Assorted Fandoms

- Taako and you are best friends first, parent and child second. Do you guys remember in Here There Be Gerblins, when he stole pretty much all of Merle’s cousin’s stuff and didn’t tell or share with anyone else in the group? That’s the both of you, just all the time. 

- Taako’s only real boundary is that he’s not willing to steal from things like banks, or community buildings in general. He’s like Robin Hood, if Robin Hood just stole from the rich and skipped the giving back to the poor part.

- You see a shiny, or some type of magical artifact or tome, or anything that catches your eye, and you and him just share a Look™. At that point, there is no god nor man who can stop the two of you honestly.

- Between your rogue skills, allowing you to get past most people, locks, and traps anyways, and Taako’s magic helping to distract or aid you when needed, it’s almost child’s play.

- Of course, the flipside of this is Magnus and Merle, who have their own concerns about you and your ‘habits’.

- Merle, I think, is very against it all. He has a kind of ‘old pastor trying to seem ‘hip’ and chill to relate more to his younger audience and not doing a very good job of it’ attitude, if that makes sense? Another example is how sometimes schools will try to make anti-drug/violence/truancy signs with memes, but the memes are always really outdated and not used correctly.

- I think he has a good few “God is gonna hit you with a train”-type speeches when he sees you’ve stolen something else, or are about to.

- Magnus is, as always, the cool dad. He wants you to be safe, and not get in trouble, but he also knows that you can’t necessarily help it once you’ve got your eye on something.

- So instead of trying to stop you, he makes sure to cover for you and Taako. He’s not exactly great at lying, or being subtle at all really, but he does his best and that’s what matters.

- At the very least, you know that if something goes south, or if you get caught, he’ll be there to help bail you out, whether it’s through his rustic hospitality or with a bit of help from Railsplitter.

‘He was the only villain in that area, and Aoyama and I were the only students. I don’t think he was expecting Aoyama to be there either. He said something about me not remembering him, and that he was “like me once” and that he couldn’t kill me yet because he needed me to find someone else.’ Link signed, the officer interpreting for him quietly. Tsukauchi nodded along, frown deepening as his statement continued. 

“Did he say anything about the person he was looking for? Name, appearance…?” He fished. Link hesitated, considering the question. 

‘He said “her,” if that helps.’ 

“It does. That’s about everything, since Tamakawa took down his appearance and what you saw of his quirk… Do you remember anything else about him? If not from today, then maybe another time you might’ve seen him? I only ask because of how sure you said he was about knowing you personally…” He explained. The officer, Tamakawa, made an expression Link was fairly certain was an encouraging smile. 

Link considers the question. He does know something. A name, and more than that, a title. 

Ganon. The Calamity. The two names made his stomach turn, comfortable, bittersweet familiarity turning to sour, ringing pain in his head as he tried to remember. What precious little he knew beyond the mans’ name and what he had been outright told came only in tiny bursts, memories that he was sure didn’t belong to him appearing like aftershocks. Green and blue and shimmering gold, the ring of blades meeting, and something big and dark and angry held back only by the dying light of something in the depths. 

‘No.’ He lied. Tsukauchi’s frown deepened, expression taking on a thoughtful edge. There’s a moment of nearly deafening silence, and Link stops himself from shifting uncomfortably as he waits for either policeman to start talking again. 

“Alright, kid, that’s all we needed from you.” He says finally, reaching into his trenchcoat and pulling out a small piece of thick, sturdy paper, holding it out to him. “If you remember anything else, or if something happens, don’t hesitate to call me, okay?” 

It was a business card. White paper with text printed in dark blue ink, reading “Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa” with a phone number below. Simple, but effective, he supposed. Link pursed his lips in something not quite a smile, but close enough that both the officer and detective finally moved on. 

Link sat there for a bit longer, watching his classmates get treated and interviewed all over the entrance area. Aizawa, Midoriya, and All Might were all gone by this point, hauled off to Recovery Girl due to their more serious injuries. Kaminari was a short distance away from him, slowly recovering from the overuse of his quirk, with the only sign that he’d been tended to at all the shock blanket laying over his shoulders. Link had been given one too, along with an ice pack and a few bandaids from the scrapes and bruises he’d gotten from his short incident in the forest area. 

“Salut, Link.” A calm, airy voice greeted him. Looking up, he saw Aoyama, standing there with his usual mysterious smile and observant gaze. Link waved a quick greeting, and the other blonde sat down next to him, stretching his legs out in front of him and leaning back with his palms pressed against the ground behind him for balance. 

“Today was very… Taxing, non?” He asked rhetorically, placid expression unchanging. “For you especially, I think.” 

Link cast a confused look at the boy, and he sighed, shaking his head to himself. 

“The others… They might have had to actually fight in a way you didn’t, but they also didn’t have someone with what looked like a personal grudge trying to kill them.” He explained. “That man wanted to make sure you knew he hated you, and he went out of his way to get you alone to do it. That would be intense at best for most people.” 

There was a pause. Link massaged his wrist slowly, more for something to keep his hands occupied than for any real pain in the limb. 

“I didn’t hear most of what happened.” He told Link. “But from what I did hear… I’d be worried about my safety if I were in your place. And in the meantime, I think you should go talk to some of the others. They’re all worried about you, and I’m sure you’re worried about them too, somewhere under all the exhaustion and fear of your own mortality.” 

Link leaned over to bump their shoulders together, and reached into the pouches on his belt to pull out a small notepad and pen. 

‘Thank you for worrying about me too. And I’m sorry about shoving you into that bush.’ Aoyama laughed softly at his words. He stood, giving Link an appraising once-over, as though checking one more time to make sure he was okay. 

“Don’t mention it, mon cher.” With a wink, Aoyama turned on his heel, disappearing into the crowd of heroes, police, and paramedics alike still bustling around. 

It didn’t take much longer for Link to rise to his feet as well, wandering off in the direction of a slightly less populated area off to the side of the door. He did want to talk to the others, but… It was too much, everything that had happened today. 

The USJ getting attacked, his friends getting hurt, not to mention Ganon and the appearance of a whole slew of memories he had no idea how to organize in his head, much less deal with any kind of meaning from them. He wasn’t sure he could take much more of today without breaking. 

“Link!” A cheerful voice exclaimed somewhere to the side of him, and he turned just in time to watch as Uraraka collided with him at full speed, with Iida, Kirishima, Mina, Sero, Yaoyarozu, and Tsuyu close behind, all hovering around him at a respectable distance. He could see Bakugou, too, hesitating halfway between him and Kaminari’s still somewhat catatonic form, glowering at the ground and trying to look unbothered. Link focused his attention back on the brunette in front of him, ignoring the trapped feeling he got from being held so tightly. 

“We were so worried! No one knew where you’d ended up when we were separated, and then you and Aoyama showed up in the middle of everything, and then the police wanted to talk to everyone and that detective seemed really concerned about what had happened with you and Aoyama-” She rambled until Tsuyu finally stepped forward, gently pulling the girl back and off of Link. 

“I think he gets it, Uraraka.” She chided the girl gently, and a somewhat embarrassed expression took over her face as she looked away. 

“For real though! Even Bakugou was worried-” Kirishima started, only to be cut off by a shout, courtesy of the explosive boy in question. 

“Hey! Don’t fuckin’ slander me like that, I was not worried about that shitty Gremlin! And if I was, it’s only because he’s so incompetent-” Bakugou continued to rant, though Link’s attention was quickly stolen as Yaoyorozu stepped forward and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. 

“I’m glad you weren’t hurt too badly, Link.” She said, a tired but good-natured expression on her face. “Iida is too.” The boy in question nodded solemnly, attitude far too serious compared to the others, expressive and open and even happy despite the hardships they’d just gone through. 

‘Thank you.’ It’s only one sign, but Uraraka still caught it, giving him a somewhat bemused expression. 

“You don’t need to thank us, Link! We’re your friends, worrying about you is in the job description.” She said, and there was a soft chorus of agreements from the others in the little circle they’d made. 

Link simply shrugged at her response, for once not fighting the smile that came to his face. His friends’ optimism was unflinchingly bright, rubbing off on him enough to help keep him together for now, despite the events of the day. 

~~

The moment he got home, he finally crashed, barely making it to bed before he was out. 

Something small and red tore through the bushes at high speed, shrieking and squealing like a pig. It stumbled right into him, and they both froze, staring at each other in surprise. The thing was only about half his size, and it looked like some sort of goblin, with a comically large pig nose, beady eyes, and wrinkly, mottled red skin, with sharp claws clutching at a crude wooden club. 

‘Bokoblin’ His brain supplied unhelpfully. The staring contest lasted only half a moment longer, and it was shrieking again, swinging its club around like a bat. Link scrambled back and grabbed his staff, extending it to spear length and jabbing at the bokoblin as he got to his feet. 

It only took a few hits before it fell to the ground, exploding into a cloud of reddish-purple smoke. As the smoke dissipated, Link noticed a small pile of teeth and horns, presumably from the bokoblin. 

‘Shit. Did I just kill it?’ He thought with a wince, letting out a low breath. ‘To be fair, it did attack me, but…’ He poked at the pile with his staff, and glanced around half-expecting more to jump at him out of the brush. 

“Hmph. You were never so hesitant to kill monsters, before.” A voice resonated from somewhere behind him, and he spun, already dropping into a defensive stance with his spear. 

It was the man from before. He was possibly more terrifying up close, tall and formidable even without the death stare currently locked onto him. At this distance Link could see that his armor wasn’t quite as protective as he’d assumed at first glance, a mix of brightly colored cloth and some type of golden plating, matching the jewelry and piercings which adorned the mans face. He looked young, too, in his twenties at the latest, though Link wasn’t sure why that particular fact felt odd to him. 

Meanwhile, the man seemed to be sizing Link up as well, taking in his hero costume and weapon with something that looked like disapproval. His eyes narrowed after a long moment, expression turning somewhat thoughtful. 

“You don’t remember me, do you?” He asked. Link hesitated. 

‘Ganon… The Calamity.’ Finally his mind gave him something useful, and he frowned at how right it seemed, how familiar, though he was sure he’d never heard the name before. 

“Ah, not well, right?” The man, Ganon, chuckled patronizingly, taking a step closer. Link raised his staff threateningly, and his smile seemed genuine for a moment, like the very notion of Link attacking now was funny to him. “I used to be just like you. Soft, hopeful, kind, weak.” He spit the word with malice. “Living in a world where everything and nothing were familiar to me, from the sky, to the sea, to the people around me. But then I was… enlightened.” 

He took another step forward, grabbing onto the staff before Link could even think to move, and yanked it - and Link - towards him. Ganon’s other hand curled into his collar and lifted him, forcing Link to grip onto his wrist to anchor himself. 

“If I could kill you here, I would.” Ganon hissed, face twisting into a sneer. “But I need you alive if I want to find her, and believe me, I do.” 

His expression morphed again, and Link caught a momentary glimpse of something dark and manic in his aureate eyes as he was lifted just a little higher. 

“I might leave you a little challenge, though… Nothing you won’t survive, if you’re even half as good with a sword as you were. Doesn’t that sound fun? Getting reintroduced to some old friends-” Before Ganon could do anything, however, a beam of nearly blinding lavender light cut between them, just barely grazing the taller man’s skin. 

Link reacted immediately, kicking out and catching Ganon in the jaw, pushing away from him and dropping to the ground. The villain thankfully dropped his staff, too, which he scooped up as he got to his feet, sprinting by his savior and grabbing his arm as he passed, forcing him to come along with. 

It was Aoyama, expression somewhat nauseous-looking from the sudden transition between using his quirk to sprinting through the forest at record speed. The frenchman didn’t complain though, likely just as happy as Link to be getting as far away from the menacing man as possible. 

Link slowed only when the brick ground of the courtyard came into view, finally able to hear what sounded like a fairly intense fight. He pushed Aoyama down into a cluster of bushes with what little gentleness he could manage in his adrenaline-fueled state, smothering the yelp the other blonde let out with a quick hand over his mouth. He settled over him, concealing the two of them in the foliage as well as he could as he listened for any sign of having been followed. After a long moment, he finally released Aoyama, relatively satisfied with their current safety, and all but melted into the surprisingly un-prickly bush. 

“Link, who… who was that?” Aoyama murmured to him, usually placid smile strained to the point of near nonexistence. “He seemed like he knew you.” 

Link shook his head a couple times, giving a few vague signs he knew the boy likely wouldn’t understand. His friend sighed. 

“Si tu les dis…” There was a pause, silent but for the sounds of the fight in the courtyard, a mix of yelling and the sound of stone cracking filtering over to them. Link sat up slowly, turning his gaze towards the fighting. 

Their view was still mostly blocked by foliage, but he could make out what looked like All Might and some type of bird-headed muscle-beast. He frowned and glanced at Aoyama. 

“I’ll be right behind you.” He said, reassuring despite the slight hesitancy in his tone. Link nodded and climbed out of the bush, inching towards the courtyard. They passed the treeline quickly enough, and slipped around the edge of the battlefield as they caught sight of three of their classmates hovering near the stairs, two more going up with a battered Aizawa being carried between them. Link paused at the sight of his teacher, half-dead and unconscious, and spared a glance back at the monstrous form currently fighting All Might as he started moving again, Aoyama practically clinging to him as they reached the group at the bottom of the stairs. 

“Link! Aoyama!” Kirishima exclaimed, the first to notice them. “We weren’t sure where you ended up. You guys good?” He asked. Bakugou cut in before Aoyama could respond for the both of them. 

“You look like shit, both of you. Did you spend this whole time rolling around in a bush or something?” They glanced at each other at that, missing the momentary change in the other three’s expressions at their somewhat fearful gazes. 

“Or something.” Aoyama said with a tone of finality. The explosive boy grit his teeth, but backed off, attention refocusing on the fight. From this angle, Link could see Midoriya, too, propped up on his elbows and staring at All Might and the weird muscled man fight with a look of horror on his face. He gasped, taking an almost involuntary step towards the fight. Hands grabbed his shoulders, pulling him back. 

“Absolutely fucking not, dumbass Gremlin. He shouldn’t even be in there, I’m not letting you anywhere near that shit.” Bakugou practically growled at him, and he blinked. 

‘Since when did he care?’ Link thought, but took a couple steps back anyway. He was let go as Bakugou finally moved away from him, seemingly satisfied for the moment with his compliance. 

Link glanced around, noticing Aoyama heading up the stairs to help carry Aizawa, and Todoroki eyeing him somewhat suspiciously. He returned that look, and the dichromatic boy turned away wordlessly. He turned back towards the fight too, just in time to watch All Might blast his opponent out of the USJ straight through the domed glass ceiling. He blinked, brows raised in surprise. 

He knew All Might was strong, but that…

“Is this a comic book or something?” Kirishima muttered next to him, seemingly just as in shock. “It’s like he nullified the shock absorption... His brute strength is crazy.” 

“What insane power… Does that mean he rushed at him so fast he couldn’t regenerate?” Bakugou murmured next. Todoroki only glowered, eyes fixed on the hole in the dome. 

On the far side of the courtyard, near Midoriya, the one covered in hands seemed to throw a tantrum, stomping like a child just told he’d have to wait a while to keep playing his favorite game. The tantrum stopped as abruptly as it started, the blue-haired man turning slowly to the green-haired teen only a few meters away from him. 

He lunged forward, and Link gasped, already knowing there was nothing he could do even as his feet started to move, and- 

A series of gunshots rang out, and the villain crumpled to the ground. Link turned, surprised, and there at the doors of the USJ were at least a dozen heroes, headed up by Snipe, pistols still smoking from his opening shots. 

Even with the two main villains disappearing behind him, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief.