Chapter 110. Twice
“We were able to arrest most of the villains that attacked us. We even found one in the woods just wandering around. He seemed to be asking for a kid with yellow hair, and a black streak.” I looked at Aizawa in confusion for a second, but then it clicked. “Wait, Twice actually stayed? I heard a little about him from Toga, and I thought he seemed like a good guy, just lost like Toga. I hoped he would follow us back to camp, but after he didn’t I thought he made his choice. Alright I’ll go see him with your permission. Just make sure you keep something over his head, or he’ll break.”
Aizawa looked at me for a second before talking again. “Yes, we already tried taking off his mask to I.D. him, but after 5 minutes of continuous screaming, we decided to give it back.” I sighed in relief, and Aizawa continued on. “We also believe that Ragdoll, and perhaps Tokoyami were almost kidnapped for their quirks. Bakugo was always hot headed, so the hypothesis of them trying to turn him holds the most water. We were able to capture the muscle villain that was wanted for years. That one seemed to also want to fight you specifically, but Midoriya and I were able to stop him together easily before he could get the chance. The students affected by the gas are showing signs of wakin-”
Before he could finish I blurted out. “Where are they? How long? Will there be any side-effects?” He squinted at me, for my sudden outburst. “It may be a few more days for the toxin to be flushed from their systems. We have matters of more importance right now. We can’t help them, but we can and should strike the villains as a little pay back. We have already talked with Toga about what she knows about the location of the villain's hideout. We only have a limited amount of time before they all evacuate and we’re back at square one. We are telling you this to keep you here.” I squinted at Aizawa for that. ‘First he just sweeps Kyoka’s recovery under the rug, and now he thinks I’m just gonna rush to be with the pro’s.’
I let out an exasperated sigh. “I won’t try to go up against the likely possibility of fighting ‘him’. I like my quirk, and I need it for the future. Just let me be with the poisoned students and there will be no place I would want to be more. I think you all need to focus on where the Nomu’s are made, and stored. If that is where they get more quirks, it is a high possibility that ‘He’ is there as well. Shigaraki is a tantruming child that lost most of his power. All he has now is the shadow guy to let him escape. He’ll just whine to his daddy for help, and will either be brought to him, or ‘he’ will go to Shigaraki.” I finished my conjecture at the nodding teachers.
I already told them my idea earlier when I was with the police, but I said it now to really head my point home. “I just want to be with my classmates. I’ll keep an eye on Toga as well. If you don’t think I’m enough then have side-kicks watch us as well, but I want to go to the hospital.” They nodded but Aizawa reminded me of something I had forgotten. “Weren’t you going to talk to this other villain?” I shook my head in shame of forgetting the most heroic villain. “Yes, I almost forgot about that. Is he at the police station?” The principal spoke up this time. “No, he has been taken here as well. He may be tall, but he is the same age as you.”
That made me do a double take. ‘He is? I thought he was in his 30’s. He was definitely an adult, that I remember. Did certain things in this universe differ from what the show depicted? I guess it was too much to ask to have perfect future knowledge. Most things are the same, so is it just small details that don’t change people's personalities? No, that would be asking too much. Please don’t let this be foreshadowing.’ I sighed and decided to put those thoughts out of my head. They wouldn’t help me right now, and I had to focus to help this kid now.
Toga and I left the room, and were then escorted to another room. It was just a small room with a table and two chairs. Twice was sitting on one chair, his costume was gone, aside from his mask of course. He really did look younger than how he was in the show. I couldn’t see his face, but his body was definitely the same as one around my age. I walked into the room with Toga by my side, still disguised as me. ‘Twice’ looked up and was confused at the sight. I got him to look at me before I started explaining. “I am the one you wanted to see. This is Toga, I think you already discussed your quirks, right?”
Twice nodded in understanding as I sat down, and Toga sat on my lap. She was still hugging me and letting the world pass her by. I looked at Twice, and started to explain myself. “I know a little about you Twice. That is the name you go by now right?” He nodded again. “Good. I know what your quirk is, and because of that, a story has come to my mind. You no longer can trust the man you were before can you?” Hearing that made Twice shake. He was frightened, too frightened to even utter a word. I placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.
“That’s fine. I don’t blame you. You have seen first hand what anyone can be. That is what I believe anyway. That anyone can become a hero, or a villain.” He looked at me confused at what I, a hero in training, was saying, but I continued on. “Everyone has to deal with their own pain, misery, and sins. Everybody has them, yet why do you think there are still heroes that even exist if that’s true?” He was silently thinking, trying to come up with the right answer. After a bit I just told him.
“It’s the way they deal with it.” He looked back at me, seemingly dissatisfied with that answer. I chuckled a little at the simplicity of the answer as well. “Take Shigaraki, He probably had a hard life. One filled with pain and misery. He wants to kill and destroy everything because of that. Because he doesn’t like others having more, or being happy when he isn't.” He nodded at my summation of Shigaraki, then I continued on. “Now let’s take someone like All Might. What do you think about him?” Twice thought for a second before saying. “He is perfect. He is the perfect person.” I smiled at him in agreement.
“Yes, he is the perfect person. But… He is still just a person.” Twice looked a little confused at where I was going with this. “He has suffered just as much to get where he is to help as many people as he could. He still could have fallen off the path of being the symbol of peace on every step of the way to it. He had to suffer pain, loss, and so much more to get where he is today. What made you think something let him get here?” He was at a loss of the fact that All Might probably did have to suffer pain before he was even a hero. He was stunned at the idea that the symbol of peace could have had it hard in life.
I answered my own question again. “It was will.” Twice looked at me full of amazement. “He had an unbreakable will of wanting to help and save people. He still has that even now. Will is what makes people turn into true heroes. Twice, I have an idea of what you did to yourself. If your copies are the same as the original, then you saw what the past you could do.” He started to hold on to his head in fear of remembering. I continued with a larger commanding tone to capture his attention.
“That is what all humans are! We are all disgusting creatures that prey on ourselves for our own benefit! What you saw was not just you! That was a little bit of something in all of us! You just lacked the will to suppress it! You are scared of making more of yourself because you have seen what lives inside you, but guess what!? That lives in me, in her, in every pro hero! What would happen if you copied All Might? Would he do the same thing as you? No! He wouldn’t! Not because you are a monster! But because he has the will to never stray from his beliefs! That is what you need! You need a belief to stand for! You need a purpose! A purpose to live up to! Something that will make almost everything else secondary! I want you to join me to become a great hero! A hero who would sacrifice himself for others! Who would die for the sake of protecting others! Because, once you become that, you won't need that mask to hide from yourself anymore.”