Defeat...
Strangely enough, I don't feel so bad. It was natural, after all. Bakugo is probably the worst opponent for me right now—my perfect counter in almost every way. Halfway through the fight, I realized my threads weren't going to hold me until the next match. So I thought, what the hell, let's put on a show.
I'm now lying in a hospital bed, doing nothing but dissolving food with my hands to regenerate my body. At this point, I've recovered almost everything. My arms are fine, and my skin is getting better. My reserve will need about a week and a half to get back on track, but we have time to spare right now.
Recovery Girl and I have fought on multiple occasions because she refuses to accept that her quirk doesn't affect my physiology at all.
This time, she just looked at me, sighed, and went to ask for a lot of food.
My room was simple: a hospital bed, a small table, and two chairs, all bright white. On the table were many empty plates.
Like I said, the process of creating threads takes time. It's based on the quality of organic matter I consume. A steak creates far more than rice, but then again, I'm not exactly rich enough to eat meat daily, and UA doesn't have that many options either. I could accelerate the process by eating stray animals, yes, that's true, but I'm not that heartless. I did it in the past, but that was only to gain Toga's favor, I swear.
Besides, the implications of being found with a half-dissolved cat in my hands are enough to keep me from trying that again.
But anyway, what to do now? As we speak, the fight between Bakugo and Todoroki is happening, but I don't feel the need to see it. Let's talk about what's about to happen next.
"AKUMA!"
The sound of a door bursting open gets my attention. Deku is behind the noise. I smile gently as he walks to me and sits in a chair while scratching his head.
"You lost..."
"That... is a unique way of starting a conversation, Midoriya."
"A-AHH, sorry! No, no, I was here to see if you could fight. It's the last fight for third place, or can't you?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Let's go, I was already about to finish, after all."
I slowly stand up, making little jumps to check my balance. After a few tries, I grab the clothes Midoriya brought me, dressing myself quickly.
"Let's go."
"Yes!"
We walk down the corridors in silence as I check my senses. I can perceive things alright, so that's something. A part of me wanted to surrender, but what the hell? Let me go with honor. At least let's put up a decent fight.
I have enough threads to regenerate three limbs. It's not much, but it's something. Midoriya looks at me curiously before asking, "Hey Akuma? What was that burned plastic you had on the table?"
"Ah, that? That's where I store a little water if I need to cry."
"W-What?"
"Oh, it's weird? It's just that it's difficult to feel sad and not be able to cry, so I improvised that thing. I take it everywhere, hidden inside my chest. I forgot to take it out before the fight, so it got burned."
As I was walking and explaining, Deku suddenly stops and instantly bows. I also stop, but without knowing what to do. I look around as he doesn't move.
"W-What's happening?"
"I'M SORRY! I SWEAR I'M GOING TO MAKE BAKUGO APOLOGIZE!"
"A-ahh... Don't worry, man, it's alright. It was my fault, after all. Come on, we can't waste so much time, you know?"
He takes his time but finally stands straight again. He stops following me as we enter the tunnel. We wave at each other as he tells me good luck, running to the stands. I walk quickly, only to find Tokoyami standing there alone. He nods at me in silence. As I'm about to enter the platform, Midnight stops me.
"Is something wrong, Sensei?"
"Are you sure you can do it? Please don't push yourself too hard just because you can regenerate."
She says, touching my body, mostly my torso, making sure I'm not hollow or whatever thing they think indicates I'm not prepared to fight.
"I can fight, don't worry. Should I dedicate the victory to you, Sensei?"
"Sigh... how could a model student like you be so bold?"
She says as her fist gently hits my head, putting her other hand on her hip as she smirks. Then she pushes me onto the platform as she moves to her stage. I stretch my limbs in silence. I don't really have any hope of winning, but let's see.
"FIGHT!"
"THE LAST FIGHT IS HERE, AIZAWA! LET'S SEE WHO WINS THE THIRD PLACE!"
I start walking slowly to the left, in a circle. He walks to the right. It's a simple moment where you analyze your opponent's movements, mostly to see how nervous they are. Dark Shadow, Tokoyami's quirk, is a complicated matchup right now. If I had my full reserve, this could be easy, but alas, adaptation is also a very important part of a man.
The first one to make an offensive move was, obviously, myself. With a jump, I dash right in front of him. Since I can't use that many threads right now, my four extra organs were replaced by a single, slimmer, and longer tail. This one acts like a whip, making Tokoyami fall back. Dark Shadow doesn't wait to attack me. I jump back to try and avoid any unnecessary damage, but with a normal body, this task becomes more difficult.
Like a beast, the Shadow doesn't wait to act like a hammer, attacking from above as I try to parry with my tail. This turns out to be a mistake on my part. The organ isn't able to hold itself, and the weight of this thing breaks it, a consequence of not making it from tension cords. It crushes my body into the ground before letting me go, only to be thrown away.
I land as gracefully as I can, quickly putting myself on guard as Tokoyami runs at me. I have only two limbs left in my reserve, considering I had to regenerate my whole body. I put my hands on the ground, and without thinking, Tokoyami jumps. This was a bluff to catch him off guard. I also use my legs to gain more altitude than him. Doing a cartwheel mid-air, my arm mutates into a heavier and more dangerous version of itself, leaving me with only one regeneration available. The inertia gives me enough momentum to strike the Shadow, which was already getting to me, and sends his owner directly into the concrete.
As I land on the ground, I can see Tokoyami struggling to get up. If there's a chance, it's with overwhelming speed. I send the threads used in my arm to my calves. The Shadow responds to the command of its master, but unlike other times, I quickly run directly to it. Dark Shadow throws its claws at me, but I simply let my body slide on the ground, passing right below it with enough speed to leave it disoriented.
Without wasting even half a second, I hit him on the chin with my feet without standing up, sending him flying as I grab his toe. Pulling him back, the Shadow tries to attack again. The claw passes right by my side, scratching my shoulder as I punch him in the face, creating distance between us.
I don't wait a single second before jumping again. I throw a thread at Dark Shadow's eyes as I fall. As the plan I prepared goes into action, I don't realize that thing gets nervous when it can't see, throwing blows in every direction. One of those directions ends up being my toe, where my core lies.
And then everything goes black.
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What is a soul?
Is it real? If so, how? And if it's real, where does the brain fit into the equation?
A complicated question, nonetheless. If souls really exist, then why does a human's character change when the brain suffers damage?
But also, if our consciousness lies in the brain, then why aren't we capable of taking complete control of our own body?
This creates a paradox in most cases, but in the sole absence of Michael Bianco, this is easily explained.
Michael Bianco is a soul. Half of it was used to create the world he was reincarnated in, and the other half remains in his core. This core has many functions, primarily acting as the producer of threads, but it also contains Michael's consciousness.
So what happens when Michael Bianco loses control? Normally, this would never happen. Even if knocked out or at the brink of death, he should remain in complete control of his body.
But without warning the user, The Wanderer installed a little extra function after the U.S.J. attack—a "failsafe," he called it.
This failsafe has a unique command: "When the user's core gets damaged, the body will take control to fight without restrictions."
And who takes control? The body itself. With no soul behind it, it acts like a completely different being. You could call it the "True Akuma Matsumoto," acting only on instinct. Even with the essence of Michael fading away, ordering it to stop, it stood up.
Tokoyami was the first to realize something had changed. It was obvious when he saw Akuma's once-white skin replaced by a reddish cover of threads, or more likely, the skin—a soft cloth placed there to cover Akuma's real body—was consumed to be used as part of the reserve.
It wasn't just the skin; the eyes, the hair, and everything that could be called "unnecessary" was also consumed. A faceless Akuma now stared directly at Tokoyami, who instantly put himself on guard. Dark Shadow moved nervously, waiting for the attack.
It happened quickly, almost in the same symphony as a blink. Akuma moved, but unlike anything his classmates had seen.
Before anyone could tell, he was already behind Tokoyami.
"WAIT!"
Dark Shadow tried to turn back, but it was already too late. Akuma's hit landed on Tokoyami's jaw, sending him into the air for a few seconds. Before he could even fall, his opponent grabbed him by the toe, pulling him back as a palm went directly into the gap between his ribs. Grabbing him by the clothes, he pushed him to the ground as Akuma silently dodged Dark Shadow, breaking his body into two parts and jumping as he pulled himself together.
Tokoyami tried to step back from the fight. As Dark Shadow covered his withdrawal, he felt something grab his leg. He tried to move, only to realize there were black threads incrusted in the floor, grabbing him.
"A trap?!"
A shadow appeared in Tokoyami's peripheral vision. His liver cried in pain as Akuma's fist sank into his stomach. His head was next, and then a kick directly to the thorax sent him flying away. On the ground, he could only vomit saliva.
He saw Akuma, or rather, whatever he had become, standing there, and a moment later, he wasn't.
In the stands, at around the same time, the classmates of both students looked astonished.
"Wait, wait, wait, he's never been able to just do that, has he?!"
"No, no, it should be impossible, right? What about that time he fought that Nomu! He just got knocked out."
"Akuma... how is he able to become stronger so quickly?"
While Mina and Kaminari talked, Midoriya looked directly at his friend. Just how much was Akuma capable of understanding quirks? During the U.S.J. attack, he helped him understand how OFA works, and now he had such a rapid evolution? There was no doubt, in Izuku's eyes, Akuma was a prodigy.
"You can't lose yet, Tokoyami!"
"Get him, dude!"
The sound of other classmates cheering was blurred by the sound of the fight. As Dark Shadow created distance between its owner and Akuma, a web made of strings came out of Akuma's forearm, aiming directly for Tokoyami's eyes. Another thread, like a whip, destroyed Dark Shadow's body and hit the body of the crow, sending him flying only to grab him mid-air, send him flying again, and then stomp him on the ground. As the crowd blinked, they realized Akuma was already standing in front of Tokoyami's beat-up body.
Around the same time, Midnight and Cementoss felt that sensation one feels when they are in front of something dangerous—a little spike formed by years of experience. Trusting their instincts, both of them intervened at the right time. Just as Akuma's hand was transformed into a scythe and was slowly approaching his classmate, they screamed as they ran at him.
"STOP!"
A cloud of Midnight's quirk was sent to Akuma with no avail; after all, he didn't have a nose to breathe it in. This only made him turn his attention to her. Turning back and dashing in front of her, with his arm-scythe pointed directly at his teacher, for a moment, the pro hero's head went blank.
The weapon got so close to her eye she almost felt it. For a single second, the fear of death was enough to make her forget about everything else, feeling the world go in slow motion, only to be interrupted by the sound of breaking concrete and air hitting her. Thanks to this, she was able to return to reality, falling to her knees.
It was thanks to the intervention of his co-worker, Cementoss, who used the material of the platform to hit Akuma as he approached. This impact tore his body as the pillar impacted the wall from the stands a second later, merging with it to stop Akuma from moving. He was struggling like a wild animal until he suddenly stopped, almost like he passed out.
Even so...
"Eh.....well.... AKUMA MATSUMOTO WINS THE THIRD PLACE IN THE SPORTS FESTIVAL!"
Cementoss offered a hand to Midnight, which she gladly took, standing up slowly and watching Akuma recovering his facial expressions bit by bit. A shiver ran down her spine. What was that? Did Akuma lose control over his own quirk?
"Oh! Right!"
She suddenly remembered about Tokoyami. He was lying on the ground, but unharmed. She quickly put him in the care of Recovery Girl.
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The fog invading my sight quickly dissipated as I started opening my eyes. It felt like I had gone to sleep. The last thing I remember was jumping to attack Tokoyami, and then nothing—a mental blackout.
I tried to move, only to realize what was happening. I was trapped, impaled against the wall with a whole lot of people looking at me from the stands. In front of me were Midnight and Cementoss. Tokoyami was nowhere to be found.
With this information, my mind raced with all the possibilities. It was clear that I didn't just pass out since I'm not in the infirmary. If I'm being restrained like this, it means that I was getting violent, and therefore, someone else had control over my body.
Karma can't do it, that's obvious, and there is no one with the capability of doing so among everyone in this universe, leaving only one culprit.
The Wanderer, that bastard.
As I was thinking about it, the memories of him talking about a "failsafe" came to my mind. So that's what he meant? But how did I manage to win against Tokoyami?
"Akuma! Have you gotten it together?!"
Midnight's voice interrupted my thoughts. I instantly answered, "Yes, ma'am!"
With that, my body was free from its concrete cage. I landed softly as I moved my limbs, walking toward the two supervisors. I realized that whatever I did was something wrong, because everyone's gaze was judgmental.
Goddamnit.
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"What do you think, Takeyama?"
"He lost control of his quirk, right? That's a problem... sigh... and I was about to send him an invitation."
Kamui Woods and Mount Lady were talking while watching the fight end. Both of them knew the talent this young student had shown today, but losing control in the middle of a fight against a fellow student is a mark that takes time to disappear.
"I'm going to send it anyway, but I'm not sure a lot of people are interested in him. You should too. Maybe when he's older, he will remember you and join your agency."
"Is that so...?"
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Like a rabid dog, Bakugo was moving and fighting as he was covered in different types of straitjackets and padlocks. To his side was Todoroki, looking ashamed, and in third place was me, also with specialized handcuffs covering my hands and wrists.
They already told me what I did, and there is no doubt, this "failsafe" is going to affect me if I'm incapable of controlling it. With a lot of important events and dangerous opponents to fight, I need to get rid of it.
Iida already left to see his brother, so there is little time for me, not Karma, to talk with Stain before he gets sent to jail. A lot of things are going to happen right now, but before that, there is only one thing on my mind.
As I spit a black thread out of my mouth, my decision is clear.
I have to kill "Akuma Matsumoto."