Violet POV:
BOOM!
The loud explosion rattled my eardrums and my vision, sending me off my feet and crashing through the wall of Midas' office.
It was instantaneous. One moment he was talking to me, and the next moment, he exploded-literally and figuratively.
He certainly made good on his promise to not hold back. His fighting style was different than I've ever seen it, and for the first time I understood what it felt like to be his enemy.
It's terrifying and merciless. Your life constantly flashes before your eyes, wondering if the next hit will be the one to kill you.
But, he takes too much pleasure in suffering for that, clearly a fan of slow deaths as he avoided all my internal organs for show.
Knocked into the hallway, my back hit the window harshly, stealing the wind from my lungs.
I crumpled to the floor unwillingly, weakly trying to scramble to my feet as I heard his slow footsteps walking towards me.
His black silhouette glowered in the shadows of the crooked hallways, radiating a purple glow from his hand that I knew all too well.
Crap. His strongest jewel.
With dizzying vision and a lack of air to my brain, all I could do was form a barrier of crystals on my wrist as Midas threw his purple jewel right at me, feeling it's searing heat make direct contact.
And if it were anyone else, that would have been the end of the fight right there...
But, sharing his genetics saved my life as the jewel's glow instantly died down once it hit my crystals, disintegrating into ash on the ground.
The purple jewel had no effect on me-or, my quirk anyways.
Midas didn't seem surprised, but rather expecting it, scoffing bitterly at the proof he'd just given himself.
"Such sad irony, isn't it? That my strongest, most important jewels never worked on you." He groaned out a heavy laugh, looking up to the ceiling. "Not to worry. I've found out you're clearly not immune to all the different colors I can make. Just because I can't turn you into a statue, my dear, doesn't mean there aren't plenty of other ways to kill you."
"After all, I'm known to be quite creative," He switched colors and formed a silver jewel from his hand, making my eyes widened as I remembered what that one does.
Explosion. And, no, I'm not immune to that one. I found that out the hard way!
Scrambling to my feet quickly, I dove out of the way as Midas threw it at me, hearing the ear splitting boom sound behind me.
The impact sent me off my feet and flying down the spiral staircase of his mansion, bringing me to a painful landing onto the first floor.
Jeez. I'm getting my ass kicked. I don't even think I've been able to land one blow to him.
But, I guess Midas is right about the sad irony of this outcome. It's sadly ironic that the one person whose body actually stands a chance to compete against his quirk is so weak. Definitely not strong enough to match him in skill.
I tumbled into the lobby of his mansion. The lobby that was once filled with so much light and happiness, now emptied, crumbling, and filled with debris as the place slowly began to deteriorate.
Midas stood atop the balcony on the second floor, and watched me struggle, jumping off it quickly with his landing position set for my skull.
I rolled out of the way the moment he landed, watching the mural floor crack under his feet from the aggressive pressure.
He went for a heavy hit to my skull, but I blocked it, feeling his jewel covered arm clash with the crystals atop my own.
His reflection over the collision of our quirks was terrifying, gold eyes starting to drip with blood from the overuse he was putting his body through.
Between controlling the thousands of jeweled necklaces outside, and everything else he's done, he's only functioning with about fifty percent of his quirk right now.
That means, if he'd been at one hundred percent, I would have been dead a long time ago by now.
He let out a demented chuckle and pinned my stomach down with his knee, "How lucky was it that you turned out to be quite the poor fighter? If you'd had your mother's talent and combined that with your body composition, you might have actually stood a chance."
His demonic frame crushed my ribcage, showing no mercy as he whipped his hand across my face with enough force to draw blood.
"But, did you really think you'd be able to beat me alone? Someone who struggles to take down low grade villains? Someone who cracks under the simple pressure of saying hello? My dear, surely you're not that naive." He spat, lunging his arm straight for my neck.
I crossed my crystal covered arms over my face and blocked his hand, gritting my teeth as I struggled underneath his body weight.
"You've been weak the whole time." He said with a mocking amount of pity, "It's not logical to believe you'd be able to gain some unrealistic power up for the final battle."
His knee dug harder between my ribs, making me simultaneously want to puke and explode all at once.
Even as his daughter choked out for air, he pressed forward, trying to move my arms away from my neck.
"No. While I'll admit you've grown quite a bit of courage, it doesn't enhance your talents. You're still you, and I'm still me." He glared coldly, raising his arm in the sky.
From his bloody, sweaty hand, he formed a green jewel and turned it into the shape of a knife, driving the blade forward with an aggressive amount of force.
He was done toying with me now. He was out to kill me with that strike.
I gripped his wrist before it could reach me, causing our muscles to shake against each other as we tried to overpower the other's force.
Now he tried to pull back and stab me somewhere else, but I kept a tight hold on his wrist, refusing to let it go as he jerked it around.
He found that amusing, chuckling hoarsely and shaking his head for my refusal to give up.
"You're only prolonging your suffering. No one has the ability to best me, Violet. Not the heroes. Not the villains. Not you, even with your immune body composition. There's no one here that could possibly be equal enough to defeat me."
The closer his blade came to my face, the more I was starting to think he was right...
...until a flash of something zipped between us, knocking the jeweled blade right out of Midas' hand.
It was his own quirk, but it didn't come from him, causing us to look at the person who had entered the mansion.
"You're wrong." Tsuyo said, hovering another jewel above their palm.
Their suit was splattered with blood-some of it their own, and some of it not-and their arsenal of jewels atop it had dwindled down to almost nothing.
Midas looked at them blankly for a moment before breaking out into a breathless chuckle. I couldn't tell if he seemed devastated or filled with disbelief. Perhaps it was both.
Keeping the yellow jewel floating in their vicinity, Tsuyo walked a few steps forward, testing how close they'd be able to get.
"I won't say I'm equal to your level. But, I'm strong enough to make you hurt, at least. More than most with everything I know about you." they said.
With a snap of their fingers, the yellow jewel disappeared, causing Midas to grit his teeth.
"Only an insolent fool such as yourself would think so." He countered, immediately pulling forming another silver jewel from his hand before dropping it right towards my face.
Well, that's going to hurt!
But, the tug at my shirt was quicker, noticing the yellow jewel never disappeared, just moved to my collar subtly, dragging me out from under Midas at lightning speed before the explosion could detonate on my face.
Instead, it detonated atop the ground I was just laying on, destroying another patch of the mural tiles.
I came to a skidding halt at Tsuyo's feet, expecting one of their usual snarky lectures about the trouble I'd gotten myself into.
But, they didn't look at me this time, too focused-keeping their eyes trained on Midas as they stepped over my frame and stood in front of me.
The irony was that even though they were covered in blood and wearing the seal of Midas on their arm, they looked more heroic than anyone I'd ever seen.
"I guess that's the mistake of trusting someone with every single secret in your life. I know you better than yourself, Takuto-that includes how you fight." They said, looking down at the limited supplies of jewels on their suit as they pulled a dagger from their belt holster.
They won't be able to rely on those jewels much longer. Sooner or later, they're gonna have to use their quirk. They must know it.
Midas stood in the same place as before, still standing over the ghost of my presence. A shrapnel of the explosion had sliced around his forehead now, but he didn't care, more affected by the sight of his second-in-command finally turning on him.
Because now, he was utterly and truly alone, judging from the heartbreak and anger in his gold eyes, he knows it, too.
"You were my friend. My partner for life." He said to Tsuyo softly, sounding vulnerable and hoarse.
It's ironic, how innocent he sounds. If you didn't know what kind of person he was, you might feel bad for him.
Tsuyo was more than used to his mind games now, so they didn't waver, speaking bluntly and without sympathy.
"I was never your friend, or your partner. I was your prisoner."
Midas' eyes glimmered with a wave of hurt, going through all the stages of grief in a matter of one blink. Manipulation and anger set in after that, his face hardening into a threatening look that appeared to be years old to Tsuyo.
"'P-Prisoner'-Is this any way to treat the man who saved you from the person who killed your parents? I would have thought your efforts would be focused towards Endeavor." He said lowly, causing Tsuyo to sigh.
They looked down at the blood splattered on their gloves-blood I assume belonged to the number one hero by how conflicted and disappointed they looked.
"You're wrong again. I let him go." Tsuyo said, causing my brows to raise in surprise.
They let Endeavor go? How? I wasn't able to talk them off the ledge-so much so, they kicked me in the head...
What could have possibly made them see reason?
Midas scoffed in frustration and rubbed his sweaty face with his hand. Now utter annoyance seemed to enter his complex mix of emotions, looking ticked off that Tsuyo still had their humanity and common sense.
"Jesus." The jeweled man grumbled, looking as if they were completely giving up on the masked person now. "Lost sight of who the real enemy was, I see."
"Yeah, I did. But, standing here in front of you, I finally figured it out again." The masked person countered, gripping the hilt of the knife tighter when Midas cackled abruptly.
"Oh, Tsuyo! What a wonderful comeback from you!" He fawned mockingly, speaking to me now even if he kept his eyes on them. "You know, Violet, when I first took them in, they wouldn't have ever dared to say such a thing. They wouldn't even look me in the eye from their overwhelming fear. Friends really grow up so fast, don't they?"
Wiping his face, Midas finally got to his feet, stumbling a bit before glaring at Tsuyo hotly, "But, it still doesn't change how pathetic you are. I guess you really can't change a person no matter how hard you try."
His hands began to glow again and Tsuyo noticed, using the yellow jewel on my collar to drag my body away further.
"Oh-hey! Wait, what are you doing!?" I yelled, seeing my frame sliding straight for the exit.
It's like a water slide only bumpier and I'm about to die.
"Trying to save your life. You'd be wise to go along with it for once." They called out, keeping their back to me.
Midas' bloodshot eyes widened as he saw Tsuyo's jewel dragging me towards the exit, pointing his hand at the ceiling above the door.
Destroying his own mansion in desperation, Midas used his jewels to make the ceiling cave in just as I was going under it, causing Tsuyo to curse and try to pull me back.
But, it was too late as countless pounds of debris came crashing down onto my frame, causing me to form a shield of crystals over my head.
I grit my teeth as the loud collapse rumbled throughout the mansion. I was able to save my head and my limbs, but pieces of the ceiling and his infamous decorative pillars were now caving me in, trapping me from going towards Tsuyo or the door.
"Oh, no-crap." I coughed out from the dust, lowering my crystal shields as I tried to push the debris free from my path.
Midas didn't seem the slightest bit concerned for his daughter's well being, face twisting with more anger as he seethed dagger eyes at Tsuyo.
"You fucking traitorous bastard! How dare you try to take my own daughter from me and meddle in family affairs!?"
"Oh? What happened to me being your family, too? Kinda went dead in the water now that I turned on you, huh? Or, turned on you for the tenth time, I should say-" Tsuyo was cut off as Midas lunged forward and gripped their collar, dragging them roughly towards his face.
My heart leaped at the physical contact, trying to free myself from the debris faster.
But, Tsuyo seemed calm. So incredibly calm as Midas screamed in their face. Their body was almost floppy and weighted in his hold, seeming less wanting to fight and more ready to...
...to...
...sacrifice themselves.
The moment was too personal for Midas to just kill Tsuyo in a quick kill shot, it seems. Even if the man was heartless, somehow the devastation on his face seemed incredibly genuine, not wanting to believe his best friend had turned on him.
It leads me to believe that Midas' attachment to this person was real, even if incredibly messed up. That there was a time where he truly cared for this person.
"You don't deserve the title of 'family'-and you don't deserve to be here now." He growled through teary eyes, yanking Tsuyo lethally closer.
The masked person barely tensed up at the invasive proximity, with Midas looking at them in complete focus and something that made a shiver of alarm run down my spine.
His golden, bloodshot eyes trailed down to the mask Tsuyo wore, lifting his finger and dragging it down the coarse material longingly.
Now they tried to get away, and Midas enjoyed the reaction he finally got from them, eating it up and making himself stronger.
Possessively, his hand came around both sides of their cheeks and squeezed now, coming close enough to touch noses with them now.
"Now, now. Why do you always try to leave?" He mocked, wrenching their face closer as they tried to recoil back. "Don't you know there's no escape? Even if you leave, you'll never be able to forget the marks I've left on you."
Tsuyo gripped the hilt of their knife tightly and Midas noticed. They had every opportunity to drive the blade straight into his chest and kill him right now. They were close enough and Midas wasn't even making an effort to guard himself.
But, the gold eyed man knew the hold he had on Tsuyo, curling his teeth into a wicked, chilling smile that would make even the devil himself shudder.
He looks evil. Perverted with the idea of suffering and breaking this poor person's soul over and over again.
"Go on, darling. Do it. Kill me." Midas whispered mockingly, causing Tsuyo's blade to start shaking.
They were completely traumatized, unwillingly conditioned to be loyal to this horrible man. It showed in the way they started to stumble on their breaths, entering a space of their mind that clearly brought back all the triggering memories they've had to live through.
It looked like they were being restrained by the devils of Midas. Their knife didn't move even though they wanted it to, their body looked like it was tied down by invisible bonds of abuse.
And Midas ate it up like a man starved, laughing in their face-laughing at their ptsd as he gripped their cheeks with crushing force.
"No. You can't kill me. You never will. Because this-what you and I have? It's forever, my love. You can't ever leave me. I'll haunt you. Everyday, I'll haunt you. I'll give you nightmares, and make you miss the way I touched you. Wanna know why?" He murmured tauntingly, reaching down and grabbing Tsuyo's hand that held the blade.
The person's entire arm was shaking as Midas pressed the blade's tip to his own heart-so sharp, it nicked his skin just from the light pressure.
"Because you belong to me. You gave me your soul, your innocence-and I've kept it with me ever since. No matter where you go, or who you meet, you will never be able to have peace if that person isn't me, do you understand?" He whispered, making the onyx jewels on Tsuyo's suit glow brightly.
They hissed and shook their head at the jewel's effects swirling in their brain, reaching their free hand up before ripping the onyx colored gems off completely.
If what Touya read in the notebook that he stole from Midas is true, the onyx jewel represents control.
Tsuyo's boot stepped down atop the black jewels harshly, causing them to shatter into dust under their feet.
"The mind games won't work anymore-" They panted, voice uneven and shaky before Midas interrupted them.
"Really? Because it sounds like you're wavering. Like you want this, and maybe even miss it." He urged more aggressively, slipping his fingers under Tsuyo's mask to feel their skin.
Tsuyo's hand jolted with the dagger and Midas noticed the incredibly subtle action, eyes barely widening in urgency as he gripped Tsuyo's wrist the moment the masked person tried to drive it forward into his heart.
He wasn't expecting them to actually do it. That shows in the way Tsuyo was able to barely break the skin, causing a steady flow of blood to seep from Midas' chest. Not enough to get any organs, but enough to realize they were stronger than they've been in the past.
"You're delusional." Tsuyo seethed out, causing Midas' gold eyes to simmer with rising fury.
He smacked the knife out of their hand now, causing it to clatter across the tile.
"Oh, you love it, Tsyuo. The attention. The 'torture' you claimed to hate, yet your body and heart always revealed the truth. The companionship. You fucking love it. Don't lie to me-to yourself. Lying is so ugly." Midas desperately tried to keep his claws in them, throwing out his last ditch effort to manipulate.
He tried to grip their collar again, but Tsuyo pushed his arm away, "No, I convinced myself of whatever I needed to in order to survive. But, I don't care anymore."
They were slipping through his fingers and Midas knew it, with the glimmers of panic behind his eyes as he lunged his hand out more aggressively.
He grabbed Tsuyo by the shirt again and yanked them forward, but Tsuyo shoved him away completely, causing Midas to stumble back with blank, disbelieving eyes as he realized they were truly done.
"I'm used up. Ashamed. Embarrassed. Completely unforgivable. I know all of that." They said, barely turning their attention towards me. "But, if I can at least do one thing right-one thing I won't regret, then I'll do it. For Violet. For all the people you wronged. Hell, even for your own sister who you failed so drastically."
Midas' jaw tensed at the mention of his sister, Hanako, starting to shake as Tsuyo broke free from his prison.
"I'll kill you, and in my heart, I'll always know it was the right thing to do." They said.
The jeweled man shook his head and burned a hole in Tsuyo's head with his glare, chuckling low and empty.
"You will never be able to live a normal life after this, you know. You'll be locked up forever." He kept his gaze on them, threatening in the only last resorts he knew how.
Tsuyo simply shrugged and looked down at the cracked floor, ignoring the sounds of war happening outside.
"No different than how I've lived with you all these years."
Midas scoffed and wiped the stray tears from his eyes, trying to pretend he was unbothered by the conversation.
"My goodness, darling. How tainted you've become. It was my fault for allowing you to be around her." He accused, gesturing to me in the corner.
I felt uneasy at the look he was giving me. Even though I was supposed to be his daughter, he looked utterly resentful of me-like I was the one who took his precious Tsuyo from him.
"I thought Violet's innocence was enough to bring you closer to me, but now I see it only had the opposite effect. She gave you the courage to turn on me. She brought back that spark I thought I drove out of you." His head lowered, taking his bottom lip between his teeth hard enough to draw blood.
"You're a far cry from the beautiful person you used to be, Tsuyo. You're nothing more than a disgusting insult to Hanako's dreams now. You've been that way for a while. I was just too attached to let you go sooner. Love makes us do foolish things." He whispered, letting the blood run over his lip and towards the floor.
The mention of 'love' caused a triggering snap of fury in Tsuyo, balling their fists as they became bolder.
"And you believe you're any better? Forcing children to shed their blood for your war? Beating your only daughter to the verge of death after murdering her mother? Keeping me locked up here for years, and using me-every part of me-for your twisted desires whenever you see fit? You're the ugliest person I've ever fucking met. I feel physically sick every time I look at you." They spat.
Midas' face twitched with growing agitation, starting to fidget on his hand and feet, "You don't mean that-"
"Oh, I do. I've meant it every time I've spit it in your face. Every time I tried to choke you to death in your sleep, coming so close until you'd finally startle awake and knock me off-"
"Enough-" The Jeweled Man's anger began to rise, yet Tsuyo had lost the willpower to stay silent.
It was like word vomit they've held in forever, now finally spewing from their mouth without control.
"And you see these things....and still really believe we're friends-"
"I said enough, Tsuyo-"
"No, you're fucking insane. You're delusional. And I've never hated anyone more than I hate-"
BOOM!
"That is enough!!" Midas screamed as he exploded a handful of jewels into the ground, sending Tsuyo airborne off their feet.
They crashed through the welcome desk of the lobby, with debris, wood, and stone crumbling atop them.
I watched with wide eyes as they coughed and tried to lethargically pull themselves out of the rubble, hearing Midas groan in fed up annoyance.
"My goodness. Talk, talk, talk. That's all you seem to do now." He said to Tsuyo, pinching the bridge of his nose with a headache. "You weren't ever that way before."
He slowly began to walk towards the masked person while they were down, causing me to try and break free faster.
"Where's the Tsuyo who used to cower at the mere sight of me? The Tsuyo who would kneel at my feet and obey my every command without a single peep. The Tsuyo who would die for me, and kill for me, and change this entire goddamn world for me whenever I asked?" His voice grew louder with every word.
He stopped his walk when he was reminded of the reason, turning to me with a mocking look of epiphany on his face, "Oh, wait. I know where they are. They're gone. And it's all thanks to my nosy, morally obsessed daughter who just had to insert herself into things that aren't her business."
He scoffed and gave me an empty smile of disappointment.
"Certainly another trait you inherited from your mother. Only one more reason to kill you, my dear." He said lowly, aiming his hand straight at me.
Tsuyo was next to him in an instant, jumping off the debris piles before successfully landing a kick to Midas' hand right when he shot his jewels.
The shot went airborne, but off track, taking out the second story banister instead of my face.
But, Midas' eyes were glued to me now, even as he blocked Tsuyo's next punch to his face.
He started walking over to me and my heart jumped, my frame straining harder under the debris to free myself before he reached my spot.
Tsuyo went for a kick to his knee, but Midas simply gripped their ankle, twisting it and shoving them backwards.
"She's your daughter!" They yelled as they went crashing to the ground, voice filled with desperation. "Don't forget you'd be killing your own daughter!!"
Midas' face held no sympathy as he reached me, using his jewels to grip the back of my collar and pry me free from the rubble.
His hand lunged at my neck and squeezed it tightly, flipping me around in a headlock for Tsuyo to see.
"Any 'daughter' who doesn't align with my dreams is no child of mine." He stated lowly, gripping my jaw like he was about to snap my neck.
Tsuyo looked around on their suit desperately, noticing they had no jewels or weapons left.
That means there's only one thing left they can use...
Their quirk.
They removed one of their gloves now, displaying their bare cut up hand. Midas must have gathered this meant they were going to use their quirk, keeping a grip on my jaw and lifting his other arm towards Tsuyo in defense.
Midas shot a jewel at them at the same time Tsuyo shot their quirk.
Tsuyo dodged the jewel hit just enough to miss their head. But, their mask wasn't spared, flying completely off their face from the impact now and falling to the floor.
Midas screamed as a blinding beam of light went straight into his eyeballs, releasing me involuntarily and gripping his face as blood ran down his corneas now.
But, I couldn't even focus on that as I looked at Tsuyo, seeing them with their mask off for the first time, feeling my blood freeze at the person who stared back at me...
"Akio?" I breathed out, getting a clear look at his face.
****
A/N: You can see a pic of Tsuyo unmasked in tiers 3 and above on Patreon <3