Henry:

At this point, I really am considering being a regular hero. Medicine will require a ton of memorization from how much I keep seeing Tori with her anatomy book every day. She's not even in a medical class yet, and she's practically married to that thing. Of course, I feel I'll have to do the same thing with a kanji book at some point just to keep up.

Hizashi picks us up from the school after a day of following around a general studies class so the family can have a special approved trip to the mall.

I wear my regular purple outfit with a black cap, and Tori wears a pink shirt and pants. When I meet my new family out front of the school, I'm so happy to get out of the building! I snatch up Yukari, tossing the little bundle of smiles on my shoulders so I can run around the group, making her laugh and scream excitedly. On the other hand, Tori talks a little, but always out of the side of her mouth as she keeps her nose pointed down and that book open to keep reading and reading.

I have to grab her shoulder to keep her from walking into the street, and she bumps into three cars on the way to the Yamada family car. Yuka sees us coming at a distance and runs to us from the car and just picks me up right away- with Yukari still on my shoulders- which makes everyone laugh- except Tori, of course, because she misses the whole thing, face still in that book. Yuka finally has to pull the book up; Tori's face lights up, and she quickly hugs our adoptive mother.

I shrug, watching them- whatever, at least Tori's happy. They separate, and she's right back in that book.

We pile into the car and go to the mall. Yes, some people might ask why we're being allowed off school grounds, but technically, we're with a professional officer of the law—my dad.

In the car, I finally have to ask, "Okay, Tori, what the heck is up with that book? First, you barely look up from it to navigate, and second, it's always that book in particular. It's always anatomy—sheesh!"

"Don't you remember what happened last time I tried to use my power on someone?" she asks.

Hizashi raises his eyebrows from the driver's seat. "What exactly did she do?"

"Tried to heal my foot and ended up only sealing the skin. I wound up nearly dying from internal bleeding." I say with wide eyes, laughing at Tori when she hangs her head in shame.

"Next time, things will be different. The next person will be helped, not nearly killed." Tori says, holding up her hand as if to swear.

"Ya know... truth is, you didn't know what you were doing, but that doesn't mean you didn't help," Yuka opted, holding up a finger.

"What?" Tori asks, sounding shocked, and finally looks up from her book.

"You sealed the skin, which means you basically band-aided his foot. You stopped any chance of infection, and depending on how deep the cut was, you actually slowed the bleeding."

"But... but Henry nearly died before we called the hospital. I can't heal people like that," Tori says, but Yuka takes her book away and pulls it into the front passenger side seat with her.

"You need to stop thinking you're alone, kiddos," she says as she looks over the book. "Tori, I'm glad you're devoting so much time and study to making your power work right. There's no telling how much your dedication will benefit you and others—but how deep was your brother's cut?"

"I mean..." Tori thinks. "Probably around three inches."

"If you told someone what happened, they likely could have helped afterward, and you might have actually bought them time to do so."

Hizashi flips the back view mirror so he can look at Tori. "If you take the position of EMT, your job will be to keep someone alive until they can get to an operating room, not to heal them yourself."

Yuka flips through to the front of the book. "Honey, if you're going to obsess so much, at least have a focus. "She gives Tori back the book. "Like this section on first aid."

"But all I can do with that is-"

"What you need to do, help."

The engine dies as Hizashi says, "Well, we've arrived." He reaches back and closes Tori's book. "I admire your dedication, kiddo, but maybe before you keep obsessing about whatever part you'll be playing, you should let your instructors tell you what it will be —and maybe you should pick a course first."

"I think I might want to be a surgeon," Tori confesses, her voice betraying her fear that this will upset everyone.

"Well, the school won't like that," Hizashi says. "And you won't be able to become that after high school; you'll also need college. All the same, I'll be proud no matter what you choose, kiddo. If that's what you want, UA can provide you with a great general studies program until you get to college." He reaches back and pats her knee. If he's upset, he's pretty good at not looking like it.

Tori puts away her book, and into the mall we go.

We shop for random stuff. Yuka tries to interest me in decorating my dorm room, but I don't care.

I'm thinking, 'What do I want to be?' I don't think anyone has ever seriously asked me that.

In fact, as I look at myself in a passing display glass... who is Henry? Who am I if I have a choice? How long has it been since I had a choice? As a little kid, I wanted to be a hero who used clever tricks to fight crime, being there whenever needed. I want to be like Crimson Riot when he saved my sister. Does that mean a front-line or rescue hero? Doesn't a hero like that stop the problem himself?

But Hizashi just said I'll only be part of things...

I hear a ringing... yelling... screaming...

"Honey, what's going on?" Yuka says as she presses Yukari behind herself. I look up from the glass of the display case.

Hizashi looks up at the mall's floors and sees dark smoke on the fifth floor while we are on the second.

Hizashi pushes me to Yuka. "Watch the kids, hun. Duty calls." He bursts off running.

I look up at a small enclosed clothing shop on the fifth floor. The flames coming out of it are enormous and bright orange. I can almost feel the heat from here.

What if Tori or I were trapped there? Hizashi can amplify his voice to smash through walls or to disorient even the most powerful of foes- but that does nothing to amplify his speed. Someone could be in that fire burning alive right now!

I know what it's like to wait and wonder if someone is coming. I know hopelessness... I won't let someone else go through that!

My eyes widen as Yuka pulls on my left hand. I am on the mall's second floor, and whoever is in that fire is on the fifth.

If I take the stairs, well-meaning people like Yuka will try to stop me—I can't let them.

A golden artificial tree goes up through the nine floors of the mall. It's made like a giant fir, so there's no way it's made to hold a person—for very long, anyway. Its branches are within three feet of the base second-floor railing and recede gradually inward as it goes up. The railing is a gold cylinder that travels around the tree and sits on top of glass panels, held up by gold poles separated by ten feet each in a giant circle.

I remember the first day Charles revealed his true colors to me and Tori. In my mind, I can see him force Tori's hands behind her back and bind them there. I remember not being able to help as two henchmen held me back.

I look at the mall's floors and hear screaming as people run from the fire. I can even hear screams that sound like Tori's that day.

I have to go- I have to get to them! There could be people trapped in there! I'm not helpless, not this time.

I feel Yuka yank on my left hand and hear her yell at me to get back with my sister, but I'm already in motion.

My right arm moves before I can think. A double of me appears, and I transfer into it, snapping my fingers as I sprint to the gold railing. Yuka screams for me to stop behind me, but I'm not listening. I can hear the fear in her voice, but I'm not stopping- what if there's another girl up there, trapped like my sister? If they're up there, I have to move. I have to get to them- I have to get to them now!

I hit the glass of the rail and swing my right hand, a double of me appearing on the tree and grabbing hold. I transfer to him. I snap my fingers as I feel the branches of the plastic fir tree yield immediately under my weight, but they slow my descent like I knew they would. I swing my right hand again, a double of me appearing, and holding on three feet up- transfer- snap- swing- transfer- snap- swing- transfer... I have to rely entirely on my quirk to climb the three, but even so, in seconds, I've outpaced Hizashi, even as I can hear him screaming at me, "Henry, what are you doing?!!"

In moments, I'm holding onto the branches near the sixth floor. I couldn't just make a duplicate from the fifth floor because I wasn't close enough to make it on the actual landing of the fifth floor. I'll have to make one in the air high enough I have time to copy and transfer a second time onto that landing. Here goes- all I have to do is swing my arm and make a copy of myself three feet from me in the air, snap, and then swing again as I fall, making a copy on the fifth floor and transferring to it as my other body falls pointlessly...

I'm the Purple Bandit; I can do this. No one will have to wait to be saved like I had to. No one is beneath my concern. I... I'm just a kid with a broken brain—who am I kidding?!!

I hold tightly to the tree. I've jumped buildings three times this height dozens of times- but what if this is the one time I don't make it? I need to stop- I need to...

I hear screaming from the area of the fire this time. I need to move!

Swing- transfer- snap- swing- transfer- I look over the railing as my previous self falls to the ground and slams into the railing on the way down, its back cracking and contorting as it falls- Yuka screams and grabs it, wailing over a body that is now just a husk- I... I... I watch as Tori points up to me- I'll let her explain as I snap, and the copy of me that Yuka is crying over disappears- I have to get to the person in that fire; I have to!

I sprint along the railing and move straight toward the fire. Hizashi is still a full flight of stairs down from me, screaming for me to stop, but I don't really listen. I'm not listening to my... my dad...

I'm a kid with a broken brain. What am I doing? I burst into the flames and felt the searing heat, throwing my right arm to duplicate and transfer three feet further into the inferno but out of the heavy flames themselves. I snap, not wanting to smell the charing of my own flesh behind me as I run.

As I run past burning clothing displays and over the burnt carpet and glass shattered all over the floor, I widen my eyes and tune my ears. Is anyone in here? Where are they? I've got to get to them... THERE!

I hear someone screaming. I hear pounding. It sounds like a girl. Where is she?

I scan the burning clothing store again. Ashes rise, smoke surrounds me- I haven't got much time before I burn or suffocate myself; over time, the sustained exposure will get to me regardless of my quirk- c'mon, where are you, girl?

I hear the screaming and pounding again- it's getting quieter. She's succumbing- c'mon, girl, don't give up! My eyes scan for the source of the pounding, and I see the front counter. I run towards it, ignoring it as my skin gets singed several times and flames lick at my clothes.

I finally yell, "Where are you?!!"

"The closet- help! They locked me in here- please... I can't breathe..." She sounds young but older than me. I guess she's in her late teens, maybe early twenties?

I spin around and see a closet down a small corridor. It has a chair placed in front of it and tilted back just perfectly to hold the door knob. It looks like it could have been cleared or pushed out of the way easily- if not for the extra debris on and around the chair. However, that extra debris is there.

I run to the chair and swing my arm- a clone of me appears in the air two feet above the chair, dropping with his feet landing directly on the debris weighing down the back of the chair. The wooden back snaps, and I snap away my clone. I grab the knob, screaming as the hot brass burns my hands, but I push through the pain- I have to get to her- I HAVE TO!

The door opens until it hits the debris that had been anchoring the legs of the chair. It's only a small pile of stones, but it's enough that I don't want to fight it on top of everything else. "C'mon out—c'mon," I coax as the girl emerges. I grab her arm, pull her along, and drag her back to the store entrance.

The girl has blonde-dyed hair, freckles, and a gray store uniform. She leans over me as we pull away from the counter and move back toward the store entrance. I look ahead and see—oh good lord, a pile of debris has gathered since I plowed through. Now what?

I-

I hear someone on the other side yell, "Get clear of the left side!" Then I hear a loud clap from my right, the left of someone facing me. I head away from that side as I hear a loud scream. The sheer volume is so great that I have to grab my ears as my stomach starts to turn and roil.

The debris and fire to my right suddenly blast inward, and the fire completely disappears. I grab the girl's hand, and we run to the exit.

The poor girl coughs and coughs as she comes out. I do, as well. Big, strong hands grab both of us as I realize—it's Hizashi... my father. He takes our hands and half drags both of us to safety.

I duplicate and transfer, falling against a nearby wall, my lungs still coughing up smoke regardless of using my power.

I start recovering, but the girl's legs buckle beside me. Oh crap, I'm gonna lose her! I can see burn marks on her skin as she drops to the ground. I reach for her as Hizashi grabs me and pulls me away.

What is he doing? I thought he was on my side, saving us both. No, let me go to her! I have to help her to...

But as I watch, someone in a mask runs to her and slowly helps her lay down. The man is dressed in white, and he and a small team hook her up to an oxygen tank. Are they... they're helping her. Hizashi was just keeping me out of the way. Her body starts to relax, her cough subsiding as she slips into sleep right there.

They move efficiently and as a team. My eyes lock on them as they push the girl onto a stretcher and race her away from the scene, yelling for people to move out of the way.

What they do doesn't look like chaos. It doesn't look unplanned. It looks rehearsed, smooth, calm... I wish I was like them.

Soon, my coughing returns, and more men in white surround me. My thoughts are slowing down and unraveling. I hate how weak and inconsequential I feel. All I risked, all my effort, and all I really did was move an obstacle or two.

I start to get more and more dizzy as I hear a very young girlish voice start to scream. "My big brother- big brother!"

The room is moving as I'm guided to the ground. A mask is forced over my face as...

My eyes slowly open. I look around and see I'm on a bed with machines all around me. Some cable leads from my hand to a bag of clear fluid. I hear beeping and see smudges... no... no... they're people. Tori, Hizashi, Yuka, and little Yukari.

Yukari is dressed in a little pink dress. She grabs the arm that isn't hooked to a machine, holding me tight and nuzzling me a little. "Big brother..." she says, sighing in relief. I was scared when you ran into the fire..."

She's crying and holding me so tightly. Tori gently pulls the eight-year-old off my arm as I look over at Hizashi, who gives me a cringing smile as Yuka comes over and puts a hand on Tori's shoulder.

As I awake more and more, I can smell antiseptic and feel the warmth of the blankets that cover me. Yuka slowly escorts the girls out of the hospital room as tears start to form in my eyes. This is it. I've seen it before. I can see the tears in Tori's eyes, so I know she knows what's coming, too. Orphans aren't supposed to stand out if they want to be kept. The Yamadas have an excuse to get rid of us now...

Still, I guess I helped someone, right?

Hizashi sits in the room near a large counter when the girls are gone. He pats a seat next to himself and relaxes in place, saying, "Use your powers to restore yourself when you're ready. I guess this answers if you can use doppleganger to avoid the effects of smoke or gases—no."

I jut my right arm, make a duplicate, transfer to it, and snap my fingers.

I stand wrapping the blankets around me, keeping them because a hospital gown doesn't offer much privacy. The machines alert the staff that something is up, but when the nurses rush in and see me standing unharmed, they don't act surprised. They just turned off the equipment and handed me my clothes. I'm a little surprised, but then I notice one of them is part goose and realize my powers are far from the strangest.

They then leave me with my... father? I get dressed as we talk.

"So... I guess this is the end, huh?" I sigh as I put on my T-shirt.

"If you mean "it" as your freedoms for a few weeks, then yes, I can certainly say it is."

"For a few years, you mean," I say, sighing and turning around. "Can you look away while I put on my undies and pants?"

"Already doing so," he says. I continue. "What do you mean years?"

"I stood out... I gave you an excuse..." I say as I finally finish buckling my belt. I fold my arms and say, "It's fine, I'm decent now."

He looks back at me, but I look away. "You think I'm going to give you up or something?"

"I've been tossed back for far less than that," I say. "I made your wife and daughter cry. I'm sorry, but- well, it's too late now, isn't it?"

"What the heck are you talking about, you dumb kid- get over here," he pats the chair next to him again, and I sit. He puts an arm around me as I still can't bear to look him in the eyes. "Hey- hey, c'mon. I'm not giving up on you the first time things get tough, okay? Besides, you helped save a life back there. Not sure how you could have been MORE sloppy about it, but it's not like you've been trained for this kind of thing." He pulls me closer and... I don't fight it. He pulls my chin so I look him in the eyes. "Truth is... I'm kinda proud. Though I'm unsure how much of a right I have to be, it's not like you get your heart from me. Through Charles, foster care- a world that's been openly cruel to you, and you still have the heart of a hero."

He puts his fist on my chest, and I hold his hand, fighting not to sob. "You're keeping me? Even after I hurt the people you care about?"

"You scared them because we all care about you, Henry. Your approach was all over the place- you could have gotten yourself killed or severely hurt."

"Oh c'mon, doppelganger could have saved me from anything TOO bad," I say with a chuckle.

"No... no, you're not shaking it off like that," Hizashi forces me to stay seated as he gets up, standing to his full height and folding his arms at me. He's... he's actually pretty big. "You and I both know your quirk has limits- otherwise, you wouldn't be here." He waves at the hospital room. "What if you hadn't made a copy fast enough, or in the right position? What if your calculations were just a little off? Do you have any idea how dangerous those maneuvers you pulled were?"

I look down, but he forces my chin up again.

"Listen to me," He says. "I refuse to give up on you; that's not at stake here. But your future is. One time, messing up with moves like that- you break your arm, and your power ceases to work, even if, by some miracle, you don't die. And let's be clear, there are all kinds of ways that can happen. You acted like you didn't care if you got hurt- did you?"

"I... I mean... I'm..." I start to tremble. "Stop making me look at you." He lets go of my chin, and I look down. "I don't... I don't think like that, okay? I just do things. I figure out a mission, and I just do it. Fear, self-preservation- I don't care. I do what I have to so I can make things happen."

"And why is that?"

"Do you think I could afford to hesitate before? I had to save my sister... well, today the girl wasn't my sister, but someone was at stake, and when that happens, I go with my... my... programming."

I look up and see him raise an eyebrow. "Like a machine?"

"Feels like that sometimes." I fold my hands in my lap and force myself to stop shaking. "Sometimes it feels like... in the heat of a moment... it's like all I know is my objective. I move through obstacles and people like they're not even there. It's cool sometimes- sometimes it's thrilling... that doesn't mean I know how to control it."

"Well... you're definitely built for a life of action," Hizashi says. "You need to stop acting like no one cares if you yourself are hurt, cause that's no longer the case- really, it never was the case. You always had Tori, didn't you?"

"Well... okay, people like me now- that doesn't mean I feel like I deserve it."

He kneels down to look me in the eyes as I slowly meet his again. "What would make you feel like you do deserve it?"

"It feels like all I did today was... kinda help, just kinda."

"You realize that's all heroes do, right? We're all part of a team. I stop a criminal, another person books the crook, and another fixes up the victims- we all have our roles. No one can do it all from start to finish, ya know?"

"I guess I know that," I admit. "It feels like what I did- anyone could have done. Like I didn't really make a difference."

"Well... I mean... not anyone..." Hizashi cringes.

"Not the way I did it- but now that the adrenaline is gone- did I do what I needed to or..."

"Well, that's one thing we need to talk about. What you did wasn't exactly safe or smart. I mean, it was brainy for sure, but not smart. You could have used your bypass combo- that's what I'm gonna start calling that rapid replicate-transfer-replicate thing you do- on the stairs and gotten to your goal just as fast."

"People might have gotten in the way..." I give a weak laugh. "Yeah... saying that doesn't make me look good, does it?"

He shakes his head. "You're gonna be punished; don't worry about getting out of it."

My shoulders slump. "Well, in any case, I feel like all I did was kick some debris around. I was just jumping from one task to the next with no plan, and then if you hadn't blasted away the debris with your voice attack, well..."

"Yeah, that's how it goes when you just jump in."

I think back to the men in white, and I look thoughtful. "Those men who hooked up the girl to the oxygen tank were EMTs, right? I don't have the kind of firepower you do, but could they have gotten in if you weren't there?"

"It would have been a real challenge, which is why Nezu wants to get his hero EMT program underway. He's been wanting to split emergency and law enforcement heroes for a while to ensure trained quirk users in all emergencies, but without an EMT branch, well... rescue and crime fighting is important, don't get me wrong..."

"Well..." I get up. "Can I take a walk?"

"Long as I can walk with you. You definitely can't be unsupervised after that episode."

We walk and talk for a few minutes. Eventually, I ask, "I screwed up... what's gonna happen?"

"I'm not sure. It's hard to ground you any more than you already are, but the school is creative. Probably some remedial training. Thank your lucky stars you're a preteen because otherwise, you might be exercising till you puke," Hizashi chuckles. "Hey, no matter how creepy they talk, keep in mind that there are limits to what they can do. Just follow commands, and you'll be fine—and then no more vigilante acts, yes?"

"But if I didn't do what I did... would you have gotten to that girl in time?"

Hizashi just shrugs. "I hope I would have. I'd have done it more effectively because I'm trained, but you did get there a full minute faster than me; that's not unimportant. You have an advantage."

"Yeah, too bad I'm too stupid to use it right," I grumble, looking down. "I just go with my adrenaline rush."

"If you can do THAT on an adrenaline rush, you'll be special when you're trained. Don't look down on yourself."

"Does it matter that it was all because I'm handca..." but just as I'm about to bring up my condition, I almost run into something. A little boy holding up... a stuffed boy in a purple costume.

"Bandit?" he asks. The boy looks about four and is dressed in a purple T-shirt, black jeans, and a black cap. He looks up at me, holding up his toy, then looks between me and the toy—then hugs the toy to his chest. "Thank you for saving my sister, Bandit." He then shifts his doll under one arm and takes my hand.

I'm fighting tears again, but not of shame this time. The boy then walks to an older woman and man. Hizashi walks quietly with me as the two emerge. I'm about to bow when the man holds up his hand. "No, no, I honor you," the man says, bowing to me and Hizashi. "You saved my daughter." The man steps forward and puts his hands on my shoulders. "You especially risked much; I saw it. You didn't know anything about her, did you? But you went through all that for her." he takes a stack of cards out of a plastic bag, removes one from the top, and shows it to me. It's one of those dumb Purple Bandit cards for the trading card game. However, when I look at it... the Villain label is scribbled out, and I see "Hero" hand-written next to the scribble.

The man turns over the card and hands it to me, saying, "Ever since I was a little boy, I searched for all the heroes for my deck. I never cared for a villain card- after today, I had to get one of yours. But of course, silly game makers- they labeled you wrong. I'll have to, um... I'll have to find you again when they fix the misprint. But this misprint will be valuable someday when it's one of a kind- if you agree to sign it."

I slowly take the card and the pen offered. I think back on my doubts and worries about my condition... I put pen to card and look in the eyes of people who... after all this time... see Bandit differently. They see my stupid childhood persona, not for what Charles made him or what UA is trying to make. They see Bandit as a hero now.

I sign as I feel hope start to fill my heart.

I swallow and hand the card back. "Dad..." I say to Hizashi... to my dad... it's still kind of hard to call him my father... "I um... I can't let these people down, can I? I have to train Bandit, right? The world needs EMTs..."

My dad... Hizashi... he pats me on the back. "The world needs Bandit, kiddo."

The older man bows to me again as he returns my card, smiling at my autograph, "The world does need Bandit."

The little boy hugs his Bandit toy again, and... maybe I'm something special after all.