Midori the Queen

Epilogue

Author’s Note: Artwork credited to Yanduri.Chan! Thank you to all my readers for your feedback! This will be an epilogue chapter so it may drag some. Enjoy!

“I don’t like this.” Aizawa fidgeted looking around at the settings. “I don’t like this at all.” 

“She deserves to have her voice be heard, Aizawa-kun.” All Might tried to reassure his friend and gave a pat on the back. “She’ll be locked away after this, and you want to hear what she has to say just as much as anyone.” 

“That may be true, but Karma’s been known to escape more than a few times when our guard has been down. I’m not letting it happen again.” He crossed his arms, keeping his tired eyes on the girl who sat chained to the interrogation table.

The door opened, and an officer escorts Mirio, Bakugo and Shoto in. Their minor wounds bandaged and clothes freshly changed. 

“Has she said anything yet?” Shoto asked joining them at the window.

“No, Detective Tsukauchi went to grab some files. He has a feeling that this will be a long talk, so make yourselves comfortable.” Aizawa motioned them to sit, but both remained standing and looking through the window. When Tsukauchi walked in, everyone braced for what was to come. 

“Hello again detective." Karma greeted looking calm despite being chained down, and her quirks suppressed. Spending a full three days in lock up hadn’t diminished her confidence and she was clearly feeling superior despite the drawbacks in her escape plan.

“Hello again, Karma. Comfortable?” He offered a small, professional, smile.

 "As much as I can be, given the situation." She smiled while crossing her legs, the movement making him flinch a little in response. The obvious knee jerk reaction made her want to laugh, but she stayed professional. “I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to hear me out.” 

“Well now,” he laughed softly. “I could hardly pass up the opportunity to get your statement. You’re the key piece to taking down your former crew, and everyone wants to know how and why such a bright and clever young hero decided she wanted to become a villain.” 

Karma’s smile immediately dropped and Tsukauchi felt his blood go cold. 

"Let me make something quite clear, Detective. I didn’t WANT to become a villain. The only reason I did was because my morals and thoughts were being manipulated by a man who only saw the darkness of this world, and he narrowed my vision.”

“I see, you’re talking about the villain you fought against in Kamino. All for One, am I correct?”  

“Yes… that’s the one. He saw my potential, and made me what I am today. I was too young and stupid at the time to see the truth, and once I realized I’d past the point of no return I walked the line between heroism and villainy, unable to commit to either side.” 

“Why couldn’t you do it?” Tsukauchi asked genuinely curious. “You’ve shown you’re clearly capable of committing crime, but you fluctuate back and forth between being good and bad. Why is that?” 

“We’re taught at a young age that lying, cheating, stealing is all wrong, and that’s what villains do. Telling the truth, playing fair, helping and saving people, that’s what heroes do, and it’s what I’ve always wanted to do. I didn’t want to hurt people, I didn’t want to do a lot of the things that I did. When I couldn't stop it, when I realized there was no going back, I decided to take hold of my power and embrace it. I can’t just say “I’m sorry” and hope the world will forgive me. That’s not the way the “Game of Life” is supposed to be played.”