Red Shoes: an MHA Tale

Chapter 12: Tenko

The Hero Deku passed through the high security checkpoints leading deeper and deeper inside the concrete box known as Tartarus.

He complied with every order and test he was given by the guards, each of them covered head to toe in body armor.

This place had taken every precaution possible for every single criminal and villain they ever captured. Certain parts of the prison had no metal or other components replaced with substitutes due to certain Quirks that controlled certain materials.

There was no courtyard. No windows. The electrical systems worked deep inside the thick walls covered in rubber so no electrical Quirks could take advantage.

The LED lighting that lined the halls and cells was dim. In some cells it was dimmer, in some it was brighter. Everything in the prison was fit for every individual patron and their powers.

And to top it off, every prisoner who was not strapped down in their cells or hooked to a set of automatic guns wore a small exoskeleton that made it hard to sleep, but it connected to their spinal cord, their arms, their legs, and the back of their head to monitor their Quirks and even suppress them.

Ever since All For One rotted in this place, the prison really grew in security. There were plenty of powerful Quirks that were sent here and every time they got a new prisoner, they programmed their cell to keep them contained regardless of the power they held.

Deku could really feel the tension in this place. All this evil in one spot manifested in the darker corners of the halls and the cells and in the shadows.

Despite the precautions and security, he still did not feel safe. Many of the people in here were put here by him.

The guards escorted him to the deepest cell in the center of the large cubic prison. Equal amount of security on all six sides of the box. The guards scanned a card key over a sensor unlocked by a code, and a sudden doorway opened up on the side of the cell.

They entered a room with a wall with a one-sided window. The other side of the window had specks of dust gathering on it but still plenty of visibility.

"May I speak to him in private?" Deku asked, refusing to keep his eyes off of the prisoner in the cell through the window, completely restrained in a full body jacket and all of the above security.

"Can't let you do that." The guard said.

"He may not talk if you're here." Deku stated.

"That's fair. He never does speak. But protocol is protocol." The guard responded.

"Ask the warden." The hero demanded. "I need this time."

The other guard sent a message to their warden via a communication device in his watch.

The prisoner looked up through his messy white hair. The guns pointed at him shifted.

The guards started to sweat under their suits.

"It's okay." Deku comforted them with his hand slightly up. "Tenko Shimura." He addressed.

The prisoner kept his eyes on Deku but remained silent.

"Let me make this clear: I'm here because I encountered a kid with a Quirk like yours and I want to know why." He started.

The prisoner did not react or answer. Only stare.

"I've been hunting a villain organization called the Purity Alliance. Does that name sound familiar?" Deku asked.

Again, silence.

"Their acting leader is Akira Hokori, and he has a wife. And together they had a kid. Now this kid used a Quirk to escape a police station and knock me unconscious. And I saw that everything around him turned to dust. Do you have any connections with this group and this kid?"

The prisoner's chapped lips curled into a small smile.

"Answer me, Shimura!"

"You know I won't answer to that name." He said with a raspy, thirsty voice.

"I beg to differ." Deku said with his eyes fixated on the villain. "So you do know these villains?"

"Classic Deku... As always, everything is black and white for you. Villain and hero." Tenko sighed.

"It kinda ends up that way." Deku said. "Now answer the question."

"Yeah..." Tenko said. "I knew Hokori. And the whole Purity Alliance. I knew about them. When I confronted Re-Destro, Hokori was there. He actually had a similar idea in mind: either convince the army to join his cause or he would kill their leader. I spoke to him once as we exchanged ideas. Philosophies. For him, hero society was okay. It just needed to prepare for the inevitable."

"Which is?"

"That each generation of refined Quirks passed down grows stronger than the last. Not just in One For All and All For One." He answered willingly.

"I know that much. But who is Hokori and who is his son?" Deku asked impatiently.

"Hokori....has many sons." Tenko smiled. "And his Quirk lets him turn himself into dust and control it, right? So it's only logical the next step in the evolution of such a Quirk by generation would be a Quirk much like mine.... I sure pity the child."

"So he was trying to breed your Quirk? And you were never a part of them?"

"I've lived many lives, Izuku Midoriya. But an incestual rapist is not one of them."

Deku's eyes grew bigger in surprise.

"I don't know as much about the Purity Alliance as you think. But I do know that despite Hokori's personal demons, his influence is everywhere even in heroes, villains, and politicians." He let out a brief dry laugh.

Deku narrowed his eyes in anger.

"You may have spared me and put me in here, but you've just let an even bigger organization grow right under your noses. Typical heroes!" He laughed harder.

The hero stood tall and clenched his fist so tight, it released a small gust of wind that blew his hair. "I will find them and put them all in here with you, old friend."

Tenko resumed laughing. "Tell Ms. Uravity I said hi!"

Deku turned himself around and stomped past the guards. "I need to go." He told them as they quickly escorted him back through.

~~~~~~~

Uravity was once again sent home feeling sick. It has been happening for weeks. She would go out dressed in her hero suit and work for a few hours before coming down with sickness beyond her usual Quirk stomach aches from surpassing her limit. As of today, she feels like she's back in early high school having barely any usefulness with her Quirk. Probably even less than that.

Gunhead recognizes how strong she really is and is seldom soft on her. But when his heroes are feeling sick or injured, he does not let them work too much, or as much as they normally do. And he personally sent her home today.

Now, the brunette slumped on the couch in the living room and sighed loudly. Her stomach wasn't really aching. It was more just a sudden decision her body made to reject her lunch. And now in the Midoriya apartment, she quickly got up and went to the cookie jar.

As she stuffed her face full of the cookies, she heard a knock at the door.