Izuku’s father returns to his life on a Tuesday. Cat will never forget Inko’s screams.
“Inko, sweetheart, I really don’t want to have to kill you,” Zen Shigaraki – All For One – warns, as Inko struggles against his grip. “He’s only a tool, darling, you have to see that. The little Rabbit, well… he’s got a greater purpose than all this.” Izuku shivers, in All For One’s grip.
“LET MY BOY GO!” Pull is a powerful quirk when used correctly. And Inko has had forty years to perfect it, the very bones and blood vessels beneath All For One hand working in her favour, untangling from Izuku’s arm, until he growls, snatching her up by the throat with his other hand.
“Let them go!” Cat plunges into the room, blindly furious, and it alarms All For One enough that she manages to bury her bo staff in his gut, gives Himiko the chance to wrench Izuku and his mother out of the bastard’s grip.
“Why, you little–“
“Run!” Cat hisses, as she and Himiko bundle the Midoriyas along.
“Oh, no you don’t!” They’re not sure what Quirk he uses, but every muscle in their body freezes at All For One’s command – from the tips of their wings to their tail to their toes. He flicks his hand, drags them all back into the room. “If it isn’t the little abomination… I thought the Commission got ahold of you?”
“Getting a hold and keeping it are two different things,” they spit, writhing against the ice-touch of his Quirk. He chuckles.
“Clearly. Still, you disappoint me. I took you, in trained you–“
“–handed me over to my torturers as a distraction so you could escape,” Cat interrupts, glowering, as lightning lances around their skin in a desperate attempt to break free. “Don’t play the victim, you rancid old bastard.”
“There’s no need to be rude,” All For One tuts, and the grip of his Quirk tightens enough to hurt. “Now, Izuku–“ He’s interrupted by a burst of blue flame and the Quirk releases, dropping them all from the air. Cat manages to get ahold of Izuku, shove him towards the door, where Himiko is already stumbling towards Touya, but–
“Let me go!” Inko’s voice rings out, hoarse and terrified. “Hisashi, please, just let us go!” The clearing smoke stings against their eyes as they turn back, burns in their throat, but Izuku’s shouting for his mother aches more.
“Little Rabbit,” All For One intones, as Inko kicks, feet dangling in the air. “Why don’t you come over here, and I’ll let your precious mother go?” Cat’s wings fly out to block Izuku before he can step forward.
“No!” Inko thrashes, turns wide eyes to the gaggle of armed and anxious children in the doorway. “Izuku, run!”
“Mum, I’m not leaving you,” Izuku snaps back, straightening his spine. “Cat, let me go–“
“I’m sorry, baby.” Inko turns teary green eyes on the other three. “Take Izuku and go. Please.”
“Inko, dear, I didn’t want to do this.” There’s something genuinely sad in All For One’s voice.
“Run!” Cat hisses, shoving Izuku out the door.
“We could have been great, don’t you see?” There’s a sickening snap as they cross the threshold, and Cat can only look back to find helpless, glassy eyes fixed on her, as Touya immediately shields Izuku’s eyes, yanking him down the corridor.
“We’ve got the Hellions vigilantes on the scene!” A reporter in the crowd announces, loudly, waving his phone. Shouta restrains himself from visibly gritting his teeth.
“Eraserhead! You’ve been on the case of the Hellions. Any idea who their new accomplices might be?” Shouta’s gut says yes, and one glance at the screen only confirms it.
Ochaco, with Himiko’s mask covering her face, lifting debris from a civilian so that Mashirao – Blackbelt – in his usual all-black gi, and Sero, with a big black hood tugged over his head and skater pads hiding his elbows, can pull them free. Around them, Aoyama, Kaminari, Tetsutetsu, Katsuki, and… is that fucking Monoma? are digging through debris, carrying civilians to safety, all in black ski masks and massive gloves.
Further up, Mina – Venus, in her purple and teal glory – is melting away rubble with her acid. Iida’s zipping around nearby with a black motorbike helmet shuttered over his head.
A little way away, there’s Shouto – Frostbite – of course, distinctive hair hidden under pale blue and face masked, and Touya – Pyre – fire spitting from their fingertips because who would notice more fire quirks with Endeavor on the field?
Grudging as he might be, Shouta has to admit they’re clever.
And, for some reason, following said fiery pro-Hero, there’s Yaoyorozu, face covered with a Venetian mask, hair curled back out of the way and midriff exposed to allow for her Quirk, despite the armour covering the rest of her upper body. Beside her, Kirishima, red hair hidden beneath a dark wig, Riot's usual red mask plastered over his face as the pink-haired inventor chatters away.
Shouta hates to admit that pure relief floods through him at the sight of his son leading a pack of teen vigilantes through an active villain attack, but anything is better than not seeing him, because god it’s been barely two days and his absence already ached. Hitoshi – Mastermind, with an earpiece and voice-changer the others must have brought him – is laughing, eyes crinkled and shoulders shaking, at whatever Mei has said, at the perplexed expression it’s incited on Yaoyorozu’s masked face.
Further down, Tisiphone and Chaos are cutting through thugs and Nomus like they’re barely there, coming up behind All Might and Torino and bearing in on the floating villain like avenging Furies.
“You think you can defeat the ultimate evil supervillain of all time by unplugging his ventilator?” Hitoshi questions, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, he’s spent his whole life planning for One For All users,” Izuku points out, dangling upside down from the couch. “And since getting his life support, he’s only been planning for All Might, who has neither the guts nor the brains to try it.”
“Incompetent and a coward,” Cat agrees, too-cheerful. She’s always thrilled to have an opportunity to slander her father.
