223 Dark Emotions No More! Leonidus' REAL Smile!

It's been quite the interesting few days, my situation at U.A. has put them under extremely heavy controversy and fire. Rei took it upon herself to expose U.A. after noticing how different I looked when I came into school today. She asked me a crap ton of questions and I told her the whole story.

"And you wanna call ME a villain? So... How exactly did that 'artificial host' work?" Rei remarked.

"Well, it's a little complex. You see, when I take in too much negative energy, my Overdrive immediately sends me into rehabilitation in the Seventh Plane. The host is mainly fueled by the negative energy but it tries to turn it into positive energy. Aaand of course, if it gets overwhelmed, it'll do whatever it feels necessary to get rid of it. Whether it be being in bed all day or... Killing innocent people for fun." I explained.

"You don't remember anything, do you? Like, while the host was taking over?" Rei wondered.

"Only important bits and pieces but I've gotten up to speed with major things. Why?" I responded.

She didn't say a word, she looked away as her eyes widened. I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"I-I... Uh... Well... W-We may have uh... Gone into your room one day and um..." She faltered.

"Oh! I know about that already, that was during the long stretch of time that Momo and I weren't together." I smiled.

"Y-YOU WERE AWARE ABOUT IT?!" She exclaimed.

I nodded and laughed, "Yeah! It's one of the only times I stepped out of the Seventh Plane to take control of my body."

She blinked a few times before falling backwards, her eyes were completely heart shaped, I leaned forward to look at her.

"Are you alright?" I chuckled.

"Yeeeeaaahhhh..." She simpered.

I held my hand out to her, she grabbed it and put her face against it. I pulled my hand away from her, she stood up, then brushed herself off.

"Now, I suggest we get back to it, hm? We've got a looot of ground to cover over this situation." Rei told me.

I nodded and followed her out of the teacher's lounge. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail as we walked back to class.

"My, my, you've gotten some real long hair! That kind of makes me a bit jealous." Rei giggled.

"That's what 6 years in a different plane of existence does to you. Although quite literally nothing else changed besides that, I'm not older by any stretch of the means." I replied.

[Several Hours Later...]

The news of what U.A.'s funding really went to hit nearly every mainstream media outlet on the planet! I was going to be heading to a press conference to address the situation. The only problem was that I would be talking about Momo as well, which would put her under fire as well. I put on a suit in my dorm room and let my hair down. There was a knock on my door, I walked over and opened it.

"Hey, you're looking great." Momo cooed.

"Thanks, I've got that press conference to go to, which I already know what you're thinking. I'll be clearing up your name, but that's it. I can't keep all of this under wraps anymore." I greeted.

She looked down at the floor, "I know... But... What if they think that I'm equally as responsible for everything that's happened to you and everything that you've done?"

"If they do think that, then prove them wrong. I'll be doing the same along with you, so don't worry about being alone." I reassured her.

"Okay." Momo nodded.

I gave her a hug before leaving my room. We walked downstairs towards the Common Room, they had the news up already, I guess everyone was waiting for what I was about to say. I walked out of the dorms and entered Gear Six, I took off towards the address I was given. It only took me about 4 or 5 minutes to get there! I landed down on the ground, cameras flashed and news reporters rushed me.

"Leonidus! What all happened?" Someone asked.

"I'll disclose all of that inside, I'll answer as many questions as I can. Rest assured, everything's gonna be revealed, trust me." I answered.

I walked inside the building after pushing through quite a few reporters and camera men. I walked up a set of stairs to get to the podium, I readjusted the microphone to get it a bit closer to my mouth. The people that were already inside watched intently as the cameras panned over to me.

"Good Evening, people of Japan. As you all know, I'm U.A. High Third Year student Leonidus, or otherwise known as 'The Overdrive Hero: Leonidus'. I'm here to address and clarify the recent news that has sprung up as of late. It is in fact true that U.A. High has funded hundreds of thousands of Yen into researching my Quirk. As harmless as that sounds, their methods of research were mentally, physically, and emotionally damaging to me. Torn and pulled muscles from Ectoplasm's clones to test my healing, rapid exposure to Midnight's Quirk, not to mention the numerous amounts of times I had come home pulling out bullets from different parts of my body." I greeted.

"It was extremely agonizing, to the point where my mental stability was broken into pieces, all because they had never seen a Quirk like mine before. Due... Due to my Quirk, the negative energy I had obtained and absorbed sent me into a place that's exclusive to only users of my Overdrive Quirk. An artificial host took over, which I suspect was during the Hosu City Incident last year. During that time, I had no control over my actions, which meant that the host was capable of doing quite literally anything. The disappearances of those criminals in late February was my doing, it wasn't a villain, but me. After a serious talk with one of my peers, I was finally brought back to my senses, so I let them go." I continued.

I leaned forward a bit on the podium, "The scariest part about it all, was that the host could've killed more people, even the ones I love. This all could've been prevented if U.A. had listened to All Might and Eraser Head's requests to stop the testing, but Nezu refused. I should also mention that the League of Villains, something that hasn't been heard of in quite some time now, the attacks on the U.S.J., Beast's Forest... There was a single source behind all of that, and that source was-"

An explosion rattled the side of the building! I guarded my face as smoke billowed into the room.

"Is everyone alright?" I shouted.

I looked to my left and saw some people unconscious and bleeding, nobody was dead, thankfully! My focus returned to where the explosion came from, my eyes widened as I saw who it was once the smoke cleared.

"Did ya miss me, Leonidus?" Mikey grinned.

[ORIGIN: 13 Years Prior...]

*THIRD PERSON*

"Class, I'd like you to meet our new student, Alyx Leonidus!" Ms. Hernandez introduced.

Mikey Langlitz's life changed from that point forward, after being introduced to Leonidus. Alyx smiled and waved at his peers, he sat down next to Laura Whitson, someone that Mikey had grown fond of.

"Woah... Your hair is really pretty! It kinda looks like fire!" Leonidus giggled.

Alyx activated his Quirk to show Laura, who quickly grew impressed. Mikey looked down at his hands then back up at the two who were quickly surrounded by the other kids.

"Uh huh! My Daddy and Mommy used to be the number 3's!" Alyx beamed.

"H-Hey! What about me?" Mikey called out.

Alyx looked over at Mikey who had his Quirk on display, his eyes widened as he approached him. Mikey couldn't help but notice how Leonidus' Overdrive shined brighter than his Light.

"That's awesome! Do those things get brighter? They're kinda dim, but they're cool nonetheless!" Leonidus complimented.

"D-Dim...?" Mikey thought to himself.

Before Alyx had made his presence in his class, his friends and others were fascinated by his Quirk. That fascination quickly halted after Leonidus' arrival, nobody would be as impressed with his Quirk as they used to be. To Mikey, Leonidus had stolen his spotlight, he had stolen his spot. The years passed and Mikey's hatred for Alyx only grew more and more, even targeting those he was close to. He closely studied Leonidus' Quirk, the speed, its strength, he even observed Leonidus' mannerisms, all in an effort to finally outshine Alyx Leonidus.

[Present Day]

"Mikey...!" Leonidus grumbled.

"You really thought that you killed me, didn't you? That's fuckin' laughable! I've got tricks of my own, you know, or are you that much of a fuckin' airhead?" Mikey cackled.

Back at the 3-B dorms, Laura watched on as the camera's panned over to Mikey and Leonidus. She stood up and rushed towards the doors.

"L-Laura! Where are you going?" Kendo called out.

"I'm ending our nightmare, for good this time!" Laura responded.

Leonidus stared Mikey down as he activated his Quirk into Gear Six. Mikey chucked a ball of light towards him, Leonidus stepped out of the way as it exploded behind him, Alyx charged towards Mikey. He tackled him through the hole in the wall, Leonidus grabbed Mikey's shirt and delivered a hard right hand to his jaw. Mikey responded by pulling Leonidus' tie and striking him with a ball of light, sending him into the air. Alyx grabbed the ball of light and chucked it back down towards Mikey, it exploded before it could reach him. The two rushed towards each other in the air, Alyx narrowly missed a round house kick to Langlitz's face, sparks of Overdrive peppered his face as his foot passed by. Mikey missed a strike of his own and sparks of his Quirk tickled Leonidus' face as well.

Leonidus glided by Mikey's fist, drilling his left hand into Mikey's stomach, he grabbed the back of his shirt and chucked him across the sky. He followed quickly after him, Mikey rebounded and threw multiple balls of light towards Leonidus. As he dodged them, Alyx looked back to see that they were following him! He took off towards a nearby mountain range, Mikey followed suite by sending more balls of light after him. Leonidus landed on the ground and put his hands in front of him then to his right side.

"Carving Star... Blast!!" He shouted.

The purple beam of light shot out towards Mikey and his plethora of Light Balls. It disintegrated his attack and grazed Mikey's left arm as he flew towards him. He crashed into water, a trail of smoke came off his arm as he fell to the water. There was silence for a few seconds before the water shot upwards. Mikey was serenaded in golden light as he rose into the air.

"Do I have your attention yet, Alyx?" Mikey smirked.

"I don't understand, why are you doing this? What in the fuck is wrong with you?" Leonidus retorted.

"You stole MY spotlight, you took everything I had planned and shredded it to pieces! If you never showed up... If you never existed in my life... Laura would be mine, everyone would be chanting MY name, NOT YOURS!" He shouted.

"Maybe if you got that ego out of your fucking head you'd realize that I never did any of that! You were used to having constant praise over your Quirk, but when I came in, you couldn't except the fact that someone else in our class had their Quirk developed. You let that jealousy get to your head, that whole time I was there, I tried to make friends with you but you couldn't accept it because of my Quirk. You took it upon yourself to kill Laura's parents for what reason? Spite? For fun? Mikey, you're the only person that I can say that I truly hate." Alyx scowled.

Mikey landed down onto the water, "Then let's do this, you and me! Let's settle things once and for all, Alyx."

They stared each other down as the winds slowly blew around the area. A small bubble in the water appeared in front of them, as soon as it popped, the two ran towards each other. Both of their Quirks deactivated, Overdrive surrounded Leonidus' legs while balls of Light were under Mikey's feet. The two had punched each other in the face, they slid off the water after each impact, Leonidus created 4 afterimages that charged towards Mikey. The afterimages struck at Mikey, he dodged each strike, Mikey elbowed one of the afterimages and pulled another into his knee. An afterimage elbowed Mikey in the stomach while another one uppercut him in the jaw.

Mikey let off an explosion of light, clearing out the afterimages and sending Leonidus flying backwards. He jumped into the air and created Light Balls that he threw at Leonidus. Alyx dodged each one by hopping backwards, the attacks exploded on impact as they hit the water, Leonidus smirked as one came right towards him.

"Counter Burst!" Leonidus shouted.

The Light Ball hit the shield of Overdrive, deflecting it right towards Mikey, it exploded as soon as it hit him. He crashed into the water as smoke billowed off of him, suddenly, Mikey appeared right behind Alyx! He slammed a ball of Light right into his back, triggering a fierce explosion that sent Leonidus bouncing off the water. A wall of flames surrounded Mikey, he looked behind him and noticed Endeavor alongside other Pro Heroes! The distraction allowed Leonidus to deliver a huge punch to Langlitz's stomach as he flew in through the flames. The two rolled on the ground with each other in their grasps. Alyx headbutted Mikey, causing the two to separate from one another.

Alyx entered Gear Two and zoomed towards Mikey, "IS THAT REALLY ALL YOU'VE GOT?!"

Mikey growled and rebounded towards Leonidus, Alyx hit him with am Overdrive Fist square in the jaw, Mikey retaliated by letting off an explosive fist of his own to Alyx's right cheek. As Leonidus flew to the right, he wrapped an Overdrive Whip around Mikey's legs and dragged him with him.

"E-Endeavor, what are we gonna do?" Mt. Lady wondered.

"We'll wait until Leonidus is down, then we'll move in. Clearly, this isn't a regular fight, Mt. Lady." Endeavor informed.

Best Jeanist stepped forward, "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"There's something more going on here, the way they're hitting each other, their movements and facial expressions... This isn't just a Hero fighting a Villain, this is a Rival against another Rival." Endeavor explained.

Leonidus slammed Mikey into a cliff side wall using his Overdrive Whip! He rushed forward and rammed his foot into Mikey's sternum, sending him skyrocketing through the rocky wall. He hopped backwards and sent a Diamond Buster through the hole, he started to pant as the Diamond Buster exploded. Light began to emanate from inside the cliff wall, Leonidus eyes widened as he saw what was coming towards him, a gigantic Light Ball! It hit him dead on, he pressed his hands against it to try and stop it. He entered Gear Five and took a firm hold of it, he managed to twist it around and throw it back at Mikey!

Mikey blasted it back with another ball of light, creating a gigantic explosion that sent the two combatants flying away. As smoke billowed into the air, Laura watched on from a cliff side opposite from the Pro Heroes.

"Holy shit... Alyx!" She fretted.

The explosion's smoke had covered nearly the entirety of the mountain terrain's lake.The water had become shallow as Mikey's Light Ball explosion spread the water throughout the land. The two stumbled up to their feet, Leonidus threw off his torn tie as he approached Mikey, Mikey tore off his charred shirt as he approached him. Alyx and Mikey sluggishly walked towards each other. Leonidus placed his fist on Mikey's face which Mikey replied with the same, the two wearily pushed their fists into one another's face. The two fell to their knees, beaten and bloody, breathing heavily as one fell into the other's shoulder. Mikey grabbed Leonidus' face and pushed him into the watery ground. Mikey slowly stood back up, his entire body trembled due to the pain from the explosion.

Alyx started to stand back up as well, they groggily started charging towards each other once more, fists clenched firmly at their sides. The Pro Heroes stood there and watched as the two went back and forth for hours. One man would land a strike against another, then the other would respond in kind soon after, both men would land one final strike against each other as the sun began to set. They fell to the ground side by side, Leonidus looked over at Mikey who looked back at him. Through his half open right eye, Mikey saw Leonidus give off a weary smile.

"Y-Y... You... Really... A-Are... Amaz... ing..." Leonidus croaked.

Leonidus looked up towards the now orange sky, "M-Mi... key... You... W-Win..."

"W-Why..." Mikey spoke up.

Leonidus' slowly moved his head to look at Mikey, tears ran down the side of his bloodied face as he looked up at the sky.

"E-Even though... I... Did terrible things... A-And you... Told me... Y-You... Hated me... Why... Why are you... S-Smiling at me...?" Mikey wondered.

"B-Because... Deep down... I know... You know... That you'll always be... My friend..." Alyx smiled.

Mikey stayed silent as more tears fell down his bloodied face, the two sat together in silence as the gentle breeze blew across them.

"Alyx... I'm sorry." Mikey replied.

"I'm sorry... As well..." Leonidus apologized.

Laura came running towards the two, Alyx looked over to see who's footsteps he was hearing. She knelt down beside Alyx and held him close to her.

"Thank God..." She muttered.

Laura looked over at Mikey who was sitting up, all three of them looked at one another, Alyx couldn't help but chuckle lightly.

"Finding something funny about this, fuckhead?" Mikey smiled.

Leonidus stopped chuckling and sighed a bit while keeping a smile on his face. The trio took in the atmosphere, Laura suddenly embraced the two of them, holding them close to her. The Pro Heroes made their way towards the trio, assessing the damage done to the surrounding area. They were surprised to find Alyx, Laura, and Mikey walking together, albeit Leonidus' & Langlitz's arms were around Laura's shoulder. For a brief moment, Annie could see their younger selves, actually smiling at one another instead of fighting.

*LEONIDUS' P.O.V.*

"You always find trouble, huh?" Annie giggled.

"Y-Yeah... I guess so!" I grinned wearily.

[One Hour Later...]

I made sure to tell Endeavor and the other Pro Heroes to let Mikey off the hook. Which they all agreed to do, I thought it'd be a lot harder than that. I watched as Mikey walked away from us, he looked back at me and smiled.

"Thank you, Alyx, for letting me do that." He told me.

I nodded at him, "Take care... Friend."

He started walking once more, I wasn't sure where he was heading, neither was I sure if I would see him again. But one thing was for certain, he definitely was on a better path than what he was beforehand. After cleaning up the place, I returned to the dorms, I flew up to my balcony and entered my room through there. This suit was practically not wearable anymore! Honestly, after that entire ordeal, I felt relieved. Way more relieved than what I was when I came back from the Seventh Plane. I heard my door open then footsteps rapidly approach me. I turned around and was embraced tightly by Momo. I closed my eyes and smiled as I hugged her back.

"It's all better now, Momo. I can finally say that for real this time." I spoke softly.

She looked up at me, "Y-You're being serious, right?"

I nodded at her and smiled for real, tears of joy filled her eyes as she buried her head into my chest. Everything finally felt right again, almost as if I just started at U.A.