Chapter Text
Christmas, the most joyous time of the year. Full of joy and cheer. And dumbass villains who think it's a good idea to rob a supermarket whilst Izumi’s around.
“Don’t you people know what a holiday is!?” Izumi asked the currently scared out of their minds villains who she had ensnared in Blackwhip. “It is a time for people to relax! Not go about robbing stores!”.
As you can see, she is quite displeased that someone disrupted her Christmas shopping on this day of all days.
Yes, the Christmas shop was late this year, she needed to wait until classes had finished for the year before she had the time to go out with her mom to get the shopping done. Not helped by most of the shopping centres being closed due to villain attacks. So one happening on the one day she was able to go out and do some shopping was very annoying.
Inko, who was standing off to the side, sighed deeply. “I wish these villain attacks would slow down”.
“Same here,” Durandal said. “But wishing sadly doesn't work, not in this environment. More and more heroes keep dying or retiring, leaving those who remain to work harder to pick up the slack, resulting in more burning out from overworking. We’re in a vicious downward spiral. Most heroes had it easy with All Might around, now they have to work harder to keep the growing crime down. And they won't be getting reinforcements till early next year when all the third-year hero students graduate. And even then, the majority of them will become sidekicks, and with fewer heroes around to hire them, most will struggle to find work. Things will stabilise, but it’ll be several years before that happens”.
Inko nodded somberly. These were worrying times. More and more heroes were retiring and villains were on the rise. She was worried if there would even be a country left by the time her daughter graduated.
The one thing she was somewhat glad about was that Avalon had been silent these past few months. But she didn’t know how long that would last.
Sometime later, after the villains had been passed onto the police and they had finished their shopping, they made their way back to UA, shopping in hand.
It was mostly food they had brought, for them and the rest of the class. There were a lot of mouths to feed after all. There were a few presets they had to get as well but they weren’t difficult to find. Now all they had to do was get back to school.
Thankfully it was an uneventful trip.
“We’re back,” Izumi groaned as she walked in with several bags of shopping.
“Welcome ba- oh my,” Momo gasped, noting the state she was in. “What happened?”.
“Villain attack,” Inko replied sadly.
“Don’t worry, I dealt with it,” Izumi added with a groan. “Why does this keep happening? I almost think that it’s better if I just don’t leave the campus”.
Momo frowned. “I see. Hopefully next time is villain-free”.
“So do I,” Izumi groaned.
“Do you want some tea?” Ochaco asked, holding a mug of green tea.
“Thank you,” Izumi said as she put the bags down, took the mug, and slowly started to drink from it. The green liquid slowly slipped down the back of her throat.
“Better?” Ochaco asked.
“Better,” Izumi replied before she gave the mug back to Ochaco, took a step forward, and fell flat on her face. Well, she would have, had Ochaco not been there to catch her. “I think my shoelaces are undone,” she said with a light blush.
“Must have come undone during the fight earlier,” Durandal said, looking down at her shoes.
“Yeah, it must have,” Izumi said, still blushing.
Ochaco giggled. “Come on, I think you should rest for a bit,” she said before she carried Izumi over to the sofa so she could sit down for a bit.
Inko smiled, glad that her daughter had someone like Ochaco in her life.
Everyone had been busy in their absence, getting the room all festive and such. They were all wearing Christmas themed clothing, nothing sexy of course, they wanted a casual Christmas this year. Not that Minoru seemed to be bothered by it much.
“You know,” Denki said as he helped his friend Minoru decorate the living room. “I’m impressed with you. You haven’t made any comments about the girls' clothing all day”.
“Well I have been working on not vocalising such thoughts out loud,” Minoru said proudly. “That, and I’ve been getting help”.
“Help?” Denki asked, sounding confused.
Minoru nodded. “Remember those three sisters from Germany who gave me their numbers?”.
“I’m going to stop you right there,” Denki said, knowing full well where this was going. “If this goes to where I think it’s going to go, then please, keep it to yourself”.
Minoru nodded. “Sure thing,” he said. He opted to not add that Ibara from 1-B has been helping him manage his ‘impure thoughts’.
Those lessons with her were surprisingly helpful.
The others were busy as well, putting up decorations and preparing the tree, that kind of thing. A few were also setting up a grab bag, a small pile of presents attached to ribbons. The idea was that you pull one of them, and the present on the other end was yours.
Simple.
Izumi was the last to add her present to the pile, an All Might keychain. She was a bit worried about the sword-shaped present that was in there as well, but it shouldn't cause too many problems, right?
She too had also gotten changed into a Christmas outfit, complete with a hat with a custom ball-ball at the end. Her’s, predictably, was of All Might's head.
“It’ll be nice having a Christmas with more people around,” Izumi said as she helped put the last of the decorations onto the tree. “Normally it’s just my mother and I”.
“Well, you're not spending it alone this year,” Ochaco said happily.
Izumi smiled. “You're not wrong there,” she said before she looked around. “By the way, where’s Nejire and Chiharu?”.
“Back in their own dorms,” Ochaco replied. “They are spending today with their classmates, but they said that they'll be around later”.
“I see,” Izumi said. It would have been nice to have them around as well, but they did have their classmates to spend time with as well. They can’t spend all their time in 1-A’s dorm after all. “A shame, I wanted them to be around for Eri’s first Christmas. As far as I know, she’s never really celebrated a holiday before”.
It was at this moment that Eri walked in, holding a basket of painted eggs. “Trick or treat!” she said with a smile as she started giving the eggs out.
“As you can see, it’s a work in progress,” Durandal remarked. “Getting her to learn the difference between different holidays when she’s never really experienced them is not easy. Maybe that crash course we gave her on holidays could have been extended a lot more”.
Izumi nodded. “Yeah, probably should have,” she said as Eri continued to hand out eggs.
The little girl walked up to everyone and gave them an egg, she then walked over to Inko and gave her a bento box. “Happy Mother's day”.
Inko, not really sure what was going on, just smiled and accepted the box. “Thank you dear”.
Eri beamed brightly, making Inko wonder if a flashbang had just been set off in front of her.
Ochaco sighed. “Well, at least she got that holiday correct”.
“Huh?” Izumi said, sounding puzzled.
“Mother's Day, it’s a major Sematick holiday in which we give thanks to Mother,” Ochaco explained. “It's normally practised by children, but adults are known to participate as well. Common practices include making a homemade lunch for your own mother, sending a Mother's day card to Mother herself, and using our psychic wings to fly around. It's the only day in the Imperial calendar where we can use them in public without getting into trouble. Although I don't know where she learned it from. I never told her about it”.
“Maybe that other hybrid told her,” Izumi said, referring to the child of, that woman.
Ochaco nodded. Yeah, that was probably how she came to learn about it.
One of these days she was going to go out there and find this girl.
Once everything for the grab bag was ready everyone came over, grabbed one of the ribbons and all together they pulled.
By sheer luck, Izumi and Ochaco had received each other's gifts. Ochaco was happily holding the All Might keychain whilst Izumi was holding a bag of mochi chips, which the mochi girl called ‘the good stuff’.
The rest of the class presents were a mixed bag. Some got something interesting, like Tsu who had gotten a self-heating mug, very useful during winter, and Koji who got a rabbit plush. Others got some odd things, like Tenya who had a questionable magazine, and Toru, who was currently holding three bars of gold with no idea what to do with them.
Oh, and remember the massive sword that had been put into the pile of presents? Well.
“Why does Eri have the sword!?” Izumi asked, pointing at Eri and the massive claymore she was happily holding.
“She has been deemed worthy to wield it,” Fumikage replied. “The sword has chosen her”.
Dark Shadow popped out of his chest. “Would now be a bad time to say that it's a real sword? Not a fake one”.
Fumikage started to sweat bullets as Izumi glared at him. “In my defence, I did not know that she would be taking part at the time I selected it”.
Izumi continued to glare at him.
“You do know that even if she didn't take part, one of us would still have gotten a real sword,” Eijiro said. “And I don't know about you, but I wouldn't know what to do with one”.
“Agreed,” Inasa said. “As cool as having a sword would be, I don’t know where to fit it in,” he did, after all, focus on overwhelming his opponent with wind, there was no way he could fit a sword into that style of fighting.
“I'd prefer a lightsaber,” Momo remarked.
Izumi continued to glare at Fumikage before she turned towards Eri, who looked very happy with the present she had gotten.
Darn.
She turned to Momo. “Can you make a copy of that sword that's safe for Eri to use? I don't want her swinging around a massive and very real sword”.
Momo frantically nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with Izumi. Eri should not be allowed near something that sharp. She might cut herself on it!
Meanwhile, in Tartarus. Paxton was singing Christmas songs. Specifically, the bane of retail workers everywhere.
All I want for Christmas.
Needless to say, the madam president of the HPSC and the intern keeping an eye on the man were not happy about this.
“Please, make it stop,” the intern begged, covering his ears.
The madam president groaned. “Can’t you just electrocute him?” she asked, starting to get very annoyed with Paxton's singing.
The intern slammed his fist down on the electrocution button, having completely forgotten about it. Instantly Paxton was electrocuted. It was only a short burst, but it was enough to shut him up.
“Hay! What was that for?” Paxton asked, more annoyed than in pain as being electrocuted.
“To shut you up!” the intern replied. “God I hate that song”.
“It’s a Christmas classic,” Paxton retorted.
“It’s the bane of my existence,” the intern groaned.
The madam president sighed. “If you're done torturing us with your singing, are you finally going to corporate?”.
“f*ck no,” Paxton replied. “I’ve told you every time you’ve walked in here that I won't make you a quirk emulator, period. I’m surprised that you’re still trying after the many, many times I’ve refused to work with you. You are aware of the definition of insanity, right? It’s doing the exact same thing, over and over again, expecting things to change,” he explained, mimicking the voice of Vass Montenegro from Far Cry 3. “My stance will never change. You can burn me alive for all I care, I will never tell you how to make an emulator. So, you're better off killing me”.
“No,” the madam president stated. “You will die only when I say so, and that will only happen once we have that emulator”.
Paxton sighed. “That stance is going to get a lot of people killed, you know? Sooner or later I will escape this place, and when I do, it will be on your head. A lot of people, thousands, maybe millions of people will die, all because you revived and kept me alive,” he smirked coldly. “But you won't be amongst that number, for I won't kill you. You will be allowed to live, only so you can bear witness to the devastation I will cause. Reminded every day that you allowed it to happen, that you chose to bring me back when you had perfect proof of my demise. I guess you’ll be begging for death after a while, but it won't be granted to you. Death would be a mercy for someone like you. No, you will live! Live to watch the devastation caused by the Second Avalon War! And don’t doubt that it won't happen. It will happen. A new war will be upon you all! And you! Madam President of the Hero Public Safety Commission! Will be the reason why there is another one! All because you got greedy and brought me back, letting insanity take hold in a futile attempt at getting something I will never give you”.
“But,” Paxton said calmly. “You can do the smart thing and kill me now”.
“And lose your quirk emulator,” the madam president said. “No. I’ve put too much into this to kill you now”.
“And stupidity persists,” Paxton sighed, lowering his head. “Why must power attract the fools and idiots? You remind me of Avalon’s board of directors. Power-hungry vultures the lot of them. I wanted a slow war, taking country after country and consolidating our positions. But nooooo, they wanted more! More than I could give. They pushed for more fronts, attacking places we lacked the numbers to, making our losses unsustainable. They had money, yes, but no idea how to properly fight a war. They thought that because we had robots, we could sustain far greater losses. Which was true. If we didn’t try to attack every country on Earth at the same time! Sadly that’s what they pushed for, and I could do nothing to stop them. And that’s why we lost. I am so glad they all died aboard the Evangelion carrier, because now I can fight the next war my way!”.
“There will not be another war,” the madam president said. “You will not escape this place. This is Tartarus! No one has ever escaped from here. Not even your many friends who are locked in here as well have even attempted to escape”.
“You forget, I helped build this place,” Paxton said with a smile. “Yeah, there’s bound to have been a few changes here and there. But the foundations, oh I know them quite well. Given enough time I’m sure I can break out of here. If I had a computer that is. Smart by the way, not giving me access to any technology. Keeping me alive on the other hand, not so much”.
The madam president scowled. She really hated this man, but she needed his emulator for the Mark Two hero project. Without that, her new heroes would be quirkless, and god forbid she allowed a quirkless hero to operate in Japan. They were a dying breed after all, no point in giving them false hope that there’s still a place in this world for them when they'll be gone in a few generations' time.
“You know, I could really do with a large Christmas dinner right about now,” Paxton said. “A big, fat turkey stuffed to the gills, large sausages wrapped up in bacon, a massive prawn co*cktail, an entire salmon, a massive gammon joint, sliced pork and beef, Yorkshire puddings, a large bucket of gravy, and a bowl of cranberry sauce,” he said, licking his lips and drooling as he imagined what such a large meal would look and taste like.
The madam president sighed. “That is an excessive amount of food that not even you could eat”.
“Bitch, I could eat an entire cow right now,” Paxton said. “That crap you feed us can barely be called food. After spending this long in here I'm absolutely ravenous”.
“It’s what's given to all Tartarus prisoners,” the madam president said. “It contains all the vitamins and nutrients the human body needs to survive”.
‘Not for me,’ Paxton thought with a scowl. One would think that they were trying to stave him.
“When’s that RAFT guy you said was going to break him going to arrive?” the intern asked, really wishing he could just get this over with and be somewhere else.
“He said he’s busy with something in Alaska,” the madam president replied. “Not sure what it is, he refused to elaborate, but he said he’ll be here before New years”.
“Finally,” the intern remarked. He had no idea who this RAFT guy who could supposedly break Paxton was, but he sure hoped he would do his job. He had other places to be after all.
“You know torturing me won't work,” Paxton said. “You’ve tried electrocuting me, and that didn’t work out well, now did it?”.
“A minor setback,” the madam president replied. “Our RAFT friends have means to make people talk, and trust me, they’ve made plenty of people we wanted information from talk, even people with quirks that made them resistant to interrogation broke within a few days. You will be no different”.
“I find that hard to believe,” Paxton sighed. “I’m not what you would call easy to break, you know. It’ll take a lot more than a few good interrogators to even crack me, let alone break me. Hell, you're more likely to kill me than break me, and I don’t know how many times your friend there can revive me. Resurrection quirks like mine are rare and tend to have a hefty cost. You can’t bring a life back from nothing after all. Something must always be given to bring the dead back to life. How much is your friend there willing to give just for me? What has he already given up to bring me back?”.
The madam president scowled. They couldn’t afford to kill Paxton during the interrogation, the intern who brought him back can only bring someone back once. If Paxton dies during the interrogation, they’ve lost him for good. And she highly doubted that she could find someone else who could revive the dead. Resurrection quirks were super rare, and those with them are hard to find as those with them, as well as the world governments, don’t want villains to find out about them, so those with them have coverup quirks, something basic and inconsequential to hide their real quirk. And you have to have some serious political leverage to find those with coverup quirks and what those quirks are. Leverage she no longer has.
And the man responsible for that was sitting right in front of her, strapped into a straightjacket, bolded to a chair with four automated gun turrets pointing at him at all times. And the f*cker won't cooperate.
They're going to have to be extra careful when interrogating him.
She huffed before she turned and walked away. “I’ll be back when he arrives. Keep an eye on him until then”.
“Will do,” the intern said as the madam president left the room. “Not that I can do anything else”.
Paxton meanwhile, just smirked as he watched the madam president leave. ‘Just a few more days,’ he thought. ‘A few more days, then we blow this place wide open’.
