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It was official. Vaults were the worst. Granted, it was nice of All for One (he refused to refer to that man as his father) to install a light switch, a bed, and even some building blocks but those can only distract you for so long!
Rody spent nearly every moment trying to stave off the crushing boredom of staying in a room the size of his old trailer. He considered trying to break out a few times, but he had no idea how, and Roro and Lalah were hostages! Instead he just sat there passing the time, occasionally playing some of the video games All for One gave him. Unfortunately, he sucked at gaming, so Rody usually just gave up and lay bored out of his skull.
The only respite from the monotony was when the Villain trying to be a father came to spend time with him, as long as the activity couldn’t be used to “devise a ludicrous escape plan that would also set me on fire” (seriously, what kind of people was All for One used to?).
However, even when the activity was fun, Rody just couldn’t get beyond All for One constantly hugging Rody against his will, consistently talking to him like he was three, and oh yeah kidnapping him and holding his brother and sister hostage.
And to cap it all off, Rody didn’t even have Pino. Pino was the one companion Rody always had, through thick and then, but now he was somewhere Rody couldn’t find. At least Rody knew he’d be safe. All for One wouldn’t touch him after what happened to Rody’s birth mom.
The door opened. “What do you want this time?”
All for One walked up and hugged Rody before he could duck. “My my, such rudeness. Though, I suppose it’s normal though given your age.”
Rody struggled to escape All for One’s crushing grip. “Yeah, that’s totally it.”
All for One released him. “Would you like to watch a movie?” he said holding up a Blu-ray case.
Rody wanted to tell him to shove that disk somewhere quite sensitive, but the isolation was driving him mad. He reluctantly nodded and All for One placed an arm around his shoulder and shepherded Rody out like a dog.
"Let's go Yoichi."
"Rody."
"Yoichi."
"Uuuuugh!"
It was an old movie about a street rat who finds a magic genie and ends up becoming a prince, saving the kingdom, marrying a beautiful girl, and becoming rich while avoiding any medical debt. Rody wished that was how his adventure had ended…
“What do you think?” said the jerk.
“Not bad. Gotta say, always wanted to be like Cinderella, but I think I like this guy!
“You are similar,” said Mr. Potatohead. “Why, its revealed later his father is the King of Thieves!“
He had Rody’s sympathy.
“I remember how vast my empire was. Until that filthy blond-
“Hey,” Rody said, cutting off the long-winded rant before it started, “I’m wondering, did you have any new thoughts on my quirk?”
Quirks were the only thing he liked talking about more than All Might or Villainy.
All for One stopped, “Oh that? Yes. I’ve been studying the ways emotions go to and from the bird using the other specimen. For instance, I have reason to believe that if the bird is killed but the quirk is removed, the emotions would return. Yours may have some slight variations but likely works the same.
Rody blinked. “Other specimen? Oh right, my birth mother.”
“That woman was no mother of yours.”
And you’re no father of mine. Asshole.
Rody wasn’t sure what to think of his birth mother. Sure she abandoned him in a dumpster, but it wasn’t like she asked to lose her emotions and become a low functioning sociopath (as opposed to the high functioning one sitting next to him). It was terrible what she did, but a very Deku-like part of Rody pitied her.
Not that it mattered. She was long dead; courtesy of All for One.
“That reminds me,” All for One said. He lifted a hand and conjured a round pink bird similar to Pino, but smaller with spiky feathers and cartoonish evil eyes. It was hilarious how over-the-top it looked. The bird looked at Rody thoughtfully then vanished.
“Would having both would manifest two birds or would both express themselves with the existing one?”
All for One reached forward and, because asking was for wimps, placed his hand atop Rody’s head and activated his quirk. Rody felt a gentle warmth in his chest as the quirk flowed into him.
“Fascinating…” All for One said.
Rody glared, “What-“
Something soft rubbed Rody’s cheek. A round pink bird sat on his shoulder. It wasn’t identical to Pino, there was no mask, the pink was a different shade, and the stripes were different, but it was very similar.
Rody turned to All for One.
“It did create a second one. Interesting. Oh well, I guess I’ll be taki-“
All for One’s phone pinged. He picked it up and scowled. “On second thought, I’ll do that in the morning. You can keep that bird in your vault for the night.”
He grabbed Rody, dragged him to the vault like a sack and tossed him in, closing the door behind him.
Rody glared at the closed door before turning to his bird, which glared with him. “Well, at least I’m not alone this time. I’ll call you…Birdie?”
Birdie looked offended.
“Pink?”
No dice.
“Featherhead?”
Now it looked angry.
“Feathers?”
The bird paused. Then, it nodded.
“Alright, Feathers it is.”
Rody hung out with the newly named Feathers for the next few hours, happy to have company he could enjoy. Eventually he felt himself fading, so he got in his bed and went to sleep.
Rody walked in a dark void, surrounded by mists. Pino sat atop his shoulder, meaning this was a dream. Rody looked around for Feathers, but couldn’t see him anywhere. Odd. Feathers and Pino were more or less the same quirk, right? So shouldn’t Feathers be here too?
Before Rody could ponder that, a shadow marched toward him through the mists. It looked mad. “So,” a female voice said, “It’s my turn huh? What should we talk about today? Your terrible father? The crimes you committed in the name of being a “good older brother”?”
Wow, she was going for the throat with Rody wasn’t she?
“Or maybe some other terrible thing you’ve done you no-good son of a-“ A brown haired woman emerged from the mists. Her gray eyes fell on Rody and she froze. “…Bitch.”
Rody just stood there. “Uhhhh…”
“Did he pass it on?” the woman said.
“Pass what on? You mean the quirk? Yeah, he said he’d take it back tomorrow but until then it’s with me. Now, who are you?”
The woman drew closer, looking at Rody’s shoulder. “Why’s Feathers here?”
“Feathers?” Rody said looking around. “Oh, you must mean Pino. He’s my quirk.”
The woman’s eyes widened. “It can’t be…” She crossed herself.
The woman bolted over and grabbed Rody by the cheeks. She turned his head side to side. “Definitely see your grandfather there. Hair’s right. And the eyes. Just like…” She started to tear up. “It is you.”
The woman wrapped him in a crushing hug as her body shook with sobs. “It’s you. It’s really you.”
Rody…did not know how to respond. He’d gotten annoyed with all the forced hugs throughout the last few days, but hey at least this one wasn’t from All for One. Eventually Rody squirmed free and said. “Ok, quick question. Who are you?!”
“Oh right,” the woman said. “Let me explain. But first, could you tell me your name?”
“Rody. Rody Soul.”
“Rody,” she said, her eyes lighting up. “Rody…”
Ok, that was weird.
“W-well, Rody,” she said. “Do you know about the concept of quirk ghosts?”
“Quirk what?”
“Each quirk contains a piece of their user’s soul. When All for One takes a quirk, that piece, that vestige, goes with it. He uses us to understand the quirks he steals while we try and yell at him. Unfortunately, he never seems bothered…”
“Ok,” said Rody. “So…you’re a quirk ghost?”
She nodded.
“That would mean that you’re…“ Rody froze.
The woman started to fidget. The look of shame on her face confirmed Rody’s suspicions.
“You’re my birth mother…”
The woman looked down, refusing to meet his eyes. “Surprise?”
Rody opened his mouth, then closed it. This was his biological mom. The woman who birthed him. The one who, according to All for One, had him just to extort her “clients”. The one who abandoned him.
But…
She didn’t act like the unfeeling shell All for One described. Everything about her, from her pose, to her expression was saturated with shame. Rody felt lost. All he could do was say, “Is it true?”
“Which part?”
“Did you really…leave me in a dumpster?”
Tears began to fall from the woman. She nodded.
“Yes, I did. I took you, my only son…and threw you away like a piece of trash!”
The woman fell to her knees weeping. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry…” She repeated it over and over like a broken record.
“He said you couldn’t feel?”
“My quirk contained my emotions in my bird. I lost them when she died, but when that monster,” The shame in her eyes was replaced by venomous hate, “took my quirk, I got them back. This is me if I’d been whole.”
Rody was at a loss for words. As he stared, the woman’s eyes widened. “Wait, if you’re here…”
The woman slammed into Rody, nearly tackling him. “He found you! Are you ok? Did he hurt you?!” she said looking him over.
“Um, you do realize if he had that this is my dream self, right?” Rody said. “So any injuries I’d had wouldn’t show?”
“Oh.” Now she looked downright sheepish. “But…are you ok?”
Rody shrugged. “I mean, he hasn’t hurt me or anything.” She looked very relieved at that. “But I’m still stuck in a bank vault, was betrayed by my asshole of a boss, Pino and my siblings are hostages and I lost my model planes! So, not great.”
His mom looked horrified. “I’m sorry. I wish I could help.”
“It’s alright, I’m fine,” said Rody. He avoided looking at Pino.
Wait,” his mom said. “You have siblings?”
Rody nodded. “Two of them. Adopted of course. Roro and Lalah are their names.” He pulled out his locket with their pictures and opened it.
“Awww! They’re so cute!” his mom said.
“I know right?!” Rody said with a giant grin. His grin faded. “I just hope they’re ok. All for One said if I didn’t obey he’d… Rody couldn’t finish that sentence.
“I’m sorry sweetie. I wish I could help,” she said.
“It’s alright,” Rody said. You can’t do anything from in here.” He rubbed the back of his head. “You know, you’re not so bad. It’s kinda nice to know my birth mom would’ve cared if she’d been able to.”
He ignored Pino’s sniffling next to him.
His mom grew still. “Rody, what exactly did he tell you about me?”
“Not much. He told me a bit about your backstory, how I got ditched, that he tracked you down, learned what you did and uh…didn’t take it well.”
His mother gave him a strange look. “He didn’t tell you about when he took my quirk, did he?”
Rody raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“I thought not, he promised me he wouldn’t,” his mother said.
“Wouldn’t what?”
“When he took my quirk, my feelings returned. All of them. Everything I did sank in at once. But the one that stood out the strongest, was you.”
Rody felt the growing lump in his throat. “Me?”
She nodded. “I begged him to save you. He briefly gave the quirk back, but since he wasn’t satisfied killing a shell, he took it again. My actual memories stop there, but I saw the rest through his eyes. The real me begged him to save you, to give you a normal life like you deserved. He told me he was already going to do that then…”
“He killed you,” said Rody.
“No.” Rage filled her voice. “Then he told me I’d be a good mother if I had you now, but instead I’d die and he’d make sure you never knew I cared about you.” A damp red spot formed on her dress. “Then he killed me.”
“So…you did love me? Even for a little?”
His mom nodded. She gave him a warm smile that reminded him of dad. “I did. And I’ve loved you ever since.”
“That’s nice,” Rody said, his voice trembling. “Not that it was too important. I mean, no offense, I never even knew you, and the Souls were my real parents…but it was…nice to hear that.” Next to him Pino sobbed his eyes out. He flew into Rody’s mom for a hug.
Seeing that, his mom smiled at him. She held out her arms. Rody walked into them.
“How long I’ve waited to hold you like this,” she said. “It was worth every second. You’re so big now.”
Rody laughed. “Thanks…but I’m barely taller than Deku. Given all the meals I’ve skipped its kinda surprising I’m this tall…”
His mom gave him a reproachful look.
“Hey don’t look at me like that! Money was tight! And I’m pretty sure my boss ripped me off!” Speaking of which, Rody had some choice words for him when he got out of this. Like “You’re old, fat, and your hairline recedes each time I see you.”
A thought occurred. “By the way, what was my name?”
“Oh.” She looked embarrassed. “I never gave you one.”
“That fits,” Rody stared into the misty void. “You may have loved me after you got your feelings back, but according to the old bastard before you always planned to abandon me. Why name a get rich quick scheme?”
“That wasn’t why I had you,” His mom stared into the distance. “Quite the opposite.”
“Then why?”
“I wanted to love you.”
Rody’s gaze snapped back to her.
“I had no feelings then, but I longed for them. This longing drove me more than anything else. I thought a child would make me love, so I had you. I’m sorry I failed, but I’m so glad I can love you now.”
Rody smiled. “Me too. Pino likes you too.”
Pino was still nuzzled in his mom’s neck. He had the decency to look a little embarrassed.
“Pino…I like that name. What’s he doing here?”
“Pino always appears in my dreams,” said Rody. “Once I had nightmares as a kid, so we came up with a code to tell if I was dreaming or not. Did yours not?”
His mom shook her head. “No, Feathers never showed up in my dreams, at least not the real one. I sometimes had him wake me when I overslept my alarm.”
“Huh, weird. Wait, you named yours Feathers?”
His mom looked defensive. “Yeah? What of it?”
Rody howled with laughter. “That’s what I named the second bird when I got your quirk! Oh this is perfect!”
His mom laughed. “I guess great minds do think alike huh?”
“Yeah!”
“What about your parents? Can you tell me about those?”
Rody grinned. “Well, if you insist. The Souls adopted me as a baby. Eddie Soul was a scientist and he-“
Rody spent the next several hours recounting his childhood. He told her about the fun times with dad, playing with Roro and Lalah, everything. Minus the more embarrassing mishaps of course, he did have somesense of shame.
His mom in turn told him about her childhood and how she used her rule following nature to get away with discreetly breaking rules. She called it the perk of being a teacher’s pet. She also mentioned her dating life…
“That was your first kiss?” Rody said, laughing.
“Hey! It seemed romantic at the time!”
“It was a public bathroom!” Rody said. “There was a park right there!”
“I know that now! But neither of us noticed! I was thirteen!”
Rody shook his head. “Whatever. Just please tell me your next boyfriend was less of an idiot?”
She huffed. “Brat. I’ll have you know my next boyfriend was top of the class!”
They kept swapping stories. Eventually Rody got to his harder years, including his little foray into crime.
“I don’t know what’s worse, hearing you turned to crime or the fact that I can tell you six other ways to make money illegally.” his mom said. “But telling you them probably wouldn’t make me a good mother.”
“Don’t worry, I went straight. This crazy Hero student, who’s also my half brother, inspired me to try to live a better life again. Until recently I was working a legitimate job, preparing my testimony against my boss when he inevitably got busted, and trying to become a pilot.”
“That’s wonderful! Aside from testifying against your boss. I think. How’d you meet your brother?
“Oh, so that all started on a day where I was supposed to be carrying stolen jewels. Then-”
“He came up with a plan to flee the country just like that?” his mom said with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah?”
“Are you sure he’s not a criminal?”
“Yes!”
She didn’t look like she believed him. “So, you went to the border?”
“Yeah, Anyway after that-“
He finished his tale about his world saving, body breaking, medical debt gaining adventure, how he finally started to turn his life around, and then how his “loving father” threw a nuke into the mix.
“Impressive, I didn’t think I could hate him more. …”
They’d conjured a small pond in the void and were now skipping stones across to pass the time. Rody cracked a smirk and got a double skip. “Yeah he has that effect on people.”
“I knew he was bad, but throwing my son in a vault? Threatening his siblings? I’m soglad he didn’t find you when you were a baby.” She got at least five skips.
“Yeah. If I can thank him for anything, it’s that he gives me a newfound appreciation for being an impoverished orphan.” Rody threw another. Double skip.
“I can imagine.” Four skips again!
“Ok seriously, how do you do that?!”
She grinned at him. “It’s all in the wrist sweetie.” She coached him through the motions, let him try a couple. He got a triple skip for the first time. Since this was a dream, he tried to use his mind to force the next one to go for four, but his mom slapped his hand.
“No cheating Rody!”
“How can you even tell?!”
“I’m a mom, I have experience with cheating, and also Pino.”
Rody glared at Pino. “Traitor.”
He wasn’t even sure how long they’d been talking now. They’d gone over everything from favorite flower, favorite movie, to who was the superior criminal. His birth mom was everything he hoped she’d be. Well, except alive and rich, but aside from that, she was great.
Then Rody felt a tapping sensation on his head.
“It’s Feathers,” his mom said. “She did the same when my parents came to wake me up.”
Rody’s eyes widened. “But…that means…” All for One had promised to take the quirk.
He was about to lose her. Again.
“I know,” she said. She grabbed his shoulders. “Rody, listen to me. I’m proud of the young man you’ve become. You’re better than I ever was. Please, never give up your hope, and never lose your heart. Especially not to him.”
Rody felt his eyes grow damp. “I won’t. I lost hope once. I won’t do it again..”
She gave him a sad smile. “Good, if you ever see your brothers or sister again, give them my best. And if you ever go to my home town, look for the Feys. Tell them you’re Sapphire’s son. And tell them I’m sorry.”
“I will,” Rody choked out through his tears. “I’ll find a way to free us, then I’ll do that. No matter what it takes!”
“Good.” She opened her arms. Rody walked into them and hugged his mother one last time.
As he held her, the tears fell freely. The worst part was that he wasn’t even crying over what they could have had. Because in the end, there was almost no set of circumstances where they could have been true family. All they’d ever have was this. A brief meeting of souls.
“Don’t cry. Please, don’t cry,” his mom said. “I’m sorry this is all we had. But I’m not even your mother. She died long ago. I’m just a ghost.”
“I’m know…but I still wish we’d had more time!”
“Me too. But…this time I had was so wonderful. I’m glad I met you Rody. I’d have taken eight minutes, let alone hours.”
Rody cried even harder. “I love you Mom.”
She kissed his forehead. “I love you too. Always and forever. Goodbye my son.”
The world vanished around them.
Rody’s eye cracked open. He saw All for One’s silhouette leaving the room, closing the door behind him.
He was alone again.
Rody sat up. Despite everything he’d just lost, he felt something burning within him. A fire demanding he get out of here and screw his dad over!
Looking at the ceiling, Rody said, “Hey Mom, birth mom I mean, the non-quirk ghost version. While you’re up there, look for Eddie Soul and his wife. They can tell you lots of stories about me! And Mom and Dad? Look up my birth mom. She’s actually pretty cool! Just don’t tell her about the time I set the drapes on fire? Please?”
Rody then began to throw a baseball at the wall and think, and plan. He promised his birth mother he’d figure a way out of this, to free himself and his siblings, so that’s what he was going to do.
Whatever it takes.