"What's with the expression detective? Didn't find what you were looking for?" Deku wondered with smile. "Did you know about the high end?" Tsukauchi asked, ignoring Deku's remarks. "High end? So that is how they interpreted the instructions" Deku mumbled. "Tell me, how much damage did it cause" He added. "I can't discuss events that occurs outside of this prison Deku" Tsukauchi replied. "Now, what instructions are you talking about?" He asked. "The instruction outlined in my contingencies of course" Deku replied.
"There is a reason that I can always be very certain of what my followers are doing" Deku said. "My revolution currently has 161 contingencies that I've created for all kinds of situations. Many of those even have sub-categories" Deku explained. "So you know where your followers are currently located?" Tsukauchi asked. "If you don't know, then I don't know either. The instructions in my contingencies are up for interpretation to allow greater flexibility. How they are followed is up to whoever is in the lead, which I would presume is Dabi at the moment" Deku answered.
"Alright then. What contingency are they currently following?" Tsukauchi asked. "Our base was lost, so that would trigger contingency 14-2. The loss of the main facility due to intervention by heroes. Mostly focuses keeping a low profile and going into hiding until a new facility can be established. Ideally within a year. Then I was captured, which would trigger contingency 3-4. My capture and imprisonment by the hands of the authorities. The plan there outlines multiple paths to my freedom" Deku explained. "Is there any instructions in those contingencies you would like to share perhaps?" Tsukauchi asked. "There is certainly information you would find useful" Deku chuckled. "But why would I tell you?" He asked, suddenly dropping his chuckle. "You wouldn't tell me even if I gave you a good reason" Tsukauchi replied. "Correct" Deku said.
Tsukauchi then grabbed his notes and stood up. "Unless you have anything more to say, then this meeting is over" He said. "Of course. Same time tomorrow?" Deku asked. "Only if you have some sort of information to share. If you don't have information, then I'm afraid you'll have to stay in your cell" Tsukauchi replied. "Oh. And here I was getting quite comfortable with our little talks" Deku said with a fake pout. "Not my problem" Tsukauchi said before leaving the cell.
That would end up being the last conversation Deku had with anyone in many months, at least outside his dreams. He wouldn't give Tsukauchi any more information, and just as the detective said, Deku remained in his cell. Deku didn't sit about doing nothing though. He did everything he could to keep himself busy. Meditating, exercise and a lot of muttering. Meanwhile, in his dreams, he and Ochako had gotten closer. Deku being in prison had allowed for both of them to partially ignore the fact that Deku was a villain, and that Ochako now was a hero. Deku would almost call her a friend, if it hadn't been for the obvious fact. Ochako was still a hero, and he was a villain stuck in Tartarus.
"Ochako?" Izuku asked, while they walked around in their dreams. "What is it Izuku?" Ochako replied. "I…I'm sorry" He said with a regretful look. "Sorry for what?" Ochako asked. "For the pain I've cause you. You know, when I let Iida die" Izuku answered. "Why bring that up now?" Ochako asked. "I just have had a lot of time to think you know. And I realised that I never truly apologized for that. And well, I care for you, somewhat. I think you're a good person and I know that Iida's death hurt you, something you didn't deserve" Izuku explained. "So you're sorry because his death hurt me" Ochako stated. "No, I-" Izuku began, but cut himself off. "Well, in some sense, yes" He admitted.
"But I also realize that I should have thought through it more thoroughly back then. All I thought about back then was that he was a hero, and I wanted to kill heroes. It was all very black and white to me. But I can see now that not everything is black and white. Iida was there because he wanted to avenge his brother. And while it may have been foolish, I'm not really in any position to call him out on that considering some of my own motivation" Izuku explained. "So you regret it?" Ochako wondered. "Well, yes. I could have done better" Izuku replied. "Like convince him to join me" He jokingly added. "That's not funny" Ochako said harshly. "Oh come on. It's really simple you see. Find some sort of anger said person has and find a way to direct that anger towards something that would make them join you" Izuku said. "Still, don't joke about it" Ochako complained. "Alright, I'm sorry" Izuku said. "It's in the past anyways. At least you regret it, maybe not for the right reasons, but you regret it" Ochako said.
"By the way, how is it working out for you as a hero?" Izuku asked. "Still doing good. Even if there isn't much work nowadays. I guess that is because of your revolution. But I still get to save people" Ochako replied. "Good. And yeah, reduced crime would be because of my revolution. Most of the time while you were in UA was spent gaining control over organized crime. I don't know how that has changed now though" Izuku said. "Anything else that is happening outside?" He asked. "No, not really" Ochako replied.
The two then walked a bit further until Ochako spoke up again. "Although, there is one thing I think you should know" She said. "And what is that?" Izuku wondered. "All Might wants to have a meeting with you" Ochako replied. "Oh, of course, him" Deku said, his voice immediately turning sour. "Look, I know you don't like him at all, and I can understand that. He shouldn't have told you to give up on being a hero" Ochako admitted. "But while he didn't tell me why he wants to meet you, I think it is because he has many regrets. Especially when it comes to you" She said. "Good. Let that guilt eat him up until his last breath" Deku sneered.
"Don't be like that" Ochako complained. "Oh, I'm gonna be exactly like that" Deku retorted "You know very well that what happened on that rooftop is far from the only reason I absolutely resent him. Giving me fake hope, hiding the fundamental flaws of society with a smile, allowing people to ignore the suffering of the weak, being a hypocrite, showing no compassion despite being quirkless himself once, oh, and killing my mother" He ranted. "I know you think that of him Izuku, but please. Just let him talk" Ochako pleaded. "I'll let him talk, not like I have much of a choice. But I won't promise that I'll be nice to him. Because I'll treat him just as unfairly as he treated me" Deku replied. "I understand" Ochako said.
The following day Deku sat in the interrogation room with a stone-faced expression, staring a hole into the door on the other side. Once All Might entered, Deku's expression immediately turned into a frown as the former number one hero sat down on the other side of the glass. "Why now?" Deku sneered. "I've been here for 10 months and now you suddenly decide to visit me. Do you want to rub my failures into my face?" He asked. "I know you don't like me, but I want to make amends for my failures" All Might replied. "Don't like you?" Deku chuckled "That's an understatement" He said. "I know. And I'm not here to try to change that. I've realised that it's too late for that" All Might said. "I guess you finally learned something at least" Deku said in a mocking tone.
"Midoriya, I should never have told you to give up on your dreams that day. It was foolish of me. I guess I have forgotten what it is like to be quirkless" All Might said with a sincere tone. "Oh that's so rich coming from you" Deku said with a sarcastic laughter. "Of course you're sorry now!" He exclaimed. "Not because of good will, but because of what I became. Because now-" Deku said as a smirk appeared on his face. "-now, I'm a threat" he said. "By the way, don't call me Midoriya, you killed him. I'm Deku" Deku added with a sneer. "Uraraka told me otherwise" All Might said, making Deku lose his composure for a moment.
"I'm not apologizing now because of what I made you become Deku. I'm apologizing because that's the right to do" All Might said. "Really?" Deku said with a questioning look. "Tell me, All Might. If I had never gone down the path I'm on now, and instead done what many of those in my situation ends up doing. What would have happened if I had just taken one more step over the edge on that roof? Would you have even thought twice about me again?" Deku asked. "I don't know" All Might replied. "There, you see. The only reasons you even bother doing this now is because of what I became. And the only reason you remember me is because you killed my mother" Deku spat out.
"I failed you Deku, I truly did. I was an idiot for not believing in your abilities, and I didn't do my job properly. Which sadly led to your mother's death" All Might said with a hint of sadness. "You're still and idiot All Might" Deku grumbled. "Those two things were just the final nails in the coffin" He said. "You know what the worst thing you did to me is?" Deku asked. "The same as the final curse in pandora's box. You gave me hope" He said, not waiting for answers.
"The only thing worse than hell, is a hell with the false hope of salvation" Deku said as his anger quickly rose. "And you made me suffer through that hell for ten long years! Every day I forced myself through suffering for one reason and one reason only! The hope you gave me of becoming a hero!" He shouted in anger. "And what did you say when I finally got the chance to renew my hope!? What did you say to me, a quirkless kid, on a rooftop after someone had told me to kill myself earlier that day!?" Deku asked, making All Might look down in shame. "You told me to become a cop" Deku said, his voice dripping with venom. "Like I haven thought about that before" He hissed
"I tried so hard to find ways to just help people. A nurse, a doctor, a cop, and more. But when you're quirkless, all jobs that are more than a fast food worker is considered above you. Every door I tried was slammed into my face. But I kept going because, you gave me hope" Deku explained. "But you didn't care did you? Because when I reached out to you for anything, just in the hope of achieving the dream that hadn't yet been shut off completely. You decided to extinguish that last bit of hope, along with my mother. And that broke me" Deku said in a saddened tone. "Of course I became a villain. It was the only thing I hadn't been denied" He said.
"I didn't know about all that, nor that you thought that way" All Might said. "Of course you didn't. You were too busy with your charity fundraisers so that you and all the millionaires and billionaires could pat yourself on the back. That you all could say that you helped, without having done anything" Deku scoffed. "Deku, I'm truly sorry for all the harm I've done to you and I want to make things right. I tried to help people as well" All Might said. "Help?" Deku wondered. "You could have spoken out against the system! You were at the top of it for years" He exclaimed. "You could have criticized the treatment of quirkless people, the systematic corruption amongst heroes and call for people to help prevent villains instead of just react to them. But you did nothing" Deku said.
"But don't worry All Might. One day, I'll make sure that you truly make amends for your crimes" Deku said with a smirk and leaned forwards. "When I have you bound to a pole, in front of tens of thousands, who are all cheering for your execution. And as the fire erupts from beneath you and swallow you whole, making you scream in agony with the crowd cheering. Then and only then, will you truly have made amends for what you've done to all those who you claim to protect" He explained with a sinister smile.
"And once you've had your vengeance. What will you do then? Do the same to Uraraka?" All Might asked, making Deku drop his smile. "I don't know All Might. Because for once in your life, you actually made a good decision. You made Uraraka, the only one I can truly call a hero, your successor. She is the hero I always thought you were when I was young" Deku replied. "I really hope I don't have to kill her" He mumbled, more to himself than to anyone else. "Then I hope that I can make amends to you through her" All Might said and got up. "Once again Midoriya. I'm sorry I failed you" He added before leaving the room. "The name's Deku" Deku grumbled quietly, more absorbed in his own thoughts than anything else.
After that meeting, Deku would once more face months without another one. Until one day, when Deku sat quietly in his cell, deep in his thoughts. He then suddenly felt a small tremor, making the walls of his cell shake ever so slightly. "Finally" he smirked as the lockdown began blaring.
A/N: It's finally happening. Deku is about to break out from the prison after a long wait. And all of that will happen in the next chapter. Not long after that, we will begin moving into the final arc of this story. But worry not, the story is not ending with this book, no. I have already laid many plans for the sequel, including the ending to the entire thing. But that is still a good way into the future. Anyways, I'm hoping you're all having a wonderful day. Goodbye.