windows in the skyscrapper crack, and the air crackles. My fist barely misses the mad dog. The one who holds my leash chuckles as he back-flips away, and lands on his feet.

"Not bad." He reaches behind his back, and grabs his tantō from his belt. He unsheathes the blade.

The shadowblade. I could feel the animosity radiating from it.

It had tasted the blood of so many that it was warped in design. A distortion of what it once was the knife was now, for lack of a better word, demonic. It hungered for more lives. It took upon a supernatural countenance. It did not lose whatever edge it had, and it would never break. You did not need to sharpen it.

I could not let that knife so much as graze me.

"It has been a while since I used this. You better not disappoint me, Deku-chan!"

I am a blur as I cross the distance between us, and tackle my boss.

Ｇｏｒｏ Ｍａｊｉｍａ

Ｐａｔｒｉａｒｃｈ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ Ｍａｊｉｍａ Ｆａｍｉｌｙ​

I couldn't lose this fight. If I did that meant death.

He launches a kick towards my ribs, and I block with both of arms. My arms buckle but they don't break. I hold my ground. I slide backwards from the force of the kick. He hit like a freight train. He cackles like a mad man and dashes towards me. His speed wasn't human, and I could swear that I could see after-images. He broke past the speed of sound years ago. Now there was no telling how fast he could be.

"Hey, Deku-chan! You shouldn't let your thoughts drift like that!" I feel a stabbing pain in my right shoulder, and by a hair's breath I avoid losing my arm. The shadowblade leaves a parting gift, and now I was bleeding out. I swear, and back away.

"Come now, you can do better than that--"

I grasp hold of the wound, and force it closed. There was steam that began to rise up from the wound as my blood evaporated around it.

The mad dog tilts his head.

"I thought you didn't have a quirk, Deku-chan? You shouldn't be telling lies like that." He frowns, and prepares another attack.

"No quirk, it is a technique I picked up. Accelerated healing. I can't keep it up for long though. It gets tiring after a while." I smile, and prepare another stance.

"Oh, you should teach me that some time. It could be useful." He circles around me like a vulture. Yeah, right. He wasn't expecting me to walk away from this alive. I could see it in his eyes.

I snort. I let a bit of my brother show in my features.

"You shouldn't look down on me like that. You will regret it." There is something predatory that awakens within me. The person I used to be comes to the surface. "I might just leave you in tears. I am cruel like that."

"That's what I am hoping for, Deku-chan!"

I stomp the roof of the Millennium Tower, and every window in the building shatters. It catches Goro Majima off guard, and I don't waste the opportunity. The moment he loses his footing I pounce. My fist collides with his sternum, and sends him careening through the air. He flips a few times before crashing into the railings on the rooftop. He bounces off of them, and hits the ground. I jump, and prepare to slam my elbow against his back. I am not fast enough.

Goro Majima rolls out of the way, and gets back up. In a flash his tantō carves through the air, and leaves a laceration across my face. The wound wasn't serious enough to warrant wasting any effort on healing it. I had to reserve my energy for the rest of the fight. I wipe the blood out of my eyes.

Th mad dog is already in front of me. I back away the moment his knife would have cut open my throat. I almost died. What a monster. Now I know why the dragon was so wary of him.

I sweep my feet, and take his footing. I had to keep attacking his legs. His agility was his strength. I had to impede his movements.

I swing my fist upwards in an uppercut the moment he is in the air. It collides with his jaw, and he flies upwards. He readjusts himself mid-flight, and throws his tantō at me.

It pierces my left foot, and pins me to the roof.

"Now this is what I am talking about!" The One-Eyed Demon was in a state of utter euphoria. He hasn't had a fight that was this exciting since Taiga Saejima escaped from prison!

I reach to pull the knife out but Goro Majima is already on me. A left hook leaves me dazed, and that's when he knees me in the stomach. I nearly retch.

I growl, and slam my forehead against his face. His nose breaks, and he backs away. He forces it back into place with a snap of his fingers, and begins to cackle like a hyena.

I pull the knife out of my foot, and slash across his chest. I miss any vital arteries but leave him bleeding.

He backs away. A pause.

"You really do take after your father." He presses his finger against his chest, and tastes the blood.

I look at the tantō. A look of disgust mars my face. There was something fundamentally wrong about it. I toss it back towards Goro Majima, and he catches it out of the air.

We are both blurs. He slashes at me, and he leaves his mark all over my body. My fists collide against his body, and break his bones. There is no end in sight. Neither of us would accept defeat. We are bruised, and we are bloody. In that moment we are as one.

In this deadly dance of death? We are brothers.

I catch the knife in my hand, and clench on it tightly. I launch a kick at his left side but the mad dog is only fast enough to block with his left arm. It gives, and breaks. I tug on the tantō, and slam my forehead against face again. It was even harder this time.

I head-butt the demon again. Again, again, and again! I hold onto the knife desperately as blood runs down my hand. I bring him closer, and grab his face with my remaining hand. I slam his face against the roof, and it finally gives. The skyscraper could only handle so much.

The building begins to crumble. As we fall through the roof and soar deeper into the building our fight doesn't end there. Goro Majima doesn't lose. He gets even.

The knife is buried deeply into my stomach, and he drags me down with him. A straight punch hits his solar plexus and ruptures blood vessels.

He slashes at me, and I block with my left arm. The knife stops at the bone and clangs against it. We hit the lobby at the bottom of the building, and everything begins to collapse around us. We are soaked in blood.

"I have to hand it to you. I don't even think Kiryu-chan ever fought me like that." The mad dog is panting like his namesake. He collapses on the floor. "You're a crazy bastard!"

"I am the crazy one?" I shake my head. "Yeah, oyaji. Whatever you say." I am still standing.

I won my freedom.

***​

This graveyard. I had to come back here.

I was on my way now. I was covered in bandages, and aching all over. However, it felt as if this was how it was supposed to be. I earned this. I was a civilian. I wasn't a yakuza anymore.

"I did as you asked." I stand in front of the grave. "It won't be long now." The vow I made wasn't finished yet.

I had a long road ahead of me.

I place the bottle of sake in front of his tombstone, and pour some into a cup. I drink in his name.

My brother.

Ｋａｔｓｕｋｉ Ｂａｋｕｇｏ
​

Ｉｎ ｌｏｖｉｎｇ ｍｅｍｏｒｙ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ ｏｎｌｙ ｂｒｏｔｈｅｒ Ｉ ｅｖｅｒ ｈａｄ． Ｙｏｕ ｗｅｒｅ ｗｈａｔ Ｉ ａｓｐｉｒｅｄ ｔｏ ｂｅｃｏｍｅ， ａｎｄ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ ｅｎｄ Ｉ ｅｃｌｉｐｓｅｄ ｙｏｕ． Ｉ ｗｉｌｌ ｎｅｖｅｒ ｆｏｒｇｅｔ ｙｏｕ．

[] This is not an ending. The vow remains. I hear whispers of strange things among the yakuza. A mad man who wished to erase quirks from the face of the planet. The cries of a young girl who was desperately reaching out for help. I am reminded of my sister. I pursue what leads I can find.

[] This is not an ending. The vow remains. I decide to visit her. I made a promise to her son that I would wake her up in his stead. Now that he was gone. I would decide where to go from there.

 

[Elric of Melnibone]

I let the water wash away the grime on my face, and run my fingers through my hair. The bandages were gone. It had been weeks since I defeated my boss, and it was still on the news. They said it was a gas leak.

The truth was stranger.

Now Millennium Tower was no more. At least for the moment. I had the feeling Majima Constructions would work on repairing the damage.

I scrub the shampoo into my hair, and let my my mind wander. How exactly was I going to do it? Kacchan was always annoyed that he couldn't find anyone with a powerful enough quirk to bring her back to her senses. His mother had been comatose for a long time.

Ten years.

It couldn't have been that long but that's how it was. Mitsuki Bakugo was there at the mall with us when it happened, and so was her husband. My mother wasn't as lucky as she was.

I remember the splatter of blood on my face. My mother's blood. A piece of debris had collapsed onto her, and by the time I dug her out I couldn't even recognize her. Inko Midoriya pushed me out of the way, and I am probably still alive because of that.

When the funeral happened it couldn't even be open casket. Her face was crushed.

I slam my fist into the wall in front of me. There was another hole there now.

Nobody knows why it happened. They say it was a terrorist attack. It wasn't. That was no terrorist. Whatever it was? It wasn't human.

I saw her. I won't forget her.

There was no All Might to save me when I rushed at her with that piece of rebar. It was the first time I knew fury. Not the childish sort of thing. Not the brat whining that he couldn't have the action figure of his favorite hero because of how much it cost.

That anger was something else. It was primal, and animalistic.

I got swatted away like a bug. The red ogre laughed at me, and broke the rebar in half.

I was forced down, and stepped on. Her bare foot pressed against my chest.

"You're brave. I like that." The woman was seductive in every way she moved. If I had to guess she was in her twenties. I remember feeling her grab my shirt, and lift me up. I met her face with a snarl. "It would be a shame to--"

I spat blood on her face.

A look of surprise, and then laughter.

The woman grabbed me by my chin, and I remember those crimson eyes. That flaming red-hair.

I remember how I was burning with rage.

Then the horror I felt as her lips locked with mine. Which quickly became disgust. I tried to bite her but she forced my mouth open. After she was done kissing me she had the same, whimsical look on her face. As if she didn't just blow up a mall with thousands of people inside of it.

"Something to remember me by, boy~"

That woman took her time with me. I felt furious. I felt violated. I wanted revenge.

I never got it.

I promised myself that I would never be weak again. I changed. I became a monster for a time but I had friends so it was okay. That's what I thought until I realized what I had become.

I turn a handle, and the water stops.

I grab a towel and wrap it around my waist as I leave the shower. I grab a remote to turn on my television. I may have left the Tojo Clan but I had a severance plan just in case. There was some yen I kept stashed for this occasion. Just enough to get me going.

My sketch book is on the coffee table in front of me. I kept it.

It was the only thing I had left of my life before... Sunflower Orphanage. It took me a long time to let it go, and simply enjoy what childhood I had left. The dragon helped me through it. I confided in him. I told him everything. He didn't look at me like I was damaged goods.

I appreciated that.

Then I told Kacchan. He was the same way.

"Don't worry, once we find her? We will gut her like a fish."

That's what he always told me. It was a promise he made to me. Besides, he had a score to settle with her. He lost his father because of her, and almost lost his mother.

Now it was one he couldn't keep.

"So, you're saying that people have been losing their quirks?" The newscaster was interviewing someone. i didn't catch his name but he looked like a doctor.

"Yes, I am not sure what exactly is causing it but whatever it is seems localized in Kamurocho." He adjusts his glasses. "I believe it is spreading through mosquito bites. The victims all have signs that they have been bitten. It is probably a bloodborne disease so--" I turn the television off.

I didn't have a quirk. That was no problem I had to worry about.

I reach for my sketch book, and shuffle through some pages. A bunch of pictures I drew of All Might when I was a boy. I smirk, and add a mustache to one.

"There we go."

He always looked better with some facial hair.

***
​

There were people with masks everywhere. They were terrified. You see most people these days have quirks, and they didn't want to lose them. It would be like losing a limb. So, naturally? They got scared.

A disease that could take away a part of themselves was floating around.

I roll my eyes. What a bunch of drama queens.

A lot of quirks are useless. The only use you could find for them was for everyday grievances, and even then you could solve the problem with elbow grease. Being able to change channels by blinking your eyes doesn't mean you can't use a remote or press a button.

People these days were lazy. I had to fight tooth and nail for what I had now. This strength, speed, and all of my techniques were things I had to earn. I wasn't born with them.

"They sure like to complain about nothing." I snort, and shove my hands into my pockets. I gave up the suit. Now I was wearing blue jeans, and a t-shirt. I was a civilian. Which meant I had to look the part.

Where would I look? A quirk that can heal people is rare, and valued highly in any medical profession. I probably wouldn't find any in the back allies of my turf. Wait, that wasn't right. This wasn't my turf anymore.

"This is going to take a while to get used to."

I had power. I even had my own family. I had soldiers who would die for me. I was the captain of the Majima Family, and the patriarch of Midoriya Family.

I had connections. I collected protection money. I had respect. I had the fanciest clothes. The best food. The newest cars.

Now it was all gone.

"Come on, Deku! It is not the end of the world!" I slap myself in the face with both hands, and try to remain focused.

What yen I had kept hidden would only last for so long. I had to find a job. A real job. I cringe.

"I am going to miss it so much." I was overreacting. What was I? Chop liver? I fall to my knees. "This is all your fault, Kacchan!" I scream towards the sky.

I could almost hear him laughing at me.

"You know you will never be as cool as me, Deku!" That same smug grin on his face. I could practically hear his voice on the wind. As if his spirit was haunting me.

"Are you alright?" A passerby was looking at me with something akin to pity on his face.

The tears begin to fall. Comically streaming down my face in rivers.

"No, I am not."
​

***
​

The plates were lined up in front of me. Breakfast. A lot of it. Waffles, pancakes, eggs, sausages, bacon, hash-browns, and everything else you could imagine.

We were in a diner. It was western. You could tell immediately the moment you walked inside. This place catered to the most important meal of the day.

"Now feel free to--"

I attack. I don't even bother to wait for permission. I gorge myself on the food, and wipe away tears at the same time.

My rescuer looks on in morbid fascination. As if he is witnessing a lion pounce on a gazelle. "...you have quite the appetite."

It was a side-effect of the technique. It was meditative in truth, and relied on complete control of my bodily functions.

I called it... Shuǐ de Jìngzhǐ. Stillness of Water.

I could push my metabolism past what limitations it had, and accelerate how fast I could heal. This boosted my immune system as well. It was what I used against my boss.

However, as a result? It greatly increased my appetite. I burned through calories like you wouldn't believe. In fact, if I cared about the laws of physics I probably would be dead by now.

Thankfully, I didn't.

"Thanks... uh, what was your name?" I stop my feast, and look back up at the person who picked me up in the streets.

"Takeshi Kuroiwa." I got a better look at him. He was a gruff man. Probably about to leave his forties, and reach his fifties. There was a scar across his face, and a five o'clock shadow that suggested he didn't care that much about hygiene. That, or he liked to leave some hair for the ladies to brush their fingers across.

Judging from the fact he was built like a body builder he was probably no stranger to the latter.

"Izuku Midoriya. My friends call me Deku." He looks surprised when I mention that.

"The jade serpent?" He raises a brow. "The yakuza?"

There are not a lot of civilians who would know that but there were a few who payed attention. So, I couldn't rule that out entirely.

"The same but I am not a yakuza anymore. I left the Tojo Clan a couple of weeks ago."

"Is that so?"

He isn't afraid. If anything he seems more interested in me than he was before.

"Why did you leave?"

"I promised a friend I would, and that I would become legitimate. You know, leave the underworld. Have a normal life. That sort of thing."

He tilts his head.

"That probably won't be easy for you. I heard you had a lot of enemies."

"I do."

I drink some orange juice. Then chow down on an omelette.

"Why take the risk?"

"He was a good friend."

That's all there was to it.

"So, if you had connections to the yakuza... I was wondering. Did you happen to know anything about the Shie Hassaikai?" The curious stranger gives me another inviting look.

"The Eight Precepts of Death? Yes, a bunch of nut-jobs who think the next step of human evolution is a disease. The Tojo Clan expelled them. They weren't good for business, and were known for taking excessive measures even by our standards."

The Tojo Clan didn't always have them. However, Kiryu Kazuma changed that. He forced honor into this criminal organization. The chairman of the Tojo Clan even looked to him for advice.

"Here is the thing, and I will be honest: I think they may be responsible for this quirkless epidemic."

"That sounds like them."

I don't even bother to feign surprise. I stab my fork into a sausage, and eat it.

He looks at me strangely again.

"You seem relaxed about that."

"I don't have a quirk." I lean back, and place my feet on the table. I stretch my arms along the chair. I was done eating. "It is not like they are sacrificing people to some sort of elder god. They are just taking away their quirks. A crime to be sure but they haven't taken any lives. Which means the rest of the yakuza are not going to care. I doubt the police will either." It was the truth.

"..." He frowns, and folds his arms over his chest. "Are you sure about that?"

"Hell no! Those bastards are crazy, and dress like plague doctors. They probably killed anyone who got in their way. However, so long as they keep a low-profile nobody is going to care. They are discrete. Do you know where you are? This is the worst place in Japan. Kamurocho. The criminals rule here." I take my legs off the table, and lean forward. My eyes almost seem to glow menacingly. "You need to be powerful to be a hero or a villain in this city. Who are you to challenge this beast?"

"A vigilante." He smirks. There is something I like about it.

"So, not quite a hero or a villain?" I smile. "Color me intrigued. You carry yourself like a fighter. If I had to guess you don't have a quirk. Just like me. Which means you fought long and hard for what you do have... Knuckleduster." I whisper the last words. I knew who he was now.

Of the vigilantes around here only one didn't have a quirk. This had to be him.

The vigilante gives me an impressed look.

"You're good."

"Not really. I just figured it out." I shake my head. I was getting rusty. "If I was who I used to be you would be dead right now. I am not though. You want to stop them? Be honest, and don't lie to me. What's the real reason?"

He gives me a serious look, and that's when he reaches for something in his jacket. He drops it on the table in front of me. A picture of a young girl.

Had a horn on her head. Must be part of her quirk. Her eyes glassy, and hiding something. I knew that something. When I looked in a mirror.

"You're cute when you cry."

I knew it--

"You should be happy, boy. I made you a man today."

I knew it!

"Her name is Eri, and I want to save her."

There is something earnest in his voice. Something incorruptible.

I nearly lose myself again.

"It's fine now. Why? Because I am here!"

There was no All Might to save me but...

"Ah, why not? There are worse excuses to beat the snot out of some punks!" I wear a cheeky grin. However, the vigilante doesn't see that.

He could see something behind me. The menacing blood-lust.

Something that was unlike me. No, unlike anything. It was distinctly unnatural. Not of this world.

A jade serpent.
​

Knuckleduster rubs at his eyes, and the vision disappears. "Y-Yeah." He shakes his head. "What does that mean?"

"What does it mean?" I remember those eyes. That thousand yard stare. I had that same look in my eyes. The red ogre. Her ravenous claws tearing into my flesh. "It means we do this my way."

[] I have made my decision. I would save this girl, and I would butcher anyone in my way.

[] I have made my decision. I would save this girl, and I would butcher anyone in my way.

[] I have made my decision. I would save this girl, and I would butcher anyone in my way.

[] I have made my decision. I would save this girl, and I would butcher anyone in my way.​

 

[Elric of Melnibone]

I waited until night had fallen. I put on my dress suit. My skin. It is a familiar, and warm feeling.

"That feels so much better." It probably wasn't healthy to relapse so quickly but I couldn't bring myself to care. "Are you ready, my dear vigilante?"

Takeshi Kuroiwa wasn't his real name. It was just an alias. Ryuichi Oguro... that was the true identity of the vigilante known as Knuckleduster.

He was no longer just some civilian. His bandanna covered his eyes, and his knuckle dusters were ready to break some bones. He looked more like a henchman than a hero or a villain. It added a measure of humility to him.

"I won't get in your way." He could tell immediately. Just by the way I held myself.

I had every intention of silencing the voices of these yakuza forever. He wasn't sanctimonious about it. After what he told me? I could understand why.

Apparently, this young girl was the granddaughter of the boss of the Shie Hassaikai. There were rumors that Kai Chisaki had put the boss into a coma but nobody could ever prove them. The former captain of the Shie Hassaikai now leads them either because these yakuza fear him or because the boss trusted him. They had no one else to turn towards for leadership, and he was the right-hand of the boss.

The "mosquito bites" I heard in the news were in fact something else entirely. Quirk killing bullets.

"Not like either of us have to worry about getting hit by them." It would be redundant. "Rewind..." I could solve a lot of problems with a quirk like that. How far back could Eri turn time?

That wasn't what disturbed me the most. In order to make those bullets they had to tear her apart. How many times did they dissect her? Prod her with surgical blades, and flay her?

No, it was so much worse than that. Overhaul.

They murdered that young girl and brought her back to life back hundreds of times. As if she was chattel. What a terrifying quirk Kai Chisaki had. It meant I had to be especially careful around him.

"Where did you even come across all of this information?" I had to ask him. He could certainly scrounge up a lot of it.

The gruff man grunts.

"I have a friend in the JSDF." The Japanese Self-Defense Force. Of course. This man did look like he had military connections. "They have been keeping a close eye on them for a while but haven't gotten involved yet."

Just leave it to the HPSC. The Hero Public Safety Commission. That was the attitude a lot of these organizations began to develop when dealing with quirk related crime. As a result the hero association was overworked. It didn't help that they were understaffed as well. There simply wasn't enough heroes to solve every problem, and most heroes think of it as an occupation. Which means they tend to patrol wealthier neighborhoods with a lower crime rate. It was easier to pose for the cameras that way. They have to advertise their merchandise after all.

I scrunch my face in disgust. None of them were like All Might. I followed his forays into crime fighting for a long time. He always worked everywhere. Wherever and whenever he was needed. Whether the neighborhood was wealthy or poor. It didn't matter to him. The second he heard someone cry out for help? He was there to bring aid.

Well, almost all of the time.

The years were catching up to him. I could see it in the way he fought. He favored his right side, and avoided leaning on his left side for some reason. Probably a chronic wound he got fighting some villain. He was getting weaker, and getting slower. He wasn't even around as much as he was a year ago.

Plus, there were strange lapses of time after he would appear. He probably had to take a breather after each fight. Just to rest and recuperate after dealing with the most benign of threats. When before he would have crushed them effortlessly.

He couldn't stay a hero forever. This profession took a toll on you, and All Might was the Symbol of Peace. Which meant he carried the weight of the whole world on his shoulders. He had to be the best hero there was, and the fact of the matter was that he couldn't be.

His body was beginning to betray him. The worst part was that there was no one else like him out there.

Who would replace him? Who would become the Symbol of Peace?

"This is the end of an age." I grumble to myself more than anyone else.

"What was that?" Knuckleduster gives me a strange look.

"It's nothing." I shake my head. "I am just talking to myself." I give him a crooked smile.

"We have an appointment."

***
​

Their headquarters hadn't changed that much. After the Tojo Clan expelled them they kept it tidy. They kept it clean, and free of rats.

However, there was this aroma. This stench that churned my stomach. Disinfectant. Ammonia.

They were obsessed with keeping things clean. That was going to be a problem for them.

I meet the front doors. I press my hand against them.

Then in a flash I throw a right hook. They give, and implode. There is a resounding explosion as the doors go flying inwards, and through the building.

I wasn't exactly the sort of person who cared about subtly.

They get the message.

My instincts go into overdrive. My senses become electrified. The moment the wall to my left twists and changes shape I am already moving. A hand reaches out. My fingers grasp hold of someone's neck.

I don't hesitate even for a second.

I squeeze, and with a sickening sound I tear through muscle. I break bone. The man loses his head as his eyes bulge, and pop out.

Knuckleduster doesn't stop moving, and the next yakuza to appear has a katana. He blocks a slash with his knuckle dusters, and breaks the blade in half with a punch. The yakuza looks surprised, and quickly backs away.

My partner doesn't let up, and charges forward. It was with another left hook that Knuckleduster floored him, and with a kick the young man was left unconscious on the ground.

"That takes care of this floor--"

I stab my hand into the yakuza's chest, and rip out his heart. I couldn't leave it at that.

"I told you already." I chide the vigilante. "We are doing this my way." I toss the heart onto the ground.

"I said I wouldn't stop you." Knuckleduster gives me a nasty look. "I didn't say I would become you." There was something that sounded like disapproval in his tone.

"..." I look back at the corpses. Then back at Knuckleduster. "Fair enough."
​

***​

After searching through the first floor there was nothing else we could find. So, we proceeded to climb up the stairs.

The moment we reach the second floor I am hit by a sudden sensation of nausea. I nearly trip over myself but Knuckleduster catches me.

"It must be someone's quirk." I quickly adjust, and regain my balance. I didn't drink that much but it was enough to know what this feeling was. I was drunk.

"I am used to this." Knuckleduster gives me a wide smile. "I drink a whole shelf of booze a day. Getting a little bit tipsy isn't going to put me down."

"Barging into our house like that, and you didn't even take your shoes off at the front door. What a bunch of rude bastards." There was a yakuza in front of us. His plague mask was white, and it almost looked like a hockey mask.

He reeked of sake, and carried a bottle with him. He was chugging it in front of us.

I move forward but almost trip over myself again. I really wasn't used to fighting like this. I take a deep breath, and focus. That's when I see another yakuza appear. He walks up to his comrade.

"Why are you here?" His plague mask was in stark contrast to his partner's. A black visage.

"I am going to kill all of you." There was a compulsion. An invasive desire to speak the truth. "I am going to make it horrible, and I am going to enjoy it." I relish the violence. I didn't need to hide from that fact.

"I am here to save the girl." Ryuichi Oguro was a better person than me. "Whatever it takes." He called himself a vigilante but he had the heart of a real hero.

The plague doctor tilts his head, and looks at us curiously. Neither of us hesitated when we answered. We didn't even try to lie. We were shameless about what we wanted.

"It is always the good ones that have to go." He prepares himself, and readies a stance. "I am sorry." His partner grips onto his bottle of sake, and takes another swig.

"I am not." I answer him truthfully, and rush forward. There was no way I could avoid this sensation of vertigo so I had to work with it. My punch misses his head. My aim wasn't the best as it was. I barely graze his mask, and he backs away from me. "It will be quicker if you stay in one spot."

"You would like that." The plague doctor snorts, and continues to dodge my punches. They were easier for him to avoid now. I was dizzy, and my aim was shot. They had the advantage.

"Ouch! Geez, it is like it doesn't even work on you!" They had the advantage against me. They didn't have the advantage against my partner. He was pummeling the drunkard without mercy.

"Is that all you got?" Knuckleduster sneers. "I drink this much anyway!" If anything he was disappointed.

I kick through the air, and I miss my mark. I grit my teeth in annoyance.

That was enough. I close my eyes.

"Giving up?" The plague doctor seems interested. "I thought you were going to slaughter us--"

The palm of my hand slams against his chest. The air rushes out of his lungs.

I clench my fists. I couldn't trust my eyes.

So, I won't use them.

I can hear him cough, and there is something wet he spews out of his mouth. Whether it was blood or vomit I couldn't tell. I wasn't a blood-hound. I did have good hearing though.

What was important was that unlike Goro Majima this man wasn't faster than sound. Which meant I could sacrifice my eyes. The dizziness wasn't as bad when I was like this.

I could fight.

I hear his footsteps on my left side, and I pounce on him. A flurry of blows rain down upon him. Some of them miss. However, there are a few that land a hit. He is knocked back, and hits something. I am not sure what.

"I will say it again. Just stand still, and I will make it quick."

"..."

What was he doing? I hear him unholster something. That's when I hear a bang, and I feel something hit me. I got shot.

I fall down.

"Now lets see how far you make it without your quirk."

Oh, this was rich. I get back up, and dust my pants.

"You mother fucker what did you do to me!" I feign frustration. I do my best to look surprised when I look at my hands. "My strength where did it go?" I punch into the air. "My speed it's gone!" I was having a lot of fun with this.

"Give me back my quirk!" I growl, and raise my fists. I could sense his amusement as he charges at me. He was hoping this would be easy. I close my eyes. I prepare myself. I hear his footsteps get louder.

That's when the concern on my face disappears, and it is a replaced by a positively sinister smirk. The moment the plague doctor closes the distance? My fist pierces the air. There is a resounding cracking noise, and my hand bursts out of the other side of his back.

I open my eyes. I rip his mask away. I see the shock on his face. I smile.

"H-How?"

"I don't have a quirk, I am afraid. In fact, I never had one."

I bring him closer, and look him in the eyes.

"Where is she? Where is Eri?"

"I won't tell you--"

I roll my eyes, and lose my patience. I rip my hand out of his chest, and then slap him in the face so hard that his nose breaks. He screams in agony, and I don't stop there. I grab both of his arms, place the sole of my shoe against his chest, tighten my grip, and pull against him.

His shoulders dislocate. I don't stop there. I pull harder. He screams some more. The flesh begins to tear.

"Now that's better!" I disarm him. "I can castrate you next, or will you tell me where she is?" I drop his arms on the ground.

"Hey, are you listening?" I slap him in the face. I grab his shirt, and yell at him. "Wake up!" Nothing.

He was dead.

"Great." I punt his corpse aside. That's when I turn my attention back to my partner. "Now we don't know where she is."

Knuckleduster was still fighting the yakuza in the white mask but it was one-sided. Now it had become a game of whack-a-mole. The drunkard was running away from my partner as he threw tables and chairs at him.

"Damn it, stand still!"

"No way, you guys are monsters!"
​

***​

"We just want to get Eri out of here." Deidoro Sakaki was tied up in front of me. He was so terrified that he spilled the beans about himself the moment we caught him. "We don't want to hurt you."

"Who do you think I am? I am not going to fall for that!" The drunkard knew what his deceased comrade's quirk could do. It made people answer whatever questions he asked them truthfully. "You're going to kill me the moment I tell you anything! How am I going to get out of this alive!"

"You're not going to get out of this alive. So, you don't have to worry about that." I place my hands on his shoulders. "It is a matter of determining how you die. It can be quick and painless." My fingers dig into his skin. "If that's what you want."

"..." The drunkard goes silent. He seems resigned. "Who are you?"

"The jade serpent."

"Ah, fuck." Deidoro shakes his head. He heard about me. "I am screwed."

"I am afraid so." Knuckleduster shrugs. "I made a promise." He is leaning against a wall.

"He is not going to save you." I smile. It was cold, and devoid of compassion. "Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way. The choice is yours."

"Alright, alright..." The drunkard looks up at me, and frowns. "They are not here. The rest of the Shie Hassaikai have moved to another base of operations. We were just about to torch this place when you guys crashed the party."

"Where are they now?" I tilt my head. This was becoming more complicated.

"They have taken residence with the Omi Alliance." My heart nearly skips a beat. Did I hear that right? "After the Tojo Clan expelled us? The boss decided to move our family to Osaka. They invited us with open arms."

"Motherfucker!" I smash a nearby desk. I hammer my fist through it. "Did they join them?" I had to know. This was another problem entirely.

"You know the answer to that already." The look this drunkard was giving me made it clear. They got forced out of the Tojo Clan. So, it would only make sense that they would join our enemies.

I palm my face, and groan.

"What's wrong?" My partner seems worried.

"We just picked a fight with an entire army of yakuza." The Omi Alliance would consider this attack on one of their families to be a breach of conduct. I was a civilian but they wouldn't ignore the fact that I was the captain of the Majima Family, and the patriarch of the Midoriya Family. They would think it was some sort of plot. That I got expelled in order to have an excuse to attack them with no repercussions. The worst part was that I couldn't rely on the Tojo Clan for backup now. That's what it meant to leave them. I severed those ties. "The Omi Alliance has always had a tense relationship with the Tojo Clan, and now they are going to be furious."

What were we going to do? I had to take responsibility for this. I couldn't let this lead to another war between the Omi Alliance and the Tojo Clan.

"I am taking your head, Deidoro Sakaki." I would need it as evidence. I would need all of their heads. It had to be clear that this had nothing to do with my former affiliation with the Tojo Clan. Which means I had to meet the chairman of the Omi Alliance. I couldn't let the Shie Hassaikai go free. I couldn't let them hurt Eri anymore.

I couldn't do this by myself.

[] My hands are stained with blood, and it might just start another war. I reach out to my father for advice. He dealt with the Omi Alliance before. He might know how they operate. If anyone knows how they think it would be him.

[] My hands are stained with blood, and it might just start another war. I hate to do this but I have to see Goro Majima. I have to do something theatrical in order to make people realize I am on bad terms with the Tojo Clan.

[] My hands are stained with blood, and it might just start another war. Ryuichi Oguro has connections to the JSDF. They might be able to help if this becomes a fully-fledged war. I decide to seek them out.

[] My hands are stained with blood, and it might just start another war. I couldn't let other people deal with my problems. This was my fault, and I would take responsibility. I would go to Osaka, and meet with the Omi Alliance.​