The Clawed Heroes: Season Two (MHA X Wolverine)

Chapter Nine - A Much Needed Talk

As night fell on the Quirk Training Camp, fell, Class 1-A and Class 1-B continued their training with the exception of the students doing remedial classes. During a training exercise in the Beast Forest, X-23 and Daken were paired up. As they walked into the Beast Forest, Daken chuckles.

Daken: These 1-B students should just give up at trying to scare us. I can pick up their scents for miles away. I'm sure you can too.

X-23: Maybe it's time we had a talk.

Daken: What is there to talk about?

X-23: We both know what this is about. You've been cold and detached as of late. Even more so than usual. 

Daken: You act as if that's a bad thing. 

X-23: I know you don't think too highly of our classmates, but what you've been doing isn't okay. 

Daken scoffed X-23's words as he simply kept walking. This display left X-23 shocked. Despite all his misgivings, Daken seemed to care about X-23. In this instance, he seemed cold even to his sister. 

X-23: Don't shut me out, Akihiro. Something's bothering you, isn't it?

Daken: What gave you that idea?

X-23: You never act like this to me. You may be a cold bastard to the others, but you never acted that way to me. 

Daken: There is nothing wrong, Laura. You could say it's just stress. 

X-23: Some of the others are scared of you. 

Daken: You act like as if their words mean anything to me. I could care less what they think of me. A wolf doesn't care for the needs of sheep. 

X-23: Doesn't sound really heroic to me. 

Daken: They're not built like you and I are. You were built as a weapon with Wolverine's DNA. You escaped that fate to become something more. I was raised a bastard to a cold and unforgiving family with my adopted father being the only exception. Do you know what Daken means in Japanese? It means mongrel. I was looked upon as a mongrel because of my heritage. Do you want to know what I learned from those experiences?

X-23: What? 

Daken: Life is a struggle. To get ahead in life, you must be strong. The strong thrive while the weak die. That is the one true law of nature. When I look at our classmates, all I see are entitled children who feel as if they're owed something. They believe they have the right to become Heroes when they've yet to earn it. 

X-23: Not all of them are like that. Kirishima isn't like that. 

Daken: Kirishima is a fool who lets his emotions get the best of him. If war were to erupt, how many of them would survive? How many of them would be able to withstand one unimaginable horror after another? Most of them would die quickly. 

As Daken said all this, X-23 was shocked. Not even Wolverine had this nihilistic and Darwinist view of the world. 

Daken: This is why people like Stain exist. At least he's honest about his intentions. He believes that there must be a culling to uplift those he views as True Heroes. He knows full well that his actions are morally wrong, but he feels it's necessary for the greater good. 

X-23: Are you a believer in the Hero Killer? 

Daken: Not in the slightest, but he does make valid points. He's an extreme idealist with an overzealous devotion to his ideology. His only flaw is that he's fighting for something that can never happen. No matter how many Fake Heroes he kills, there will always be more. 

It was clear that Daken had a complex view of Stain. While he respected Stain for his honesty and conviction, he chastised him for devoting himself to something that can never be. 

X-23: What does Stain have to do with our classmates?

Daken: Do you remember how many of our classmates voiced their support for Stain when his video went viral? They voiced their support for an ideology they have no knowledge of. Hypocrites is what they are. That is my biggest problem with them. It's not their weakness that disgusts me. It's their hypocrisy. They are sheep ready to stand by anything. They idolize All Might. They idolize Stain. They're too stupid to think for themselves and understand that what they believe in is simply a veil to disguise their own insecurities. Power keeps you from getting hurt. Power gives you peace of mind, knowing you're safe from the world. Power gives you space to breathe. 

X-23 was left stunned by Daken's words. It was clear that his disdain for his fellow classmates was something beyond arrogance. It was something ideological and philosophical.  

X-23: Have you...have you always felt this way?

Daken: I don't know, you tell me, sister. 

X-23 took a moment to process her brother's words. This talk changed how X-23 viewed her brother. She had been created as a weapon for the Facility to eliminate their enemies while Daken was shaped by a hard childhood. It was clear that the two endured their own struggles before finding Wolverine. Suddenly, both picked up unfamiliar scents. 

X-23: Akihiro....

Daken: I know. I can smell them too. We're not alone. 

In that moment, the talk between X-23 and Daken would be interrupted by the Villain attack of the League of Villains. They had begun their attack on the Quirk Training Camp. This attack would set off a chain of events that would shake the foundations of Hero Society to it's very core.