Izuku groaned loudly as he began to come to, opening his eyes slightly to darkness. He found himself laid out on a hard, wet surface. Groggily, he pushed himself up from his lying position on the ground, his feet unsteady and almost causing him to fall straight back down again.
He wasn't sure what time of day it was, or what day it was for that matter. The last thing he could remember, was being met in a back alleyway by a short girl and a mysterious man that attacked him from behind, knocking him unconscious and supposedly taken him to his current location.
The man had said something to him before he passed out, but Izuku couldn't for the life of him recall what it was. Letting out another groan, he clutched at his head which throbbed painfully at him overthinking things not long after awakening.
Deciding the best course of action was to investigate in the darkness and attempt to find a way out of there, wherever "there" happened to be. Slowly, he raised his arms out in front of him, blindly and cautiously taking a couple of steps forward, meeting nothing but air.
Realising he would hit a wall eventually, Izuku continued forward, his arms beginning to rapidly ache and waver ahead of him. Fortunately for him, after a few more steps his fingers brushed against something solid.
Taking another step, he had a better idea of what it was. 'A wall! Now I should be able to navigate my way around better.' Izuku thought to himself, choosing to head to the right, and lifting his arm up, so as not to walk straight into the adjacent wall when he would eventually come across it.
As he began his slow manoeuvring around the outside of the room, his ears picked up the faint sounds of footsteps and voices. Panic flooded him, having a feeling it was the same people as earlier, and realising he had nowhere to go should they come in the room.
"Do you think he'll be awake by now?" he vaguely heard from an unfamiliar voice through the wall.
"Probably, it wasn't a particularly strong dose I gave him after all, so it wouldn't surprise me if he's up and about already." another said, this one he realised was the man that had knocked him out.
"Well, that works out better for us then, we won't have to drag him to through to Sensei then." the first voice replied. It was slightly high pitched and scratchy, as if the owner had spent years screaming and now their voice was on the verge of dying out.
Izuku was frozen in place as they got closer. He had to think of something, fast, or things most likely weren't going to go well for him at all.
His eyes were only just starting to adjust slightly to the darkness around him, when he heard the loud creak of something metallic to his left. Something was forced to the side in the middle of the wall, a small beam of light forcing its way through the now open hole. It was quickly shut again, before a much louder creaking took its place, as a door was pushed open.
Izuku couldn't believe his misfortune. He had been standing right next to the door just a few seconds beforehand, but he had gone the wrong way around the outside of the room. The two he had heard talking sauntered into the room, looking around and catching sight of him immediately, there wasn't anything else in the relatively small room for them not to notice him anyway.
"Hey kid, been getting a little adventurous since you woke up, I see." scratchy voice said.
The first thing Izuku noticed about him, was the hand that covered his face. He wondered for a moment if it was real, before the idea of it began to sicken him to his core. The only other noticeable feature the man had, was his very light, almost white, blue hair.
The other man that had walked in, the one who had attacked him who knows how long ago, had much more noticeable characteristics, mainly the fact his visible skin was covered in burn marks and stitches, as if he were some kinds of broken flesh doll that had been broken and repaired far too many times.
"Gonna need you to come with us, kid. Make it easier on yourself and come willingly, I don't wanna have to force you." the stitched man told Izuku.
He didn't like the idea of being dragged around to wherever it was they wanted to take him. So, realising it could be his only way out of this situation, Izuku slowly and begrudgingly nodded, not at all ecstatic to be in the predicament he currently found himself in.
Still on shaky legs, he stepped away from the wall. As he took a step however, his knees buckled and gave way beneath him, causing him to tumble to the ground. Surprisingly, stitched man, who Izuku vaguely remembered being referred to as Dabi by the short girl, came over and pulled him up to his feet.
"Huh, looks like I'm gonna have to drag you there anyway, considering you can't even walk on your own." Dabi told him.
Izuku was stunned. He wasn't used to getting assistance from someone when he was in need of it, especially from someone who had attacked him, but here he was being helped to his feet by someone who had previously knocked him out and kidnapped him.
These guys were villains, at least he assumed so judging by their appearances and the fact they kidnapped him, but for whatever reason, they seemed to be being overly considerate for his wellbeing, at the very least Dabi was.
With one hand on his arm holding him up, Dabi began to walk out the dark room and into the relatively well-lit hallway. It looked like he was walking through some kind of medieval dungeon, with the walls around him decaying and covered in moss and cobwebs.
Izuku was struggling to stay on his feet as Dabi walked with a brisk pace. He had no idea where he was being taken, but he didn't really have much of a choice anymore. Scratchy voice guy was walking somewhere close behind, though Izuku didn't have time to look behind him, too busy trying to keep his balance.
After a few more minutes of this, they came to a spiral staircase heading up. Izuku was beginning to wonder if they were underground. It would certainly explain the lack of windows and the feeling of this place being a dungeon.
"Try not to lose your balance heading up here kid. There isn't a railing for you to hold onto, and I don't know if I can save you if you fall." Dabi warned.
Izuku, once again, could only nod in response, his voice catching in his throat as they began their ascent up the spiral stairs. With no safety measures in place, Izuku had to take extra care, the old concrete crunching and crumbling beneath him.
The fact that it was damp wasn't really helping matters at all, with him almost slipping and falling a couple of times on the first ten to fifteen steps, but Dabi managed to catch him. Izuku was still trying to figure out why they were being so considerate of him.
As they reached the top a moment later, Izuku's mind was starting to go into overdrive. "What happens if they want to use me for some kind of ritualistic sacrifice and I can't be harmed in order for that to happen? It would explain why they're making sure I don't end up getting hurt, but it doesn't make any sense. Why would villains want to make some sort of ritualistic sacrifice? I don't wanna be a ritualistic sacrifice!" Izuku thought to himself. At least he believed he was thinking to himself, until he realised, they weren't moving anymore, and he glanced toward them.
Both men were staring at him blankly, almost in disbelief. Embarrassment began to overtake Izuku as his face flared up a bright red. "D-d-d-did I s-say that out l-l-loud?!" he stuttered out.
"Y-yeah you did." Dabi replied, his confused expression turning into one of amusement. "So, you think we're gonna use you in some kinda sacrifice, do you? Well, if it'll put your mind at ease, we're not. Just taking you to see the boss is all, and he told us to make sure no harm comes to you, so that's the reason we're being oh so considerate of you. Does that answer your worries, kid?"
Izuku, struggling to calm down, nodded his head frantically. He had a bad habit of doing things like that, rambling to himself whilst believing he was just in his own head and no one else could hear him. He wanted to apologise to them both, but then realised he shouldn't apologise to these guys, they did kidnap him after all.
Izuku found himself what he hoped this time was actually him being lost in thought as they started off again along down another hallway. Dabi had mentioned something about their boss wanting to talk to him. Sure, it wasn't as dramatic as he had made it seem with the whole 'sacrificial lamb' idea that had popped into his head, but he couldn't shake his feeling of worry that there was something more at play here.
Why would their boss want to talk to him of all people? He had always kept relatively to himself, trying his best to become a hero and not bothering anyone. Sure, he was bullied and ridiculed by absolutely everyone around him besides his mother, but that had been going on for years.
It didn't make sense. He was a quirkless nobody. His head was starting to hurt again due to how quickly the cogs were spinning in his brain. He tried to push it to the back of his mind for now. He held onto hope that maybe they'd let him go if he just spoke to their boss. It was probably foolish of him to think that, but it was better to risk it than to refuse and most likely be killed where he stood.
He was pulled out of his thoughts as they came to the end of the hallway, Scratchy voice who was now ahead of them pushing the door open, to reveal a clean and well-kept cafe looking place.
It was a strange sight to see, considering the state of the place that he had just been led through for the last five minutes. He felt strangely at peace as the strong scent of coffee filled his nostrils as he breathed in heavily.
It was much better than the damp mouldy smell that had filled the air around him below ground in the dungeon area. He looked around and saw two other people in the room. One of them was the unnamed girl that had been with Dabi in that alleyway, who sat in one of the corner booths rubbing a blood-stained knife on her face and giggling psychotically, the same way she had when they had spoken before.
The other one was more difficult to tell. They stood behind the counter wearing a shirt and tie, but a dark purple smoke surrounded where their head would be, so Izuku had no idea if they were a man or a woman. That was, until they spoke with a deep, silky voice that he could tell belonged to that of a man. "Ah, I see you're finally awake young man. And in good health it appears as well. The boss will certainly be happy to know this."
Something about the manner he spoke in, as well as the general atmosphere around him, made Izuku feel strangely at ease. Given his present company, and the means of his arrival to this place, he knew he should be terrified. But he wasn't.
"Kurogiri, fix the kid up something to drink. I'm going to go and tell Sensei that he's awake." Scratchy voice told the man behind the counter, before heading off through another door to Izuku's left, shutting it quickly behind him.
"Of course, Shigaraki. Come over here, young man. Anything you'd like in particular. You seem a little young for alcohol, so how about some tea or a glass of milk instead?" Kurogiri asked him, his tone light and friendly.
"J-just water, please." Izuku replied, his throat suddenly dry. As he had previously established, he wasn't used to people being nice to him, so it always came as a shock when it happened.
He had assumed this man, Kurogiri, was a villain as well, but he seemed so well-mannered and nice to be one. Izuku had always assumed that villains were vile, horrid monsters with nothing on their minds other than the suffering of those around them.
"Alright then, coming right up." Kurogiri said, picking up a glass and heading over to the sink, filling it with water before returning and handing it to Izuku.
He ended up downing the drink in a matter of seconds, surprising himself at how thirsty he actually was. Just as he placed the glass on the table, he found himself suddenly joined by the girl.
He let out a yelp of surprise and almost fell from the stool he was sat upon due to her sudden appearance, causing her to laugh loudly and obnoxiously at him. "Wow! Is that all it takes to make little kiddie scared?" she asked, the sarcastic tone evident in her voice. "You need to man up little kiddie, or do you wanna remain a little kiddie for the rest of your poor life?"
"Shut up, Toga. In case you didn't notice, you're the same height, so stop calling him 'little'" Dabi scolded her, treating her as if she were the small child, not Izuku.
Toga stuck her tongue out at him in response. "Spoil sport" she grumbled, turning away and walking back to her corner booth.
A few seconds later, the man referred to as Shigaraki came back through the door he'd previously left through. "Boss is ready to see you now, kid. Time to go on a little trip. Kurogiri." he said, signalling something to the man behind Izuku.
"Apologies for this, it can make you feel a bit nauseous the first time you experience it." he heard Kurogiri say, before he was swiftly swallowed up by purple smoke.
Just a few seconds later, he found himself standing on shaky legs in a new environment. The nauseous feeling hit him like a tsunami, and he had an overwhelming urge to be sick, but his attention was grabbed by what towered over him.
A giant chair, with what must have been hundreds of wires protruding out of it in all different directions. Izuku spotted a large, muscular looking person sat on the humongous chair.
Taking a few steps toward it, he was shocked to notice, that the person had no face. He felt like he recognised them from somewhere before, realisation hitting him like a brick wall a moment later when he remembered where he had seen them before.
This was All for One, All Might's greatest adversary, and the one that appeared to have shortened the hero's career considerably going by what he had told Izuku when he had met his idol for the first time.
He had heard rumours that the villain was dead, or at least so badly injured that he was in permenant hiding, having not been seen by anyone for years. He couldn't believe that he was stood face to not-face with the possibly the only one to rival All Might in terms of sheer strength.
Dread was beginning to settle into the pit of Izuku's stomach, and he had the overwhelming urge once again to throw up. This man was the most dangerous man on the entire planet, and Izuku was here, alone with him.
"Izuku Midoriya, welcome." All for One's voice boomed and echoed around the large room they were in. "I must apologise for the method in which you were brought here, as I had a feeling you wouldn't come to see me willingly."
Izuku wanted to get out. He had to get out. "W-w-w-what d-d-do you w-want with m-me?" he stuttered, fumbling over his words and sounding like a scared little kid again.
All for One let out a small chuckle. "It's quite simple really. I'd like to talk to you, then I want you to join my ranks."