AN: Okay. So. Paying homage to our roots and updating on Sunday all the way to the end of the series. Yup.
Totally not procrastination, pfft.
"The world breaks everyone,
and afterward,
many are strong at broken places."
-Ernest Hemmingway
"How did it go, Dabi?"
"It went perfectly. You were right when you said that they were itching for the chance to undermine heroes, Deku. How did you know?"
Deku hummed mindlessly, the phone still in the crook of his neck as his eyes wandered over the devastation surrounding every inch of the landscape. It looked like the entire earth had vomited on itself, as grotesque as the description was, with debris and flying rock strewn about in craterous gouges. Or was it like acne and the puss that was squeezed out of forcefully unclogged pores? Either way, it sure wasn't pretty.
"Well, for one, politicians never pass up the chance to get more power for themselves. It's about as immutable of a law as death and taxes are. The fact that they feel into this kind of subservient position to the Heroes in the first place and don't have any of the cut in the first place is... absurd, to say the least. But besides that, well. You are aware of that time I was taken by surprise in the local hospital?"
Deku watched with muted amusement as some Heroes were punted to the wayside at the hands of a nasty fellow's quirk.
"Yeah? What about it?"
"That isn't something Nezu would do. Any experienced leader knows that the best way to calm controversy is to shut up and play dead. Anything that you say can and will be used against you; some lunatic will quote you out of context, some idiot will completely miss the point, and some smart ones will ignore it knowing full well what you meant, then send you to hell with a fruit basket for all your troubles."
Gray slithered out beside him, flicking her tail in disdain at a piece of flying rubble larger than his head.
"In other words, Nezu wouldn't do it. He's too smart for it. And he's already displayed that he knows this concept fully well. This isn't the first time in recent months that U.A. has been in a rocky place. Just because its severity is a little worse than usual won't make him completely lose his head like this. That means he isn't responsible for this. Instead, I'd place my bets on it being the-"
"-politicians' fault?" Bakugo interrupted from the side. "But they're a bunch of dirty bastards that deal with this all the time, aren't they? They wouldn't make that kind of mistake and try to turn you into a social outcast."
Deku had to suppress a tsk at the ever-infuriating voice that kid had but said nothing in the end.
He wasn't stupid. He'd figure it out in his own due time.
"That's just bound to backfire-... Wait... So they already wanted to throw the Heroes under the bus?"
"Yuuup," He popped the 'p' with a particular deadpan, startingly evident from just his voice alone.
Never let it be said that Deku wasn't petty, because he most certainly was. He wasn't afraid to admit it either.
"Then those... Those bastards were playing at being fucking idiots the whole time! All that dithering and fucking around when they already were doing that the whole time. They probably would have jumped at the chance to dismantle the Hero system regardless, our tampering not required. Why the hell did we bother anyway?! If I had to see a brown mustache one more time in that meeting, I would have gone insane."
Gray snickered beside him at the almost naive statement, technically right but lacking so much more.
"Well, you see, there's one more thing essential to any good bureaucrat. Screwing around. They would have stalled endlessly before making any grand decision, and an outside party that seemingly has the possibility to do that for them is enough for them to start moving earnestly. Beyond that, well... To participate in the game, one must make yourself known as a player, no? While you can barge in later and demand a position from the government, chances are they'll just laugh in your face instead."
"Stimulus and networking," Dabi summarized, amused.
"Indeed. While, certainly, a few more steps will be necessary to take going forward to get to our end goal, we have set up the board to truly create change. On other fronts, we already have. I see this whole operation as successful, all things considered," Deku replied.
"...How the fuck do you even know all of this, though?" Bakugo inquired.
"Let's just say my... 'mentor' wanted me to have an all-rounded education. He was incredibly fond of mind games. Politics is a whole other beast compared to whatever you choose to compare it to, but he was a God to their beasts. This, in comparison, might as well be cute."
His eyes widened as a large piece of rubble, this time as big as he was tall, came flying his way.
"Indeed. Unfortunately-," He stepped to the side, rock narrowly scraping harmlessly past his form. "I'll have to hang up soon. I assume that you're about to bring up that other matter I mentioned to the table, Dabi? The timing should be about right to bring it up."
"...That still feels risky to me, Deku. Are you sure we need to do this? Toga and Twice, especially Zero, aren't opposed, but..."
"To deny me of this would be to deny my existence at this point. Fulfill my wish in full, and I will consider your debt to me paid."
Deku could feel Dabi still in hesitance on the other side of the phone, before acquiescing with a silent sigh.
"Understood."
And with this single affirmation, the gears of fate began to turn.
But that's a story of the future, not the present.
For now...
He stared down at the battered forms of the Heroes, one with a smooth head of night and the other with a rambunctious flare of the midday sun, still bruised and battered but fighting ever onward despite it all. The two fought stalwart to save the fair white-haired princess from the grasps of the evil dragon and his minions aplenty. Nevertheless, it was evident that the Evil would be vanquished and that Good would reign supreme for another day, the princess saved and the kingdom overcome with joy.
Or so a fairytale would have read.
The story that Deku lived in—for what was reality but a narrative shaped by individuals?—was not, unfortunately, one of that genre. So while others would have seen eventual triumph, he saw the beatdown Lemillion and Nighteye were facing as nothing but it was. A beatdown. A slaughter, almost. He could see it becoming one rather soon. Unlike Good, 'Evil' delighted itself ever so in the wholesale slaughter of individuals.
A fact made painfully obvious as Lemillion struggled with his new power, careful and cautious to spill more blood than generally advised for continued well-being. It was something that was taken advantage of and abused by the members of the gang, the less-physically oriented Nighteye almost helpless in the face of it. Lemillion looked as if he was on the verge of breaking, but nonetheless, did not change his behavior.
Deku would not lie to himself and say that the sight didn't affect him.
After all, the two hadn't slighted him in any way (yet) and Lemillion-, no, Mirio had been nothing but polite.
But...
He was made of something colder now. More callous, more apathetic in the truest sense of the word. Not the stickered-on-version that he had been gifted with his rodeo of trauma and PTSD, but something far deeper. A type of rot, you could say, that slithered down to his core and made it something different. Made him something different.
Say what you want about All for One, but his understanding of buttons and levers in the human psyche was nigh unparalleled.
And he hadn't just pushed on Deku's own buttons, he had smashed them.
A part of him was tempted to act out sheerly of spite, but something so seemingly ingrained in your DNA itself was hard to fight against.
That was why, when he caught sight of a most peculiar gun, with equally bizarre bullets, he was happy.
After all, he had just been gifted with a rational excuse and his main objective for today.
"Gray. Can you?"
[Ha! I'll get you to the gun before it can even fire.]
GET DOWN LEMILLION!
But for realsies, since Gray doesn't neccesarily require a body, the bullets can't really erase the quirk from Deku (cause he a normie, lol!).
Just hope she isn't dumb and makes herself an actual target....
are we gonna see the heroes perspective on this whole operation?
Perhaps..? I kinda already had a perspective fairground with the last chapter.
Since there's like, two chapters left until this is done and over with. There's no point in putting off the confrontation any further and I think I've given the problem plenty of space to breathe and marinate. Three times the charm, after all. With two f*ck ups and counting, I'd say this is the perfect moment to end it completely. I think it would break the narrative flow if I added that as well.
I could add something as an extra in the comments or something, I guess.
(but only if you reeaaaally want it)
@C.Sunlight its your call, whatever you fell its best
@hector1234 :)
Have fun(nily ironic agony) with the ending then~
Because I do not have the brain capacity at current to write anymore than what is necessary. While my release rate is nothing special, after one and a half years of doing this, I'm ready to put this story to rest. Maybe after the dust has settled, I'll release some extras. Maybe finish RP: SS too. We'll see.