Izuku took in the so-called League of Villains hideout. It was all perfectly aligned bricks and polished wooden floorboards, quite unlike his rotten ones at home. A shiny counter separated the main living space and what had been dubbed 'Kurogiri's domain', which basically was a splendid collection of brandy and other assorted alcohol which rested on shelves. In the corner of the room, atop a simple yet elegant table, a computer connected to a television broadcasting the last news, which coincidentally enough revolved around Death Arms and a Musutafu Daily journalist's death. Yamada Shiro, he learned his name was.
"I expected something a little more… villainous, is that the right word? Ah, not that it is not villain-like, I-I mean it looks pretty stylish for a hideout, and the place looks very well cared for, ha ha-"
"Shut up."
"Y-Yes Sir," Izuku deflated, his shoulders sagging. He should really break this rambling habit.
"Good boy," said Shigaraki, his hand reaching out and patting his fluffy green curls, with only four fingers he instantly noticed. Weird for such a gesture. Was it related to…?
"Is it your quirk? You can decompose anything your hand touches with all five fingers? But you can't control it, so when you touch objects, you always leave a finger hanging. A-And sorry I will shut up!" Izuku slapped a hand against his mouth when he saw Shigaraki freeze on the spot, his eyes widening in alarm.
"You…" his gaze was dark as he scrutinized Izuku's face, as if he should find anything other than frightened eyes, paling skin and starkly contrasting freckles.
"Tomura. Won't you introduce our new… common acquaintance, to everyone who has not met him yet?" A man with the phlegm of an Englishman spoke deliberately, his hands and head a mere cluster of dark particles. Currently the former were focused on wiping some drinking glasses (how did that even work?) while he gazed at him with these weird kind of dark matter-ish eyes.
Broken out of his trance, Shigaraki cleared his throat and scratched his neck in a seemingly nervous habit which, Izuku would discover later, was bordering on OCD. One of the older boy's numerous ones, anyhow.
"Listen up, guildmates. This is our new acquisition. Name's Ery, don't poke him too hard, or you might get a first-hand experience of what Death Arms felt when his skull was bashed in."
Wow, way to go for an introduction. Suddenly, the weight of dozens of pair of eyes trained on him with laser focus bore down on him. His heart beat faster, becoming a light trot then a full-blown gallop as the first pangs of hunger made themselves known. No!
Izuku bowed quickly, nearly stumbling in his haste, "My name's Midoriya Izuku, nice to meet you all!"
And he groaned, nearly slapping himself because why the hell did he give his real name to villains of all people? Especially when Shigaraki took the pain to use his scene name. His inner berating came to an abrupt end as he felt two mounds press against his back, and a cheek rub against his own. The cheek was hot, nearly as burning as Izuku's the boy surmised, as blood rushed to the area.
"Sooo cute, Izuku-kun! Please, can I keep him, Tomura?" she asked the hands-covered man who merely scoffed, used to such bullshit from this damned girl. At least, she was useful.
She stopped glomping him and stepped back a little, though she remained at arms-length. Her eyes positively shone with excitement and what he only guessed sadistic pleasure (for it was the same he saw in his reflected eyes when his alter ego took over,) shone through.
"I've seen what you did to that Hero, Death Arms. Argh, I wish I could've been there to see his brain splatter all over the place!"
"Thank you…?" Izuku was at a loss regarding how he should react, though his stomach roiled and churned unpleasantly.
Her gaze trailed over his form, his gaunt cheeks with prominent cheekbones, the thin frame and sagging pants. He felt like he would burst under the attention, ground down into the stardust of a dying planet broiled by the sun, but the once over was quickly done with.
"Are you sure you're eating right? You look thin as a rake," her cheerful voice was tinged with something eerily akin to caring. But it wasn't, because villains don't care.
And unbidden, the thoughts of terrible hunger and what he had done to alleviate it plagued his mind, making him surly and sick. The broken, unnaturally bent and squished bodies and the cries of terror, agony, and all the endless madness and woe.
"I-I've been e-eating just fine," he denied weakly.
She hummed noncommittally, before grinning brightly. "Well, anyway, welcome to the family Izuku-kun!"
Damn, his eyes were burning because what the hell was that? Since when did he have a functional family? He certainly did not deserve one.
"You have yet to meet Sensei, have you not, Izuku-san?" the mist-man, Kurogiri, asked calmly. He seemed ever collected, and Izuku envied that.
This pulled Izuku from his self-deprecating thoughts, "N-No, I mean, I would love to, but I don't know if I'm… worthy? He sounds like an impressive figure, from what you've both told me."
"He is. He may be strict, but he is fair. He will judge your worth with an unbiased, critical eye, so fret not," Kurogiri put down the last glass he had been wiping. It seems cleaning up was a never-ending endeavor, because he pulled some plates from a sink and began to also wipe them clean.
"W-What if he deems me… unworthy?"
Instead of answering, Shigaraki took a barstool and shoved it in front of Izuku's eyes.
"Wait, don't use your-"
Then he laid his last finger on it, the material becoming fine, grinded dust.
"… Quirk."
A loud grumble echoed from the pit of Izuku stomach, and he laid a hand against his belly, swaying on the spot. He took deep breaths as he had once read in a sophrology book, four second breathing, blocking his breath, then releasing and blocking again. Rinse and repeat.
Because the pain in his thrashing gut was tearing him apart.
Tomura raised a slender brow, demanding an explanation on Izuku's part, and almost disheartened, Izuku complied.
"M-My Quirk… allows me to permanently copy all the quirks I come in visual contact with, under two conditions. I must be the cause for the Quirk's activation, and I must see the Quirk work with my own eyes."
All the conversations in the bar stopped and a plate filled with pastries fell to the ground, shattering like the porcelain it was, sending cinnamon rolls tumbling and honey-coated fingers rolling on the floor.
"That's…" one girl said.
"Completely broken. You're a cheat character. Raid boss material, at the very least!" Shigaraki said, his demeanor slightly unhinged and ecstatic.
But Izuku was not done yet.
"I-In exchange, I also gain the equivalent of the person's hunger. O-Or rather, the hunger they would have felt everyday. This hunger stacks with all the Quirks I've copied. All the hunger I've drained."
His voice was distant, a mere echo in a galaxy far away as his consciousness eroded and black holes pulled him apart, grinding him down to nothingness as the thing took over.
When he saw the eyes of the boy brighten and turning to luminescent pastel green, Tomura took a step back, as fright and terror squeezed his insides with an icy grip. His first instinct was to blast him into oblivion, this creature donning the mask of a human.
"A-And the only way to alleviate the hunger, for a little respite, is when I take over. Nice to meet you all, my name is Midoriya Izuku," he waved shyly with a pale hand.
The television screen turned to static, before a frame from a screen-sharing software appeared and an obviously ailing man was displayed on it for all the occupants to see. He spoke with a strong, clear, spirit-rousing voice.
"Splendid. How marvelous of a Quirk, Midoriya Izuku. I believe you shall find yourself quite at ease within our family. You possess a rare gift, one that should be treasured and polished until it shines the brightest."
"A r-rare gift? But I'm evil! That's what everybody says!" Izuku denied vehemently, shaking his head. Green curls swished with the action in a mesmerizing show.
The man scoffed. "Indeed? Good and evil are moral standpoints which should be made obsolete when the world itself is amoral. Is the lion which kills a gazelle immoral? What about a tiger killing to protect her cubs? If slaughtering ten saves a million, is it a villainous act? Good and evil are concepts elaborated by the weak-minded who refuse to face reality. There is no good, no evil, only amoral actions and perceptions of them as seen through the lens of a decaying society.
"I –no – we aim to purify this rotten society based on Hero worship. Venerating people with Quirks and oppressing those unfortunate enough, the imbecilic few who did not have the presence of mind to be born under a luckier star."
And Izuku remembered a time when he was deemed Quirkless by the Quirk doctor. Because his Quirk did not manifest before the age of ten. And because of that, he had been shunned and booed, and beaten up, and humiliated, because he had been the absolute dregs of society. And for once, both Izuku, the ravenous beast and the timid boy, knew synchronicity. And the hatred churning inside reached a boiling point, and all his insecurities evaporated.
"I will not abide by such a society. Everyone deserves to be happy."
Even I, he wanted to add, and the words burned the tip of his tongue but still a lingering doubt remained. He wondered if his method, ultraviolence, was the right way to proceed. He was still a child at heart, even though his mind might have matured more quickly.
"Then join us. And let us build, together, a far better world. A world freed from these shackles binding us."
"I will," Izuku spoke with determination blazing inside.
The screen went dead then, and as the villains were occupied with discussing this latest turn of events, nobody saw the demented grin twisting his lips in a sinister expression. Nobody saw the coruscating eyes illuminated with the acidic green of bile, and sickness.
Nobody except inner-Izuku who for once did not thrash against his restraints, but laid curled up in a corner of his mind, trying to make himself as small as possible. He was shaking like a leaf, because they had all been fooled and they were all moving blindly into the gaping maw of this edacious beast.
And nobody could save humanity, Heroes and Villains alike.
The world spun around madly and unraveled at the seams.