Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 265 FRUITION

Things with Momo didn’t progress any further. I tried to wake Toru up for some fun, but she was passed out. We ended up just sleeping in the same bed. The next day was Sunday. Most everyone went home to be with family and celebrate getting their licenses. I decided it was time that I progressed my other plans in MHA. 

Events had been building up for a while. Now that I had beaten Akatsuki, I felt like I was truly strong. It was time to venture out into the world and use that strength. I had been making appearances around town as the Villain Slayer now and then, but it was high time to take that up a notch. 

I spent my day back handling some minor things. First meeting with my money launderer to make a paper trail for some of the money I had spread around. I visited the house I had bought near UA. Making sure everything was in order for the coming months. I ran around town as the Villain Slayer as well. 

More than once a hero tried to capture me, but it was easy to give them the slip. In the guise of Kakashi people knew who I was, and typically steered clear. The time for hiding was done now though. It was time to make a scene in the world. 

I dressed up in normal every day clothes and kept my Kakashi face on. Going to the small office building I headed to the basement where the meeting was being conducted. The place was more filled than I had imagined it would be. There were about 2 dozen people there. All talking around coffee or stale donuts until the time approached.

“Welcome everyone,” a man with antennae on his head said from a front podium. People moved to sit in the seats in front of him. “Thank you all for coming. For anyone new to this, we welcome all. No judgments, just us trying to help those move past the trauma they have suffered. Is there anyone new that would like to share?” 

No one raised their hand. I didn’t see why I should yet either. It would be good to hear some stories before I shared my part of this plan. 

“I’m Keiko,” a woman said as she stood up. “I um, this is my second time at the support group. But I didn’t feel too comfortable sharing last time.” A few people nodded. All had experienced the same nervousness. 

“I um,” she said, her voice cracking. “I don’t know where to go from here.” She let out a long sigh. “My son was killed by a villain. It happened 4 months ago. The villain had robbed a store then sped off. My son was walking across the street and-” She stopped, preventing herself from sobbing. Some people around her gave encouraging words. “He didn’t know what hit him. He went into a coma and died a few days later.” She let out a steadying breath. “It’s been so hard. To move on from all of this. They caught the guy, but still…I will never have my baby back.”

The story made me sick. I could feel the sorrow in the room. It was leaking off each person present. Their Spiritual Energy was soaked in it as they related to her story in some way. She continued on a little, stopping to cry now and then, and when she finished people clapped.

I sat through a few more stories of people. One whose father was killed by a villain. The villain was on death row, but was approved for yet another extension to prolong his life. Another man had his fiancee trampled by some villain that had a speed quirk. That one sounded familiar, but I moved on. Listening to all of their sorrow and regret. 

When no one else got up I took a breath and decided it was time. People looked at me. No one suspected who I was. Wearing a simple T-shirt and jeans, I looked like the rest of them. Instead of talking where I stood I moved to the podium. Standing at attention in front of all of them. A white board behind me I wrote on it and began. 

“I lost someone dear to me as well,” I admitted. “For years I let that anger fester inside of me. Driving me forward. She shouldn’t have been there that day. But she was, and she was killed because of it.” The original memories of the body came crashing back to me. Bringing the pain of losing my mother forefront in my mind. 

“But I got my revenge,” I said, forcing a smile. “I killed the man that killed her.” The room was deathly quiet as people stared at me. I made my face relax and put a serious look on as I studied each face around me. “That is what I am offering to you.” 

“For those of you who haven’t recognized me, I am the Villain Slayer,” I said. There were more than a few gasps and eyes widening as they stared at me. “But I haven’t been doing too much of that lately. It’s high time to amend that. Originally I had hoped to be given the information on the internet. But those sites have since been brought down. Here is an email that I am sure will be brought down soon enough as well. Yet, I hope that you won’t tell people about it. All of us have lost someone important to us. I desired revenge, and I got it. I am offering that same option to some of you. I don’t care if they’re in prison. Or on the loose. I will devote myself to end these sick people for you.” 

My voice was firm as I spoke. I locked eyes with all of them one by one, making sure they understood how serious I was. “It may not happen tomorrow. But it will happen. I promise you.” I paused for a moment, changing tactics. “If you don’t want revenge, I understand. It’s not for everyone. Hell, even if you want me to just capture them and give them to the police, I will. This email may be shut down, if so post your story on the building outside. Give me the information I need to find these people. What they did to you. And I will do what I can to bring you a semblance of justice.” 

I gave them all one more look and walked out. Eyes followed me, but I felt something from their Spiritual Energy. Hope. We lived in a sick world where people didn’t care who they hurt. Villains thought that their powers were there for their own profit. Those people in the room lived in fear every day, because someone hurt them or those around them. 

I headed off to another such support group. Spreading the word of the Villain Slayer. It wasn’t like the news would show this sort of thing. I hoped word of mouth would be good enough. When I felt I had gone to enough places to make the same offer I stopped at an internet cafe to log on to my account. I was surprised to have a reply already in my inbox. 

It was from a man I hadn’t heard talk at one of the groups. His grandparents were killed by a villain. The villain had some poison quirk. While he filled a shop with noxious fumes, he would rob the place. The man’s grandparents were shopping at one such store and were too weak to live through the poison. He was nice enough to provide names, and I was able to verify that the event really happened. 

The villain went on the run after that. Disappearing into the night. There was very little information on the villain. Almost too little. It was time to test the waters for the next part of my plan. 

I could have broken into the police station and got the information I wanted, but I wanted to introduce myself properly to the new numero uno. After leaving the internet cafe I went to where I knew he liked to lay his head on Sundays. 

Endeavor was famous. The number 2 hero for years, there was always a lot of hype if he would surpass All Might, but it never happened. But Number 2 was just as popular as number 1. He had biographies written about his early years, clothes with his face stamped on it, even a line of oven mitts that were especially popular since his quirk was fire. 

The news painted him as a no nonsense kind of hero. Stoic at all times. Ready to fight at a moment’s notice. He wasn’t painted in the best of lights lately since All Might had to become weakened for Endeavor to take the number 1 spot. Everyone was holding their breath to see if he could keep up with the job. 

From what I could tell, Endeavor trained and patrolled all of the time. He originally married Todoroki’s mom back when they were younger. She had an ice quirk. Endeavor wanted to try to make the ultimate hero. Able to control fire and ice. It took 4 tries, but Todoroki came to be. Things had been going well for Endeavor. He was able to train his ultimate creation and though he couldn’t be number 1, his son had the potential to be. 

That was until Todoroki’s mom had a psychotic break. I hadn’t remembered the exact event when I started in the World, but over time I learned the truth. Todoroki’s mom hated Endeavor, and since Todoroki was his end goal, she had thrown boiling water on the right side of his face. Scarring Todoroki around his eye. 

I couldn’t remember why Todoroki hated Endeavor so much. In my eyes, a mom that threw boiling water at a kid was a much worse parent than one that pushed you to train your quirk. But to each their own. Todoroki’s mom had been sent to the loony bin, and Todoroki fought against his father. He didn’t want to train his fire-side anymore. Since his mother hated it so much. 

How I understood this world, Endeavor began anew. With plenty of money he started working to create just as powerful quirks. An itch that had been scratched with his first wife, once she was out of the picture he started another family. One girlfriend was a nice woman that lived across town. She had a water quirk. Her oldest daughter had the desired quirk he wanted. Only 10 years old and the girl could create fire while also controlling water. Endeavor had 2 other kids after that with her. The youngest was somehow able to create a physical fire that flowed around them like water. It was actually pretty cool to see him work with his quirk. Though only 6 he was being praised as the next Endeavor. 

A few years back Endeavor had fallen for another girl. One of the interns from UA, the girl had idolized the Number 2 hero. Practically throwing herself at him. And from what I understood, Endeavor actually loved this girl. She was young and vibrant. Once she graduated from school Endeavor bought her a condo downtown and they had a son soon after that. Though only 2 years old it was expected that the boy would be able to use fire like his father, and wind like his mother. Making some kind of fire tornado.

I had been watching Endeavor for some time since I knew he would become important to my plan later on. It wasn’t like he was ashamed of having multiple families either. A lot of people knew, they just didn’t talk about it. Luckily Endeavor was a man of consistency. He spent Monday and Friday with his first family. Tuesday and Thursday with his second. Then Wednesday and Sunday with his 3rd. Saturday was usually a toss up.

I landed on the balcony of the condo and it wasn’t long until the number 1 hero was glaring at me through the glass door. I waved in my Kakashi form, putting on my best smile. His youngest wife and son moved to a back room as Endeavor walked out. 

“What are you doing here?!” He growled. His mustache and beard were made of fire, they increased in size with his anger. 

“I was in the neighborhood,” I said innocently as I sat on the railing. “I wanted to say hi. You and I didn’t get a chance to talk last time.” 

“You mean when you tried to kill that villain?” He asked, his face still angry as he moved closer. 

“I’m the Villain Slayer. What do you expect?” I asked. “Come on, Endeavor. You can’t tell me you haven’t accidently-slash-purposefully killed a villain.”

“I’ve never done it on purpose,” he said, and I believed him. 

“But you have done it,” I said. He didn’t have an answer for that. “Look, I don’t mean to interrupt your family time. I just want one simple thing from you, and then I’ll be on my way.”

“What’s that?” He asked, a little less annoyed. 

“Well you are the number 1 hero. I’m sure you have your own access to police files on perps. I want you to let me access it now and then,” I said. 

“So you can kill them?!” 

“Duh,” I said. “Listen, things are going to start changing, Endeavor.” I dropped from the railing and looked out onto the city around us. “Doesn’t it make you sick? All these useless villains. Hurting people for no other reason than their own enjoyment? They say it’s for money. But they like it. The power and rush they feel when they make someone cower in fear. The thing I’ve learned is, I like it too. Not against the weak, but against these losers that think they’re strong.” 

“This is not convincing me of anything,” Endeavor said. Not moving from his spot by the door. 

“You are controlled by the Hero Safety Commision,” I said with a sigh. “This group of people that decide what heroes can and can’t do. But did you know that they have their own kill squads?” I looked back at him. He had a confused look on his face. “Oh you didn’t? You really believed that bullshit they spout at you. Let me give you a little history lesson.” I turned and leaned against the railing as I faced him. 

“Back in the day, the Safety Commission was as noble as you think of them. For years they operated in a way that you would be proud of. Then the chairman’s wife was killed by a villain…I’ve researched this by the way. If you know what to look for it is easy to connect the dots,” I assured. “Anyway, his wife was killed by a villain. And he became mad with rage. He chose one of the top 10 heroes. Back then the hero was known for being a little heavy handed when it came to beating up villains. The chairman promised to wipe his record clean if the man would kill a certain villain. Low and behold the villain was found dead in the middle of the street. That is when the Cleaner was made.” 

“Cleaner?” Endeavor asked. 

“Yep, it was a hero in the top 10 that was given the less than ideal jobs. The Hero Safety Commission realized that they had made a mistake with restricting the slaying of villains. An ideal hero that believed in justice and letting the villain live, only worked in an ideal world. So they started cleaning up the villains. The worst of the worst. Pedophile villains that hypnotized kids. They were killed by the Cleaner. A serial killer villain that could make his body 2-dimensional and slip under doors, he too was killed by the Cleaner. For decades it worked, but the Cleaner was always changing. You had a hero that trained to be…heroic. Some didn’t want to kill. They went off the deep end, or killed someone they weren’t supposed to. Just like Lady Nagant.”

“Lady Nagant? I knew her, what about her?” He asked, his full attention on me. 

“She was the most recent Cleaner,” I said. “She wanted to be a hero. But because she had a quirk that could kill, she was chosen by the mighty Committee to kill the worst of the worst. Eventually it got to her.” 

“No, she killed her fellow heroes,” Endeavor said. He didn’t quite have the conviction in his voice anymore. 

“What heroes? She worked alone,” I said. “No, Lady Nagant snapped. Killing the Hero Safety Commission chairman. He sent her to kill one too many people. She was arrested and sent to spend the rest of her days in Tartarus. Rotting away in prison, never to tell her story to a soul.” 

“That can’t be,” Endeavor said weakly. 

“It can and it is. Don’t worry about her though. I have a plan to save her soon enough. But the Hero Safety Commission learned their lesson after her. The top 10 heroes should stay that way. Heroes. After Lady Nagant went off the deep end, they started hiring out these types of jobs to Muirks.”

“Mercenaries?” He asked. 

“Yep, Mercs with Quirks,” I said. “You ever been on the trail of some villain? A real sicko? Then the Hero Safety Commission swoops in and says the issue will be taken care of? Then you never hear about the villain again? That’s when they let the Muirks do their job.” I could see that Endeavor was remembering such instances. 

“What are you saying?” He asked after a long pause. 

“I am saying that this is why I am here,” I said. “To stop with the cloak and dagger of the Safety Commission deciding who lives and dies. We need to rethink this justice system that allows these villains to sit on death row for decades. There are some villains that don’t deserve a second chance. And I aim to make it all a reality. The League of Villains want to tear down the justice system, with no care what kind of anarchy will reign. You heroes want to enforce it. Despite it’s many flaws. I want to rebuild it. To show the real face of the commission and give the power back to the heroes. Make laws that actually stop these villains. You kill someone? Great we will kill you. The Texas way.” 

“I can’t get behind something like that,” Endeavor said. 

“I think you can,” I said. “I am a villain, and yet you haven’t arrested or attacked me. Some might call me a vigilante, but those are just as illegal as villains are. You see it, don’t you, Endeavor? The system is broken. So much subterfuge out there you really don’t know what to believe. But I believe the people. I want to give some of those the very revenge I got for myself. And to do that, I want access to police documents. You can give me last known locations of many villains, and from there, I can give some poor soul a little bit of closure.”

“I-I can’t,” Endeavor said. Actually torn between helping and hindering. 

“That’s fine,” I said with a sigh. “I’ll just break into some police station and get what I want. My real reason for coming here was to introduce myself. I am the Villain Slayer. And I am here to stay. I will help you when I can.” I jumped up to the railing. Giving him a salute and jumped off. 

I had wanted to tell him about his son, but I left it for now. Too much information would cause issue. There was plenty of time to handle all of this. I soon landed on the ground and made a few clones. I thankfully had an army of shadow clones at my beck and call. Able to break into most anywhere, sense people with Haki, and do most anything I could. I would find the villain soon enough.

One of my clones logged onto another computer and I had 10 more emails asking for help. My days would be busy soon enough. There was a lot of scum to clean up and I planned to get to all of them. That’s when I got a new quest. 

“A question mark, huh?” I asked. I hadn’t seen that before for a quest number. I guessed that I was in uncharted territory, even for the quest giver. At least I was going to be rewarded for my actions.