Chapter 236 - Echoes of Revolution
People were marching down the streets, fists high, some holding weapons ranging from bats to golf clubs.
Most of them had their faces covered with scarves and bandanas.
Police officers were tasked with dispersing the protesters, hitting or pepper spraying them. People were violently dragged through the streets to get into custody.
The more repressed people were, the more violent they grew, the more dangerous the situation became.
Some started using their Quirks to push back police officers.
Many feared what it meant.
"The public's faith in our institutions is crumbling"
One of the guest speakers nodded.
"This isn't about who has been or who has not been imprisoned wrongly : it's about the erosion of our democratic values under the guise of martial law."
"The imprisonment of Pro Hero Hawks is a dark stain on our nation's history. We must hold those in power accountable", another said
"General Shirai's unchecked authority is a threat to our freedom. Japanese deserve transparency and justice"
"What about the revelations concerning this potential human experimentation lab, the infamous 'Nomu farm' ?"
One of the guests took off his glasses and rubbed them on the back of his shirt.
"We can only hope that this is false", he said. "Because if our government is truly trying to weaponize the very thing who ate our fellow citizens and Heroes and nearly destroyed our capital in the span of half an hour, we'll have far more important things to think about than civil war"
Hundreds of thousands of people were expressing their outrage online.
"My cousin was eaten by one of these things. If Japan is searching for how to control these creatures, then I want to do nothing with them #IAMNOTJAPANESE"
"Can't you see ? They're doing the same things they did years ago. Lady Nagant was their first victim. They said she was sick, like Hawks, and then we never heard from her again. Everything is connected #WiseMan #Conspiracy #IAMNOTJAPANESE"
Viral videos of police violence against protesters fueled public anger and mobilized people to join the movement and fight against their oppressors.
Celebrities and athletes all over the world publicly condemned the Japanese government's actions : a pot that was supposed to be Hawks once he got out of prison had been opened and had reached close to 500,000 thousand in one hour.
A few parliament members started pushing for significant policy change. Several were pushing for an investigation examining precisely what had gone on under General Shirai's exceptional regime.
Katsuki watched the procession from his penthouse. There were so many people flooding Tokyo it looked like the whole country was protesting.
He put his phone to his ear.
"Yes ?", Endeavor said
Katsuki's eyes were still glued on the protesters.
If only joining them wasn't equal to inviting the wolves into the lamb's den.
"In three days they'll transfer the prisoners to Tartarus"
A beat.
Katsuki knew his phone line was monitored, and Enji must've known as much.
"Thank you"
They hung up, and Katsuki went to put on his coat.
Since receiving All Might's Quirk, his body had started changing in unexpected ways. He was indeed stronger and faster, but the growth he was experiencing was unparalleled.
He'd grown eight inches in a matter of a month; he was now taller than his father.
His mind was sharper as if some fog that had been ever-present but that he'd never noticed had been lifted off.
He was also more resistant to extreme temperatures and, surprisingly, his skin was as strong as steel.
Katsuki had started following Shoto's advice.
He'd committed in a book everything he knew about the One for All – without naming it as such – and endeavored to explore its possibilities.
Yesterday he had been solely focused on trying to find his physical limits.
He'd tried to stab his arm and the knife had bounced off his skin without leaving a scratch. He'd squeezed the blade between his fingers, expecting to bleed, yet it'd just shattered.
He'd put as much weight as he could find on the bench press and tried lifting it.
He'd pushed 700kg.
He then put the weights in a pyramid and punched it without protection: the top ones had shattered and, except for a light pain in his hand because he hadn't closed his fist the right way, he'd been unscathed.
His muscles were denser, his bones sturdier, his organism stronger.
He'd found no limits yet, and that was both exhilarating as well as frightening.
If Shoto had been right – and he nearly always was – then it'd meant that Katsuki, as long as he kept training, would be limitless.
He'd been gifted a life-altering – no, a world-altering ability just because he'd been at the right place at the right time.
He was right.
They could do whatever the fuck that they wanted.
And if he'd been lucky enough to get this ability, then someone else – someone ill-intended – must've had one, too.
It put things into perspective.
Katsuki wrapped his scarf around his neck and buried his face inside.
Today should've been focused on pushing said 'limits', but he'd had more urgent matters to attend to.
It was time to see what his punishment would be.
*
Wasn't it ironic that the first time I could take a well-deserved break was in prison ?
I leaned against the cold wall, eyes closed, gathering my thoughts.
Abstinence was hard.
I'd thought I'd blow this place off – and myself with it – on the first day without any of my favorite sweets.
Though once I'd managed to survive the first twenty-four hours without strangling anyone, I knew I was on the right path – sort of.
Plenty of my clones were still outside but they were working on the projects I'd assigned to them, popping up here and then, with no way for me to change their previously given orders.
I wondered what Dad was up to if the news of his son fucking up – again – had managed to drag him out of bed.
It certainly had, from what Katsuki had said, and it was the only thing I didn't regret.
Well, to be fully honest, I didn't regret either going to Tartarus for Keigo.
He was worth at least a lifetime in prison.
I forced myself to quiet my mind and focus on my latest fuinjutsu project, the one that should allow me to store more chakra.
I visualized the matrix in my mind, picturing it with perfect accuracy until the smallest blotch of ink.
Despite not being quite there yet, I knew I was on the verge of a breakthrough.
Slowly I deconstructed the seal, breaking interconnected parts that worked as well on their own.
I spun them around, trying to understand where it had gone wrong, wondering whether the separated parts or the whole was the problem.
In a matter of days, I felt as if I understood my seal as well as if I'd worked on it for years.
Thinking about it day and night to avoid madness enabled me to get a thorough understanding of what I was working on.
Fuinjutsu was a language : understanding the basics was not enough, you had to change the structure of the sentence once you brought more words into the mix.
Fuinjutsu was a precise, meticulous endeavor.
Suddenly the wrong part of the seal glowed in gold, lighting up like a bulb in pitch black.
I tweaked it around, fascinated.
My hand twitched with the need to write it down and see for myself if it'd work.
My finger hovered over the floor.
I could use blood, though, but it would look gruesome – and there was a chance that they'd try to stop me if they believed I was harming myself.
I drew the seal on the dirty floor, making clean paths where I should've poured my chakra to activate it.
The door of my cell opened, the hinges creaking loudly.
"Get up"
I pursed my lips, finishing the last circle. There. Perfect.
I rose before any of the wardens could say anything else : slowly, I stripped out of my clothes and let them pool at my ankles.
They didn't have the decency to clean or change them, and I wondered what was the point of showering if I had to get dirty right after.
The one holding the door looked at my crumpled, dirty clothes for a while.
Judging from his smell, he wasn't someone I'd had the pleasure to meet before.
"Your hands"
He handcuffed me, though we all knew it was useless.
My eyes swept over the usual five men squad in charge of-
My eyes narrowed.
There was the one holding the gun at blank point to the lower back of my head, the two on either side of me, and the last ones right in front of me – yet their smell, weight, height, and heartbeat were synchronized with utmost precision.
They were all rigid, their muscles stiff they could've passed for humans to anyone else's senses but not mine.
"Walk"
Warden One's tone was brutal and cold, yet he was avoiding my gaze – and he was the only one to do so.
He moved his hand to push me forward, and the light caught on the ring in his left hand, making it flash.
It was the logo of a stylized flame.
The corner of my lip quirked up.
They walked me to the bathroom, and Warden One turned on the faucet yet did not ask me to put my hands against the wall.
He looked up at the camera on the left corner of the room, and the red dot showing it was recording went black.
"We barely have half a minute", he said. "They wanted you to know that you're safe and that everything will be taken care of"
"When ?"
"We're not sure. You'll have to wait for the signal"
It had to be before we were transferred to Tartarus, and I was certain that Katsuki had told Dad too.
"Tell them they must find a way to distract Jin Woo", I said. "The guy who controls shadows"
It was only because I wasn't certain that I could deal with my head bomb and Jin Woo simultaneously that I was stuck down here.
Despite what they'd led Katsuki to believe, Jin Woo was always, always in Tartarus.
I could feel him in every shadow, smelt him in every corridor, and saw his face each second of every day from the corner of my eye.
He'd been tasked with monitoring me until Tartarus made me mad, and I feared I wouldn't have to wait that long to become so.
"Understood"
"And tell my father-"
He showed me the camera.
Once the red dot was back on, I was being showered like a dog as usual.
*
"I thought we had an agreement", said Shirai
"We do"
"Pray tell me why you slipped unauthorized in Shoto Todoroki's cell ?"
Talking to Shoto had been both shameful and enlightening.
Shameful because his friend told him to take his hand out of his ass, and enlightening because it'd awakened this peculiar brand of arrogant confidence they both possessed that had been dormant for a while in Katsuki.
"He's my friend", said Katsuki, falsely assured, eyes resting on Shirai. "I needed to tell him"
His mouth was dry, and he feared his voice would waver.
"It's akin to treason", said Jin Woo, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, two black holes boring into Katsuki
"Is it ?", said Katsuki casually
Katsuki used to be defiant to authorities ; since... Ochaco, he'd lost that spark that made him, him.
"It is", said Shirai, voice steely
Katsuki boldly raised both hands, holding them against each other like he would if they were cuffed.
"Then please go ahead and imprison me too" A beat. Katsuki smiled, his upper lip curling on his abnormally sharp canines "Heard you like dabbling in illegal matters"
Shirai's eyes flashed. Katsuki was sweating so much that the hair behind his ears was sticking to his skin.
They said nothing.
"Careful here"
Katsuki snorted.
"Or what ?"
He leaned forward.
"You're in one hell of a mess, General. People are jumping at your throat. Civilians are using their Quirks against law enforcers "
'The Nomus Farm' article had been a literal bomb.
More and more politics were turning their back on Shirai : they needed a scapegoat, someone to focus the general public's anger on.
Katsuki straightened.
"Wouldn't it be good for you if you had the Peace Symbol by your side ?"
There, this spark of greed lit up his dull gaze.
Shoto had been right, as always.
"Do not consider yourself more valuable than you truly are, boy. Your name holds no weight"
"My name holds no weight yet. But it's only a matter of time before it does, isn't it ? There's so many people trying to suck up to me already… What do you think will happen if I present myself as the new All Might ?"
People had been distressed by All Might's departure, even though he'd announced it months ago. Endeavor's brutal quitting had been received even worse, and with all of the scandals that had surfaced recently, people couldn't help but lose faith in their country's ability to protect them.
They needed hope, someone they could channel their fear onto with the assurance that they would be protected.
Katsuki, because of his Quirk, would be this hope.
He rose.
Shirai frowned.
"We haven't finished talking"
"We have"
Displeasure made Shirai scowl, yet he said nothing.
Katsuki spun boldly on his heels, back straight, heart beating loudly in his chest.
He counted every breath he took until he got to the door. The sound of his shoes hitting the floor filled his ears like a thunderbolt.
They did not stop him, because they did not have the power to.
Katsuki had come in fearing he'd be punished for his actions, yet he'd managed to turn the tables with a few well-placed words.
Shirai would've punished him if Katsuki had shown himself obedient and ready to face the consequences of his actions ; rather than cowering, he'd shown Shirai that he knew he wouldn't be able to punish him if he didn't want himself punished.
He'd channeled his inner Shoto to get out of that mess, and hell yeah it had fucking worked.
A smile threatened to flourish on his lips, though he held it back.
Rather than walking towards the usual exit – the exit that would mean walking past Shoto's cell – Katsuki took the left corridor.
His eyes were roaming over the name plates written on the cells, though he barely registered what was written, replaying the whole conversation in his head.
Fuck fuck fuck, he'd been fucking awesome. If there'd been-
Katsuki stopped dead in his tracks.
Cold sweat rolled down the back of his neck.
He turned around, his gaze going back to the last name he'd read. His fingers were shaking.
'Kai Chisaki'
*
BONUS :
The sun was shining brightly over the island.
He wiped his sweaty brow with the back of his hand, smiling, looking at the sparkling sea and breathing in happily the salty wind.
Despite being only a few kilometers away from Tokyo, he felt as if he were in a completely different world, free from the brewing madness that threatened to overwhelm their country.
"Dr. Gottlieb, we're going to start"
"Of course, of course"
He spun on his heels and followed one of his fellow doctors to the heart of the island.
The heliport, as well as most of the island, were still shattered, though they'd swept away the debris. They would build it back once they were done with Tartarus itself.
They walked through the perfidious corridors until they reached the hole they hadn't finished mending yet, the one on the first level of the prison.
A few other scientists were already gathered around it, an audacious one crouching next to the hole, his fingers hovering over the pink, bloodied mucus.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you"
The young man shot up, cheeks red, and mumbled an apology.
Behind him, in a cage were two chickens and a sheep.
They were wailing loudly, the chickens flapping their wings helplessly, hitting the bars of their cages, before falling and trying again.
The sheep was making heart-wrenching sounds, circling wildly in his cage.
Despite being blindfolded, it was as if they could feel the malevolence of this island and the horror of their fate.
"Start with the chickens"
Of of the chickens was pulled gently out of his cage though he tried to fly away, pecking harsly at the rubber gloves that were holding him.
They put him close to the hole, his head against the pink mucus.
His wailing turned to hysterical chirping.
Under their feet, it was as if Tartarus vibrated.
The one holding the chicken let him go and quickly moved away.
Pink tentacles sprouted from the floor and grabbed the chicken in a deathly embrace. Something akin to a trumpet-mouth crawled on the chicken's head and sucked him in until his neck.
The chicken's body spasmed then went rigid with fear.
The pink mouth bit the head off with a sickening, crunching sound. The body went limp. Blood rolled down on the mucus. Dozens of tiny tongues surged from the broken floor and lapped it. Mouths appeared at the tip of the wrapped tentacles and started munching on the feathered body, devouring flesh and bones.
Behind, the last two animals were growing hysteric.
The sheep was banging its head against his cage's bars.
The scientists were scribbling quickly on their notepads. One of them was recording the experimentation.
"Fascinating", one of them marveled. "Truly fascinating"
The floor was mending itself as it gobbled the meat.
"Now let's try with the sheep"
*
A/N
Am not dead. Haven't forgotten about publishing either. Schedule's filled to the brim with writing/translating the last couple of chapters. Only seven left to go everyone. Btw thanks for all the nice comments everyone. Made my day.
See you in the next update.