My Hero Academia: Split Path

Chapter 4: Seeing Red

[A/N]: Warning! This chapter contains violent scenes and dark subject matter.

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Within the confines of a dusty laboratory, guttural screams of agonising pain have echoed every few minutes on the dot for the past few days. No one has questioned this. No one even knows it's happening. It's been four years since that crying little boy and his mother were captured. Not an officer, not a hero and not even their own family seemed to care that they had seemingly vanished off the face of the earth.

The boy, now 8 years old, has already experienced hell on earth. After all, the activation of quirks foreign to the body is a new and dangerous experiment. "135,694,894...135,694,895..." "is the subject still doing that?" The slender man questions his subordinate as the child continues to count high into the hundred millions. "Y-yes, sir. We believe it's his form of coping. Of staying sane." The slender man continues to watch as the boy, strapped to the steel chair wth various tubes sticking out of his arms keeps counting the seconds that pass. The boy's face has already gained a semi-disfigured appearance as a black marking ascends it, working its way past his blank, whited-out left eye. "The Doctor certainly has a way with words. I was surprised when he convinced the boy to start counting." The man scratches his chin stubble with his long fingers, amused by the boy's submissive behaviour.

The worker turns to look at his superior, terrified of what goes through the man's head. "What astonishes everyone else, is that even with all the tests he is subjected to, he still manages to keep a perfect count. It's like his mind has become disconnected and he simply counts because it's all he knows." Danzo, the gangly man, lets out a stifled cough when he chuckles, lifting his hand to his mouth and wiping, he notices that a large amount of dark, thick blood has been brought up. He groans, unimpressed by his body's lacking durability. "How long until the subject receives R21?" "The subject is due to receive R13, R21, R39 and C15 within the hour." Danzo nods, humming in thought.

He wobbles over to his subordinate, placing his elongated fingers on the man's shoulders. "Have the kid test the results." "S-sir!?" The worker turns with a face full of shock. "We don't have time to worry about precautions. My life hangs in the balance." He tightens his grip on the worker's shoulder, causing him to wince in pain. "Get it done." "Y-yes, Danzo, sir." The gangly man removes his hand from his subordinate's shoulder, leaving a bloody handprint on the worker's white lab coat. Walking out of the room, the sickly boss pulls out his small, black, burner phone, flipping it open and calling the first and only saved number.

The phone rings once, twice, three times until a male voice responds. "Danzo. You have news for me?" "Sensei, the work is going exceedingly well with subject 11. It will be receiving its next dosage in a moment and we thought that Shigaraki would like to h-ghk." Danzo coughs and splutters mid-sentence. "I see your lungs are still in bad shape." "Y-yes, sensei." "You've done well to stay focused after what she did to you." The voice over the phone sounds calculating and prideful; the compliment sounding sincere but sarcastic. "Thank you, Sensei. I assure you, Dobi's betrayal has done nothing but improve my focus." "Be sure it stays that way and I may reward you in the future. As for Shigaraki, I will have him meet you in a moment."

The one known as "sensei" hangs up on his subordinate, leaving him to wonder just what kind of reward he would receive for his hard work after such a long time. The slender man begins cackling beneath his breath, only to begin coughing up blood once more. He growls, obviously infuriated by his current injuries. "Begin the procedure!" He shouts back to his workers with an authoritative demand. "Yes, sir!" The subordinates respond with haste; the sound of rapid typing echoes in the room as a young woman in a protective garment, gloves and mask walks into the room in which Sora is being kept.