Author's Note: Just a little warning about this chapter: there's some light torture involving Shigaraki's Decay. It's kinda gruesome, even if I don't know how well I conveyed that. I'll bold where the description starts and stops, though, so anyone sensitive to that stuff can skip it, and I'll describe it in the end note. Happy reading!

The first thing that Izuku saw when he woke up was his own lap. His head was hanging, and he was sitting upright. It seemed that he'd been put in a chair and strapped down, and his hands had been encased in manacles that were built into the chair, kind of like an electric chair. With that thought, the fogginess left Izuku's mind and he began to truly wake up, feeling oddly refreshed after the nap. He looked around, but as soon as he moved his eyes away from his immediate surroundings, Izuku realized where he was.

The Vanguard stood around him, with Tomura Shigaraki the closest of them. He and Izuku locked eyes, the older of the two standing from his seat at the bar he'd been drinking at. Shigaraki walked around to stand directly in front of Izuku's chair, and smiled at him through the hand mask he wore.

"Welcome back," Shigaraki said, his voice unnervingly calm.

"Why haven't you killed me?" Izuku asked, keeping his gaze on Shigaraki.

"Cutting right to the chase. I like it," Shigaraki said, pulling up his seat so that he could get to eye level with Izuku. "I haven't killed you yet. You still have too much pain left to endure to end it all now," he said, giggling like a little boy.

Izuku felt air rush into his lungs, betraying the stoic energy he'd wanted to put out. He looked around at the other Villains that had positioned themselves around the room, with Stain and Dabi at the bar, Spinner and a man in a black and gray jumpsuit sitting on a couch near the back of the room, Compress and Magne standing off to the side and Toga laying on the floor to Izuku's side. It was unnerving having all of those eyes on him, but Izuku would manage. He had to manage it for everyone he'd left behind to get this far.

A hundred thoughts raced through his head at once, muddying each other and making him come up with nothing at all. It was a messy blur of thoughts and feelings that were streaking through Izuku as Shigaraki took another sip of the drink he'd been nursing, turning out to be the kind that slurped drinks. Izuku would've called him out on it in any other situation, but this was a little bit different to a classroom setting.

"It's a shame we couldn't get your pals, but you're tough enough to take their punishment in their absence, aren't you Midoriya?" Shigaraki said, a wide grin spreading across his face.

Izuku was still bothered by that. Why had they come after Hitoshi and Bakugo as well as himself? It made sense for Shigaraki, who had ties to All for One through the Nomu he'd commanded at the USJ, to assemble a team to attack and kidnap the current user of One for All. That was All for One's raison d'être. Getting One for All was the goal, so it made sense that All for One, who had only attacked him from the mindscape so far, which was indicative of an inability to physically attack him, to send Shigaraki to get him and bring him to a place where All for One could steal One for All and then kill him. Going after Bakugo and Hitoshi, though, made no sense. What had they done to All for One?

"I've been meaning to ask, but what were you planning to do with Bakugo? He could blast out of this without a problem. Hell, I could as well," Izuku asked.

"Oh, but you can't. Exhibit A," Shigaraki said, standing from his seat and taking a step so that he was standing directly over Izuku.

Shigaraki reached down, and Danger Sense began to buzz in the back of his head that something was about to hurt really bad. To Izuku's surprise, only four fingers came down on his bicep. But, in doing that, they also pushed into the muscle and moved the bone inside, something that Izuku had forgotten was possible due to the fact that his arm was still broken and the cast had been removed when he was out, probably with Shigaraki's Quirk. Izuku refused to let Shigaraki win, though, and bared his teeth in an effort to not scream. He didn't know how he hadn't felt it before, likely because Pixie-Bob's cast had straightened his arm out and then the chair had kept that same general position at the elbow, but Izuku had forgotten that his arm had been broken in two places, in what Izuku would guess with his very limited biology research was the ulna and the humerus. Both of these bones were broken, and by Izuku himself, so Shigaraki pushing on his upper arm hurt like hell.

"Fine!" Izuku yelled, his voice breaking.

Shigaraki seemed satisfied, and took his hand away from Izuku's arm. He looked over to his underlings, the Vanguard as they snickered and smirked at the pain their leader had inflicted on Izuku. It seemed like all of them could use a good dose of therapy if Izuku was reading them correctly. As the burning pain began to decrease to a smaller, less intense aching, Izuku realized that Toga, the blonde girl that had been collecting blood at camp, was staring at his broken arm and smiling like a kid in a candy store. That probably wasn't going to bring anything good.

"Exhibit B—or, rather, V," Shigaraki said, gesturing to his underlings in a grand sweeping wave of his arms.

The disparate members of the Vanguard all either chortled or raised an eyebrow at their leader's presentation skills. Izuku found himself weirded out by their strange comradery, almost like they were real friends. Izuku supposed that they definitely could've enjoyed each other's company, but Izuku didn't understand how these peoples' brains worked enough to begin comprehending how they formed and viewed relationships.

"V for Vanguard?" Izuku asked, voice strained from the pain still present.

"You like it? It's much better than that garbage moniker we used to have. The League of Villains. Ameteur hour. Now, we're perfect," Shigaraki said, clapping his hands together and sitting back on his seat in front of Izuku.

"Perfect for what, exactly? What is it that you're trying to prove?" Izuku asked.

Shigaraki looked at him like he was insane. He stared at Izuku, falling silent for a few moments as he frowned under the hand mask. Shigaraki's eyes flicked over to Izuku's broken arm again, but Izuku kept himself steady. It was mostly because Danger Sense didn't tell him that he was going to be feeling pain any time soon that he was able to do this, but Izuku was still proud of himself for not flinching. It paid to make a good impression on the people who wanted to torture and kill you.

"What am I trying to prove? You're asking me what I'm trying to prove? Oh, Izuku Midoriya, so naive. You're the reason all of this is happening," Shigaraki said, smiling wide.

"How?" Izuku asked.

"Well, how do you think? What happened the last time we met?" Shigaraki asked back, scooting forward in his seat slightly.

"We fought. I beat you," Izuku recalled, seeing a smirk on a few of the faces still watching him.

"And how did you do that?" Shigaraki asked again, his voice rising in pitch from obvious agitation.

"I punched you out?" Izuku said, not really getting where this was going.

"You went for the killshot!" Shigaraki screamed, slamming his hands down on the stool he'd been sitting on and turning it into a pile of dust on the floor in the blink of an eye. His Quirk had gotten faster at destroying things. That didn't bode well for Izuku.

Izuku's eyes went wide as he realized what Shigaraki was getting at. Was that what Shigaraki was so upset about? Izuku had thought about that moment a lot since it had happened, and he'd come to the conclusion that what happened, happened and that he wasn't going to get upset about it. He'd done things that he shouldn't have done, yes, but it was an extreme scenario, which called for extreme solutions. Izuku couldn't be faulted for doing what he'd done. Shigaraki held all the blame for what happened that day.

"You're mad at me because I went full throttle against you? Is that what this is about?" Izuku asked.

"I'm mad because you're a killer in the shape of a good person. You didn't hesitate to use your power to destroy me. You came back for more," Shigaraki said, his fingers twitching. "When we fought, you held back. You were toying with me. You nerfed yourself so that I could think I had a chance, and your friends? They were just as bad as you. Hitoshi Shinso fucked with my mind, he took control of me and made me watch as my plan unraveled in front of me. Katsuki Bakugo was all too eager to attack me when I was helpless. That's not the mark of a Hero, is it? None of that is what Heroes do, but you run around and spout bullshit about friendship and doing the right thing, as if you didn't try to turn me into a fine paste along the side of your training grounds. You're liars, and killers in disguise. Wolves in sheeps' clothing. I'm a Villain, we're all killers and liars and cheats, but we're honest about it. You're pathetic. You hide in the shadows, but we are the shadows. We're going to rule this world, but you won't live to see the sun rise on another day in this corrupted society," he continued.

Izuku sat still throughout Shigaraki's whole monologue. It was something he didn't expect. It was alright, as far as these things went. But, Izuku knew it was a bunch of bull. Just looking at Shigaraki told Izuku that he didn't truly believe what he was saying. At least, not all of it. He did hate Izuku, that much was obvious. You couldn't fake that kind of burning anger. But, he really didn't believe that he was some righteous leader coming to save the world from false Heroes. That was more the Hero Killer's mission statement, and it was debatable if he even believed all of that and he wasn't just some lunatic with a few knives. Izuku took a deep breath in, readying himself to reply.

"You're insane, Shigaraki. I didn't want to kill you. You and your League of Villains attacked me and my classmates out of nowhere. Do you really think that I was going to hold back when I saw that you were stalemating All Might? I hold back for a reason, and I choose when to go all out. Shinso was trying to buy time so that escape was possible for the innocent children that you tried to kill. Bakugo joined me in fighting back against grown men and women that wanted to murder children. You can hate me, and I expect you to, but don't dress it up as some sort of noble intent just because it gets you followers," Izuku said.

Shigaraki's eye twitched slightly, and Stain narrowed his eyes at the man. Dabi smirked, while Toga and Spinner seemed to be staring at Izuku with some sort of shock. It seemed that Magne, Twice and Compress were still impartial to this whole thing, but Compress muttered something about drama. Seeing what he was still able to do with just words, Izuku kept pressing.

"Is that what netted you the Hero Killer? Those fake ideals and carefully placed kernels of truth? You wanna talk about a wolf in sheep's clothing, but take a look at yourself. What kind of leader lies to his team? You don't trust them to follow your true intention, so you're deceiving them. They're a bunch of degenerates, sure, but they joined you for a reason, and it's a lie. All Might told you himself; you don't believe a thing that comes out of your own mouth. You don't wanna build a new system, where people live freely. You don't want a paradise where everyone is allowed to use their Quirks where they see fit. You want chaos. Destruction on scales untold. You want to kill, and you don't have a goal other than that. There's no rhyme or reason to your hate, you just hate. That's fine. There will always be people who hate. Just say it how it is, though, Shigaraki. You've gone on about how I'm a faker, how I'm not a true Hero, but you're barely a Villain yourself. You're just an aimless person with no direction, and you hate it. You hate it all, so you want to tear it down for good. You don't want to lead any of these people into a better life. You want to turn them to dust right now. Admit it," Izuku ranted, struggling to keep the anger out of his voice as he went on.

"No! You're wrong! I have convictions! I have goals. Like this," Shigaraki said, moving and appearing right up in Izuku's face in a flash.

The only thing that Izuku's brain processed over the next few seconds was pain, blinding and all encompassing. It came so fast that Izuku couldn't even think about if Danger Sense had warned him or not. The pain spread in thin lines up Izuku's arm, feeling as if several knives were being dragged across his skin. The pain started from the elbow area of his broken arm, adding to the pain already present, and traveled up his bicep before stalling at his shoulder and stopping its spread. Izuku had only felt Shigaraki's fingers touch him for a split second, so it was reasonable that it stopped fairly quickly, but it still had done considerable damage to Izuku's arm. He didn't know the exact damage, because Izuku had his eyes closed to not spill any tears, but he was sure that it was a nasty bit of work.

As the pain stopped, and Izuku's other senses came back to him, he realized that he was screaming. It was odd, being so overwhelmed by one sensation that everything else was nothing in comparison. It was as if he existed for the pain in those moments, and it was oddly peaceful when everything fell away and the one feeling of searing, slicing pain remained. Izuku felt hot blood spill from his arm and fall onto the armrest, and then into his lap and onto his legs, and then heard it spill onto the floor. He didn't want to know what it looked like, but he needed to know in order to know how much longer he could do this for. He was willing to bet that number wouldn't be as big as he was hoping.

Izuku opened his eyes and saw red. His entire bicep was red, and it looked as though most of the skin on the top layer had been simply peeled away. There were patches of skin that were connected, but they were only connected to his arm as a few strings of muscle were still attached, and that was it. It looked as if some of the muscle tissue had been eaten away as well, and that was where the real pain had likely come from. Izuku groaned as he watched the loose skin that remained from Shigaraki's assault fall away and come to rest on either the floor or his lap, both of which were disturbing for different reasons.

As his mind went fuzzy from the indescribable sensation of having a part of his arm reduced to nothing, Izuku let his head hang. He looked up at the roof, trying not to scream again, and looked to his left. There was a clock on one of the shelves along the wall he'd turned to, and it told Izuku that it was eight o'clock at night on the twenty third of July. Had it been two days since everything had gone down at camp? Had he been locked in this bar, with a broken arm, for two days? This was bad. They were probably looking for him, but he couldn't call for help.

"I can kill you with one little touch. I can bring this entire place down with one hand, so don't you go questioning my conviction, Izuku Midoriya. You may not make it out alive," Shigaraki said, his hands shaking as he cackled.

Izuku stayed quiet. He thought it was best not to tempt fate on that one. He sat in his chair and watched as Shigaraki turned toward his Vanguard. Izuku knew that Stain had been affected by what he'd said, at least, so he'd succeeded in stirring the pot just a little bit. Izuku saw the Hero Killer stand and tower over Shigaraki, the two of them giving each other odd looks as they seemed to have a silent conversation with one another. The room was dead quiet as this happened, giving Izuku chills that shook his arm and caused another jolt of pain to streak through him.

"What's he talking about?" Stain asked.

"Nothing. The brat's delusional from the pain. He's got no clue," Shigaraki replied, his voice cool as ice.

"He seems pretty lucid to me," Dabi said from his seat at the bar, smirking.

"It's true. He may be young, but he is resilient. We saw how he kept going with that mangled arm," Compress chimed in.

Shigaraki looked around at his Vanguard, clearly at a loss for words. He shot a look back at Izuku, probably meaning something like 'you're dead', but Izuku was too busy trying to get a grip back on his ability to think to notice or care. Izuku saw that the seeds he'd wanted to sow were already there and begging to grow, he'd just needed to nudge them along a little. It seemed like they really didn't like each other, and were just itching to kill everyone in the room. Unfortunately, that included Izuku at the moment, so he couldn't encourage that too quickly.

"Listen, he's a brat who'll say anything to anyone for any reason. He's a vile waste of air, and an even worse example of a Hero. He's exemplary of all the things that are wrong with this world, all the things that I seek to correct in my new world order. You all are my chosen few, the only ones worthy to inherit the world when we burn it down, so please don't turn your backs on me now," Shigaraki said, gesturing wildly.

Izuku listened to Shigaraki's response in awe. He'd never thought that Shigaraki would use the word 'please', so that was a pleasant surprise. Izuku would admit that he'd grown as a leader since the last time they'd fought. It seemed that Stain bought it, at least, since he nodded to Shigaraki and sat back down. Shigaraki's words had actually worked in calming down his Vanguard. Izuku felt a strange kind of humor about the situation, but felt it best not to laugh in this situation, otherwise he may just make Shigaraki kill him faster. Still, it didn't sit right with Izuku. Was Shigaraki actually a good leader?

"What's your angle, kid? Just what are you trying to do by asking those kinds of questions?" Shigaraki asked, stepping closer to Izuku.

"I want to understand. What makes you the way that you are? Why do you want the things you want?" Izuku asked back.

Shigaraki regarded him strangely as he asked those questions. It seemed like they hit him differently, connected somewhere deeper in his mind that immediately got to work tearing those questions apart and constructing answers even he wasn't able to vocally express. Izuku wondered what went on inside his mind, even though he was sure he didn't want to know. It was just a curiosity thing, where he couldn't help but be fascinated by just how depraved and twisted Shigaraki's thought processes were. He could easily declare that he'd kill children, but what couldn't he do? Was there a line he wouldn't cross?

"You're not asking the questions here," Shigaraki said, dragging a second chair from the bar over to where he'd put the first one and sitting in it. "What I want to know is why you want to be known as a Hero. You could easily be one of our kind, with your blatant lying, your willingness to kill and your self-righteous attitude. You're just like any of the B-List guys on the evening news. Why aren't you?" he asked.

"You've misconstrued my intentions once again. I'm not a liar. I'm not a killer, and I'm not some kind of arrogant knowitall who thinks he's better than everyone else. Believe it or not, that's you. I'm not going to sit here and pretend I'm perfect, but I'm not anywhere close to being one of you. There's a very simple answer to your question, Shigaraki, and it's that I just want to help people," Izuku said.

"Why would anyone want to do that? Look at the world around you and tell me that you'd prefer it to one where everyone's free to do as they please, no matter if it violates some arbitrary rule that people none of us will ever meet get to decide on a whim. Tell me that you prefer it," Shigaraki said, inching closer to Izuku so that they could meet eyes.

"I'm going to be completely honest with you, Shigaraki, because I think that you deserve it as much as anyone else. I agree with you," Izuku said, making everyone in the room look at him with unmasked interest. "I think the system is bad, too. It values power and strength above all else, and it puts down those who are too weak to be considered useful. It degrades those with no Quirks, Mutant Quirks, and Quirks that just aren't practical. It puts a heavy weight on the shoulders of the strong and forces them to bear it until they break and another person comes along to hold it up again, like Atlas holding up the sky. It's unsustainable, and it's unfair to those of us who are different, and not as strong as others. It's awful, and it needs to change," Izuku said, noting how Shigaraki had become completely still.

It seemed that Shigaraki was stunned into silence by his admission. Izuku saw that he was looking at Izuku in thought, probably trying to put together his response. Seeing that it would probably take a few moments, Izuku looked around at the Vanguard positioned around him. He'd kept a close eye on everyone as he'd spoken, and noticed that Spinner had perked up at his mention of Mutants. Dabi, Toga and Stain had begun staring at him when he'd spoken of Quirks that weren't practical. That had left the man in the black and gray jumpsuit, Compress and Magne to stare at him for all different reasons. Izuku suspected that Magne had tuned in immediately at Izuku's focus on people who were different from the norm, for obvious reasons. It couldn't have been hard for her to be who she was, even with the general attitude toward transgender people having improved greatly. Izuku had most of them listening to him, so that was good. Now, he just needed to keep it that way.

"You know that the system is broken, but you still prefer it? Why would you not simply wish for it all to be dust and blood?" Shigaraki asked, breaking the silence that had taken over the room. He seemed genuinely interested in conversation instead of torture now, so that was probably good for Izuku.

"Because that's not the way to make positive change. You don't fix a cracked mug by smashing it on the ground. You fill in the cracks and make sure nothing falls through them again. Our society is flawed, cracked. It allows good Heroes to die and vulnerable people to fall through those cracks and go down a dark road that could be prevented if these problems were brought to light. You're justified in feeling betrayed and hurt by a society that doesn't care about you. Killing isn't the way to fix it, though. If we want compassion to be shown to the little guy, we need to show them that we're worth it, as much as that pains me to say, because right now they don't think we are. Be kind, contribute to a better society for everyone, not just yourselves. That's how we win. Not with blood and dust. With kindness and hope," Izuku said.

"Yeah, right. As if we're gonna show the world kindness and hope. What are you on, kid?" Magne said from her spot near Compress.

"You don't have to be the Symbol of Peace. You just have to show that you're worthy of kindness. I know that every single person is deserving of respect and compassion, but not everyone is as open and accepting as I want to believe. Magne, Spinner, you're sure to have experienced what I'm talking about. The world can't have treated you kindly, especially in some places that are rougher around the edges," Izuku said, drawing attention to the two of them in the corners.

"What are you talking about?" Spinner asked, clearly knowing the answer by how uncomfortable he looked.

"We live in a world where everybody has something different about them, something that no one else has and that makes them unique, but that doesn't mean that we've solved the problem of discrimination based on appearance. Have you ever had a job? Been on a date? Had a friend?" Izuku bombarded Spinner with questions.

"No," Spinner said, his eyebrows drawing together in a thoughtful expression.

"Our society has come a long way in regards to civil rights. But, the sentiments of our forefathers still permeate today's zeitgeist. This applies to Quirks, too. Dabi, I can smell you cooking every time you use your power. Stain, your Quirk can't be one that the other kids looked kindly upon. Quirks that are weird, or have strange drawbacks are deemed as worthless as if you don't have one at all. It's not fair, and it needs to be changed. That's what I'm hoping to achieve by being a Hero. I want to improve the system, but I'm not going to end innocent lives to do it," Izuku said.

"That's the difference between you and me. I won't hesitate to end whoever opposes me. What happens when they reject your message? What happens when they turn against you?" Shigaraki asked, standing and beginning to pace around Izuku.

"I'll keep going. If I get to a point where I can no longer continue, and I haven't changed anything by then, then I'll look for someone to inspire. Just like All Might did for me and you," Izuku said, knowing that his closer would get him some flak.

Shigaraki paused and stared at Izuku for a moment. The two of them shared a glare, and Shigaraki was on him in an instant, though he didn't go for an attack or anything that would hurt Izuku. He simply slammed his hands down on the metal manacle-like restraints that were keeping Izuku strapped to the chair, keeping a finger off of each one, and screamed at him from under the hand mask. The two kept eye contact through the fingers of the mask, but Izuku wouldn't lie and say that it was easy. The fact that Shigaraki wore a hand on his face was unnerving, and he couldn't stand seeing it up close.

"I'm nothing like All Might!" Shigaraki screamed, his voice breaking from the intensity in his voice.

"You're more alike than you think," Izuku said, keeping his voice calm in the face of a raging Villain.

"Shut up! Don't fucking say that!" Shigaraki continued.

"What's wrong? Afraid of the truth?" Izuku asked.

"You're lying! Master said—"

"You just believe everything Master says without seeing for yourself? All for One is an old man trying his best to hang onto life. He clings to a desperate fantasy that he got from a comic book. Do you really think that's the kind of man you should be following?" Izuku interrupted Shigaraki, talking over the noises of anxiety that the Villain was making.

"Shut up! Shut up!" Shigaraki said, his hands and face twitching.

"What?" Izuku pressed.

"Stop talking! You're wrong!" Shigaraki yelled, though it was more like a sob.

"You said it yourself, Shigaraki, all that time ago when we first met. It all comes back to All Might, even you. You hate All Might, and the society that hangs off his every word as if it's the word of God, but you're no better. You define yourself by All Might even more than I do, and I have One for All," Izuku said, not caring about the slip of One for All in a room of Villains that wanted him because he had it. It wasn't a secret between them .

Shigaraki stopped freaking out for a moment, staring up at the ceiling as his muscles relaxed. He chuckled, a high pitched, strangled sound, and slowly turned to look at Izuku with wide eyes and a frown.

"What the fuck is One for All?" Shigaraki asked, his eyebrows furrowing in thought.

Holy shit. Shigaraki didn't know about One for All. He'd really hated Izuku so much that he'd launched the attack on the camp. He'd been so angry that Izuku had beaten him that Shigaraki had endangered the lives of dozens of people just to get back at him, and that was only the beginning of his plans for Izuku, as he had torture yet to come guessing from how relatively small-scale he'd started with Izuku's arm. Oh, no. That was bad and dangerous.

"Master doesn't tell you everything, does he?" Izuku asked, horrified.

"What? Of course he do—" Shigaraki said, but he was cut off by the screen behind Spinner turning on, causing him to jump out of the way and everyone to look toward it with small gasps.

Izuku wondered what the screen meant. He saw that it was mostly still black, filled with purple text that told of an audio call connecting. Izuku waited for someone to talk, but nobody did. That was, until a voice resonated from the screen and made Izuku's blood run cold, turning his veins to ice and his skin numb in the process. This was a voice he'd only heard in his mind, so to hear it in the real world threw him for a loop in more ways than one. The grainy filter that the screen gave dampened the effect slightly, but it was still a terrifying thing to go through when All for One's deep baritone filled the room, making Izuku's head hurt for some reason.

"Hello, Vanguard, and hello, Izuku Midoriya. We have much to discuss."

Author's Note Part 2, Electric Boogaloo: Basically, Shigaraki decays the upper half of Izuku's broken arm. Not enough to remove it entirely, but enough to eat away at the skin and muscle so that everything is on display and the skin is falling off. Nasty stuff.