Rumi watched in horror as the clip of Zulu team beating the absolute shit out of Gunhead played once more on her phone screen. The video taken by one of the bystanders had spread like wildfire, causing many to begin to question whether the Ministry of Defense had the best interests of the public in mind. News outlets were divided amongst themselves, some doubling down on their supportive government views while others had begun to break away from the propaganda to run more critical newspieces. A Ministry of Defense spokesperson had made a generic statement saying that the agents in the video had been reprimanded and placed on paid leave, but Rumi was not buying any of that bullshit.
It seemed that Rumi's worst fears had come true, Izuku had gone off the deep end.
It was easy for Rumi to recognize Izuku's movements and fighting style, and the unease in her gut made her feel queasy as she contemplated just what exactly she might have to do if she ran into Izuku by chance.
After spending a few minutes weighing her options, Rumi knew what she had to do.
Calling Hawks' number, Rumi anxiously picked at her nails as the phone rang for what seemed like hours.
Finally, Hawks answered.
"Hey Miruko." The winged hero said with a slight yawn. "Why are you calling me?"
Taking a deep breath, Rumi steeled herself and replied. "I assume you have seen the clip of Zulu team beating the shit out of Gunhead?"
"Yup." Hawks grunted. "This Oscar guy is a real piece of work. So is his partner."
Rumi paused before answering. "That was Izuku…"
Hawks was silent for a few moments. "Are you sure?"
Rumi nodded. "I am."
"Well shit." Hawks sighed wearily. "This complicates things. If Midoriya is on Oscar's side there is a real chance my mission could go down in flames."
"I want in." Rumi interjected. "Let me handle Izuku. You and the others focus on capturing Oscar. I don't trust any of you when it comes to Izuku, for all I know you will just kill him and tell me it was unavoidable."
There was a slight tinge of hurt in Hawks' voice as he replied quietly. "You really think I would kill Midoriya?"
"Yup." Rumi said bluntly. "Don't bullshit me Hawks. Everyone knows what you are capable of after the big PLF raid. Like I said, I don't care what you do with Oscar. All I want is Izuku. I need to talk to him face-to-face and make him see that I still care about him. Worst case scenario, I knock him out and hide him somewhere so I can talk some sense into him."
Hawks sighed in defeat. "Fine. I can agree to that. You better get your affairs in order, because we are making our move tomorrow night."
"Just tell me when and where." Rumi said confidently.
As the two pro-heroes discussed the plan, rain continued to fall outside as dark clouds ominously blocked out the sun.
Izuku walked down an empty street. The colors around him were dull shades of gray and black, and there was an ominous chill in the air. Turning a corner, Izuku was shocked to see himself in front of his childhood home.
Except now the house was boarded up and falling apart.
Hesitantly walking forward, Izuku realized his standard issue military pistol was already in his hands. Approaching the front door, Izuku warily pushed the wooden door open. The hinges creaked sinisterly as the smell of dust and mold invaded his nose while his hands gripped his gun tightly. Slowly entering the house, Izuku felt himself being drawn upstairs towards his old room. Carefully climbing the stairs, Izuku felt like something was watching him, and every so often dark shadows moved around in his peripheral vision. After what felt like an eternity, Izuku finally reached the second floor. The hallway stretched out in front of him like a foreboding tunnel, and the smell of dust and decay was only getting stronger.
Slowly walking down the hallway with his gun raised, a faint sound reached Izuku's ears.
Was someone crying?
Approaching his old room, Izuku felt his gut churn anxiously as the sound of sobbing slowly got louder.
Whatever the source of the crying was, it was in his room.
Steeling his nerves, Izuku decided to take no chances. Kicking with a booted foot, Izuku smashed the door open and rushed inside with his gun at the ready. There was a blur from the corner of the room, and before Izuku could stop himself he had already opened fire.
His eyes clearing, Izuku felt his breath catch in his throat as the bloody shape of his mom slumped against his bed.
"No...no...nononono!" Izuku said hysterically as he dropped his gun and ran forward to gently cradle his bullet-riddled mother. "Mom!? Mom! Mom please! Stay with me!"
With a trickle of blood leaking out from the corner of her mouth, Inko Midoriya looked up at Izuku and stared at him like he was a stranger.
"When did you become such a monster?" She gurgled softly.
That one sentence pierced through Izuku like a spike of cold reality, and as his heart hammered against his chest he desperately tried to explain himself.
"No I...They were...She...Rumi and Hawks...No! Mom, you don't understand!" Izuku cried out as he desperately tried to stem the river of blood pouring out of the bullet holes in his mom's chest. "Mom, I can't lose you again! Please don't leave me! I don't know what to do!"
His mom's dead eyes stared back at him accusingly. "You did this yourself." She whispered disappointedly.
It felt like his brain was tearing itself apart, and all Izuku could do was scream in agony as his mom went limp in his arms.
Then he woke up.
Falling out of his barebones metal bed, Izuku blearily looked around his nearly empty concrete room as his stomach heaved against his throat. Staggering to his feet, Izuku only made it a few steps towards the small bathroom before he fell to his knees and violently vomited up the remains of his last meal. It felt like someone was driving burning hot nails into his skull, and the only thing Izuku could do was curl up into a ball and sob quietly as he tried to comprehend what was going on.
An unknown amount of time later, Izuku woke up to realize his nightmare had subsided. Shakily standing up, Izuku stumbled over to the plain bathroom sink and rinsed the chunks of vomit out of his mouth before staring at himself in the mirror.
Looking back at him, is what could only be described as a stranger.
His bloodshot eyes had deep bags under them, and his skin was an unhealthy pale color. A short but messy beard covered his jaw, and his normally well kept short hair was now greasy and grown out.
Confused as to how he let himself fall to such a sorry state. Izuku stepped into the cramped shower stall and cleaned himself up. As the hot water flowed over Izuku, bits and pieces of memories regarding his recent activities rose to the surface.
What the hell had he been doing?
Working with Oscar?
Willingly!?
Confused and disoriented, Izuku tried to think back to specific events and what had been going through his head at the time. However, all that came back was a mental fog tinged red with anger and hate.
What the fuck had happened to him?!
Focusing as hard as he could, Izuku was finally able to remember one important piece of information.
Hawks had found out about what he had done to save Rumi's life, and had promptly told her in front of him.
While it hurt, Izuku knew that he was going to be found out eventually. What was important was finding out if he and Rumi were still together or not.
Using all of his newly recovered clear-mindedness, Izuku traced his steps back to the last clear thing he could remember.
And that was being killed by the Harbinger.
After that it was all a hazy blur of events, and even then Izuku did not know if they were imagined dreams or things that had actually happened.
Frowning, Izuku took stock of his situation as he stepped out of the shower and went about grooming himself. Eventually, the only logical conclusion he could come to was that he must be going through some kind of withdrawal.
But from what?
Putting down his razor and comb, Izuku inspected himself in the mirror. He didn't have all the tools necessary to fully get rid of his beard and long hair, so the best he had managed was to tidy it all up and make everything look at least a little bit presentable. It had been a long time since he had been this scruffy, and Izuku idly wondered if Rumi would like his new look.
Wait a second, Rumi!
Rushing out of the cramped bathroom, Izuku frantically searched his room for his phone, only to come up empty handed.
Well that definitely did not bode well.
Confused as to why he would not have such an important device, Izuku was broken out of his musings by a loud knock on his metal door.
"Rise and shine boss!" Oscar said cheerily through the closed door. "Briefing is in fifteen mikes."
"Uhh...yeah, I copy." Izuku replied loudly. "I will meet you there, just getting my stuff in order."
There was a pause before Oscar replied. "Alright boss, see ya there."
As the footsteps of the American cannibal faded away, Izuku looked around his windowless room and tried to make sense of what was going on. Now that he was looking closely, his room was more akin to a cell than anything else. Besides the bed and bathroom, the only other piece of furniture in the cold concrete room was a metal closet full of black tactical clothes.
Putting on a black shirt and black cargo pants, Izuku took a deep breath and opened his door. Stepping out into the dim hallway, Izuku looked around to see many other metal doors evenly spaced down the hallway. One of them opened, and Izuku was shocked to see one of Oscar's brainwashed agents exit their room and turn to look at him. Unsure of what to do, Izuku simply gave the female agent a slight nod, which was met with a blank stare before the agent turned around and walked away.
Great, so now he was living in the same place as Oscar and his squad?
Following the signs on the wall to the briefing room, Izuku walked into the barebones meeting room to see Oscar and Director Fujikawa waiting for him.
The director was in his usual black suit, while Oscar wore black tactical clothes similar to Izuku.
"Agent Midoriya." The arachnid-faced director said flatly in greeting.
"Director." Izuku responded with a polite nod.
Pulling a small remote out of his pocket, the director activated an overhead projector and began the briefing. "Today's mission is of the utmost importance. We received word yesterday from our informants in the pro-hero community that a small group of pro-heroes is planning on defecting to the PLF. You are to interrupt their meeting and make sure the betrayal never happens."
As Director Fujikawa went through the slides full of information, Izuku and Oscar dutifully took notes and listened intently.
"The meeting is supposed to be taking place in one of the old train yards on the edge of the city." Director Fujikawa continued. "The area is full of underground shipping tunnels, making it all but impossible for satellite and aerial surveillance to operate at full effectiveness. The main objective of the mission is to confirm the identities of the defecting pro-heroes. While it is acceptable if they escape, I would prefer to wrap this up in one go instead of conducting extended manhunts afterwards. Because of this, you and your team will infiltrate the area on foot so as to not alert the pro-heroes. Once everything is in position, spring the trap and bring those traitors to justice."
While he wrote notes, Izuku tried to figure out what the director's motives were for conducting such an aggressive operation. The man was known for his cold and calculating demeanor, and as such his missions were normally slow and methodical with plenty of planning and preparation beforehand. This mission was almost the complete opposite of that. Izuku and Oscar would be going in blind with minimal support as well as no possible contingency plans if things went south.
It was almost like the director had some sort of ulterior motive or something.
The whole thing was fishy, and Izuku could already tell that he was going to have to go to great lengths to protect the pro-heroes in question. Contrary to the director's words, there was no justice in what he was ordering. The mission was more akin to an order you would give to a hit squad, as it was clear the director was hoping that the pro-heroes would do something to warrant a shoot on sight order.
Finished with the briefing, the director turned off the projector and nodded to Izuku and Oscar. "I expect nothing but perfect results. You two have not let me down yet, and I hope it stays that way. You have three hours to prepare your team. The mission begins at 2300. Good luck."
With those final parting words the director left the room, leaving Izuku alone with Oscar.
"Asshole." Oscar muttered quietly as he reviewed his notes. "This is the fifth time he is sending us on a mission with practically no backup or support. How the fuck are we supposed to prep if we dont even know what to expect?"
For once, Izuku agreed with Oscar. "Yeah, this is not exactly an ideal situation for sure."
Oscar paused and looked up from his notes to frown at Izuku. "You feelin okay boss?"
Doing his best to act casual, Izuku kept his eyes on his notes and nodded. "I'm fine, why the sudden concern?"
Oscar shrugged. "Well I mean, normally you are a lot more gung-ho about this stuff. Hell, last time this happened you told me not to sweat the small stuff and worry about which of us can get the most kills."
Inwardly, Izuku felt a chill run down his spine.
What the hell kind of person had he been recently?!
"Look I can still see the shitty spot the director is putting us in." Izuku said quickly. "But we are good at what we do, so I am sure everything will be fine."
Before Oscar could question him any more, Izuku quickly turned to leave. "You can prep the team." He said as he walked out of the room. "I have something I need to do before we leave."
Finding his way back to his room, Izuku sat down on his bed and reviewed his notes. He was going to have to find a way to alert the pro-heroes without tipping off Oscar or anyone else on the team. Worst case scenario, he would be branded a traitor and immediately thrown in jail.
Or Oscar might just decide to kill him on the spot.
Pushing the morbid thoughts to the back of his mind, Izuku focused on his notes and began making a battle plan.
A few hours later, there was a knock on Izuku's door.
"Everyone is prepped and ready to go boss." Oscar said loudly. "Waiting on you."
