A Hero's Creed

My Hero Academia X Assassins Creed

Synopsis: Walking home from school one day, Izuku Midoriya finds himself dying in the clutches of a sludge villain, only it's not him that dies. He learns that not all Underground Heroes exactly follow the rules... or are even Heroes to begin with. Still, if this is his chance to chase his dream, then maybe Fate lead him to this "Brotherhood" to help make the world a more free place.

Note: Before we begin, I will tell you all that this is not my main project and that I am not caught up with the anime or manga for MHA, nor have I played all of the AC games. I recently bought and played through the Ezio Collection and this little Plot Bunny bounced around in my head for a while. I've been playing with it in my free time and when I need a break from my One Piece story. All that said, I don't know how far this will go as it's on the backburner. If you decide you like the concept or if I haven't updated in a while and you feel like you can take the reins, shoot me a PM and we can talk about it.

Edited to fix spelling errors.

Chapter 1:

Heroes that Break the Rules

Izuku Midoriya cursed his luck, but the internal swear was undercut by the sheer panic overwhelming his mind. His limbs could barely move, all of them restrained within the viscous body of a villain that had come from nowhere.

"Don't struggle," the sludge man said, his voice uncomfortably close to Izuku's ear. "That'll only make it take longer and hurt more. Just give up. Your body will make the perfect meat puppet."

'I don't want to die!' Izuku screamed inside his mind. He fought as best he could, his arms and legs moving as if he were trying to swim in floating Jello. 'My life isn't the best, but I don't want to die like this!'

The sludge forced his lips apart, a foul taste similar to burning hair and mud crossing his tongue. He gagged, this sludge villain trying to force himself inside the middle-schooler without damaging his outsides. Izuku's fingers clawed at the villain, but they passed through his form, only displacing miniscule amounts of insolids temporarily.

'Somebody!' Izuku mentally wept. 'Anybody! Save me!'

"Haha!" the villain laughed. "My escape is—"

Izuku felt the sludge around him start to warm, its previously smooth sides rippling with dozens of small undulations. Solid parts came to the surface, forming a skin-like layer over the semisolid.

"But I thought—!" the sludge villain gasped. "No, don't! I don't want—!"

His words cut off with a gurgle, his viscous body sloughing off Izuku in great pieces that each hit the concrete with a nasty splat. The boy's red shoes touched the earth, Izuku stumbling forward to get away from his attacker. He wretched, coughing up what parts had made it inside his mouth.

"Are you ok?"

Izuku started at the question, the soft voice of a woman cutting through the disgusting sounds of his stomach emptying its unwelcome contents. His head turned slowly to see who had spoken.

She stood behind the mud-like remains, her clothing unassuming but reminiscent of some kind of robe. They were dark, almost black, but a second look revealed them to be a very deep purple. The robes were longer on her right side, the shorter part on the left falling to her mid-thigh. Boots covered the lower parts of her legs, the only skin visible below her eyes being one knee and part of her thigh. Three separate belts circled her torso, one around her waist and the other two running diagonally over her chest, one over the other at her shoulder and both nearly parallel to her uneven robe cut. All three carried pouches of things Izuku could only guess at.

Her face was covered in cloth the same color as her robes. The only other indicator of who this woman may be were her eyes. They were a deep forest green, her pupils slitted like a cat's, staring at him from under a raised hood with a low point. One side of her hood, the same side where her upper belts went over her shoulder, stood higher than the other, hinting at heteromorphic ears.

All in all, the asymmetry gave her a distinct off-balance appearance that disoriented Izuku for a moment. He shook his head quickly, schooling his features and crushing his emotions to be sorted later, a skill years of bullying had forced him to develop. Unlike so many of those bullies, however, this woman did not appear to faintly glow red but rather a pale white.

"Are you ok?" the woman repeated. Izuku jumped, his cheeks coloring as he realized he'd been studying his savior. He bowed.

"T-Thank you for saving me, miss. I-I think I'm ok."

"Good," she nodded. She knelt, sifting through the sludge at her feet until she found something. Her slender hand, clothed in a glove that covered all but her ring finger, pulled up an ornate cross embellished with gold leaf. Each of her fingers ended in a nail sharpened to a deadly point. She pulled on the cross, a part of the bottom shaft separating to reveal a USB drive.

"A-Are you a hero?" Izuku asked. The woman's green eyes turned on the boy, studying him in return.

He was scrawny; that was the first thing she noticed about him. His clothing was simple, a standard uniform from the local middle school, but his bright-red shoes didn't seem to match. His face was cute in a childhood way, splattered with freckles that only emphasized his own green eyes. His hair all but matched, the dark green follicles forming a mess and she couldn't tell if it was natural or from his struggling a minute ago.

"Yes... And no." She answered slowly, her voice even. "Does it matter?"

"I want to be a hero, but..." The boy reached for words, tears already forming at the corners of his eyes. "I want to save people, but everyone says I don't have a Quirk. You must have seen that. I couldn't save myself. Even so, do... Do you think I could be a hero if I tried hard enough?"

The woman sighed. One of the bumps at the top of her hood twitched, a motion Izuku only caught because of his superb vision. She stepped backward, all but vanishing into the shadows of the bridge.

"W-Wait!" the boy cried, his body moving before he could comprehend it. His arm reached out without his prior consent, coming within inches of her arm. She moved, flowing like water under his outstretched limb. Izuku's eyes widened as she flipped him, planting him on his back before rolling him over.

"How did you know where I was?" she hissed.

"I c-could see you," Izuku answered. "I h-have really good vision, b-but everyone says I don't have a Quirk. I kn-know you're nice. You d-don't glow red."

Away from his line of sight, her eyes widened. She blinked her surprise away before focusing on the kid pinned below her. Her green eyes flashed gold for a moment. The boy's core showed itself a bright light, soft but slightly jaded and lacking the web, chain, coloration, or design most in society had nowadays. That explained the red shoes; she knew they'd looked familiar.

Releasing him, she backed away, allowing the boy to shakily get to his feet and dust himself off.

"Sorry, force of habit," the woman said. Izuku turned, facing her again. "Listen, kid. This world isn't as black-and-white as the dynamic of Heroes and Villains makes most people believe. If you want to be a hero, a real hero, you can be, but it will be a hard, dark path."

"Dark...?"

"You have the sort of skills our Brotherhood is looking for and some of us are professional Heroes. My friends and I would be willing to train you, but I can promise any dreams of sunshine and rainbows you have about hero work will need to go out the window."

"Y-You'll train me?" Izuku's face brightened. "Thank—"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," she said, cutting him off. "This is not a choice to make lightly. This world is locked in a shadow war that has been raging since the idea of government itself, long before Quirks appeared. All that this age of superpowers has done is evolve our war with new strategies and dangers. This Villain, he was one of our enemies, a murderer and a blight on the freedom of humanity. If we are to train you, you must be willing to fight."

"All Heroes fight," Izuku answered quickly.

"Lethally." she added. Izuku swallowed, nervous sweat running into his neckline. His silence allowed her to continue. "We don't fight for justice, but for the dream of a lasting peace."

The words threw Izuku for a loop. How could one be a hero but not fight for justice? Was there not a connection between justice and peace?

"I don't understand," he admitted.

"I didn't expect you to, but many of the lessons we teach are not meant to be understood easily. Sometimes, the ends justify the means and sometimes they don't. Sometimes, you are forced to choose the lesser of two evils and take the burden of sin onto yourself. Think through my words; consider if your wanting to become a hero is worth getting involved with us. You would be an excellent member of our order, but it is a burden and, for more than I would like to admit, ultimately a death sentence. If you still want our training, go to the Dagoba Municipal Beach tomorrow at two. If you go there, we will know and I will explain more. If you don't show, then I was never here."

She shifted, walking past him slowly. Izuku turned to follow her with his eyes, only to watch in awe as she crouched and jumped, hooking her fingers into the underside of the bridge above. In one fluid motion, she swung her legs up, spinning up onto the bridge before disappearing from view.

"Wow..." Izuku stared, his mind lost in the idea of one day being able to do that. He jumped, however, when his phone rang, shattering the silence. He fumbled, nearly dropping it several times before managing to check the caller ID. Even before, he knew it must have been his mother. Kacchan hadn't called him in a decade, not since he changed from blue to red, and no one else had wanted the number of the Quirkless kid.

"Izuku!" He could hear the tears in his mother's voice. "Where are you? I was expecting you home five minutes ago! Are you ok? You're not hurt, are you? Did something happen? Are—"

"I'm fine, Mom. I just..." He paused, his eyes landing on the inhuman human remains still in the shadows. Nasty as they were, they had been a sentient being only minutes ago and the thought caused him to feel that unsettling burning of bile in the back of his throat. He had barely registered it before, but in saving his life, the woman had killed this villain. If his mother knew that, however, she wouldn't let him out of the house until he reached 50. He swallowed back the bile and gave a half-truth. "I needed to clear my head, so I took a detour."

"Well come on home. I'm making your favorite for dinner and it's dangerous out there."

Izuku looked at what remained of the sludge villain again, a decision already solidifying in his gut. If nothing else, he could at least hear the woman out.

"I know, Mom. I'll be right there." Hanging up, the boy slipped the phone into his pocket.

'Well,' he thought, 'if I'm going to start training, I might as well start now.' He turned, falling into a runner's stance, his special shoes grinding against the pavement. He breathed before taking off, running as hard as he could.

Above, Nekoi smiled under her mask. She wouldn't need to worry about him saying anything or getting his name because she'd see that talented kid tomorrow.


The Dagoba Municipal Beach wasn't so much a beach as a landfill. Izuku vaguely remembered the beach as it had been when he was young, but trash dumping had slowly accumulated until even refrigerators and broken cars could be left on the sand with no one the wiser to the change. The sun hung high in the cloudless sky, several degrees past its zenith.

Izuku leaned against a dumped refrigerator, hiding from the sun's rays in its growing shadow. He was not dressed in his uniform for it was Saturday, his body now dressed in a simple t-shirt and a pair of shorts. His foot tapped nervously, slowly indenting the sand beneath him. For the seventh time in half as many minutes, he checked the clock on his phone. 2:46.

He swallowed down his disappointment, refusing to let his emotions roam. This was foolish. He should have known that she wouldn't show up. Who would want to train a Quirkless nobody like him? Letting out a hard breath, he slipped his phone back into his pocket and took a step out of the shadow.

"Sixty-one minutes, huh?" Izuku whipped around, his eyes rising to the top of the fridge whose shadow he'd been standing in. The woman from the day before sat atop it, perched like a sort of frog ready to move at any time. A smile twinkled in her eyes. "Thanks, kid. You just won me enough coin for dinner."

"He showed up before the clock was supposed to start," a male voice said, Izuku turning to see a man dressed in red robes leaning against a washing machine. He was similarly covered, a hood with a pointed front shading all but his chin. Like the woman, he had a faint white glow around him. "Our over-under was 50 minutes past two."

"Our over-under was 50 minutes period, and he waited just over an hour," the woman argued. She flipped off the old appliance, her feet hitting the sand with ne'er a sound. "So kid, I take it you've thought about my offer?"

"I... I want to know more," the verdet answered. Had these two been waiting the whole time just to see how long he'd last before his insecurities got to him? "I want to know what you fight. I want to know what you mean when you say you're fighting for peace, not justice."

"An information gatherer," the man observed. "So far so good."

"I can't give you the full story until you agree to join us," the woman said, "but I suppose I can give you the overview. Isn't that right, Keeper?" Izuku felt rather than saw the man nod. "Alright kid, ask away."

"You mentioned a... a shadow war yesterday. One that has been going on forever. If you can't tell me everything, can you tell me what both sides fight for and which side you're on?"

The woman tilted her head, a ripple in the fabric over her mouth hinting at a smile. "Both sides fight for what they believe to be the benefit of humanity as a whole, and both fight for the same ultimate goal: peace."

"Then why fight and kill each other?"

"Because our definitions of peace are different," she answered. "One side wants humanity to choose peace for itself, through truth, conversation, acceptance, and freedom. It's a pipe dream, a hopeful aspiration, but a dream fought for nonetheless. The other side fights for control, for the political and physical power to sway the people into peaceful compliance through fear or force, for by pulling everyone under one banner and making all peoples the same, they can prevent the violence that plagues the world. Which do you think is the right path?"

"I..." Izuku paused. He'd always considered peace to come from strength, but violence still existed with so many strong heroes out there in the world. His analytical mind kicked in, studying the question and the factors as he would with Quirks. "Both dreams have their merits and both reach for what many would consider an unattainable goal. Human history shows the folly in both ways of thinking. Freedom allows dissenting opinions to spread and take root, making any peace temporary, even if long-term. America is a good example of this because their style of government tries to balance two or more opposing sides, but even that careful balance can be toppled as shown by their Civil War over 200 years ago. Ruling through fear, however, only invites revolution. China has many examples of this, and..." Izuku spiraled into muttering waying the two arguments. The woman blinked, tapping him on the shoulder. He jerked, surprised.

"Do you have an answer?"

"...Yes," he said after a moment. "Though ruling through fear seems like the easiest way, it would never work in the end. The only way to make real peace, unlikely as it may be, is if everyone chooses peace."

Her hidden smile widened. "Good answer, kid. That's what we fight for, to let humanity have the time to choose peace without the boot of our enemies on their necks. We move in the shadows, removing that which would take away the free will of the people, whether that would be Villains, politicians, or even Heroes."

"But heroes would never—!"

"Not every Hero fights for a good cause," the man interrupted, reminding Izuku that he was there. "Do you remember Raygun?"

"He was a Hero that was murdered in his bed six years ago," Izuku said. It had been all over the news with politicians across Japan calling for the perpetrator to be found. Ultimately, some minor thief was charged for the crime and died en route to prison. Many didn't trust the ruling since the trial itself was not broadcasted, saying that the thief had been a scapegoat.

"He was a man who used his money and influence to place his friends in positions of power," the man in red said. "With them covering for him, he could get away with misdeeds up to and including aggravated sexual assault, sweeping them under the rug. Out of all professional Heroes, why do you think his death brought so much media attention?"

"Because he didn't die fighting a Villain," Izuku answered quickly. He blinked, implications dawning on him. "Wait, you mean you all—"

"Who knows, kid?"

Izuku's mind reeled at the information. Raygun had been unnaturally prominent in political endorsements and commercials, but nearly every Hero ended up in one or two over their career. Even All Might had sponsorship deals for merchandise to fund his agency.

"So kid," the woman said, turning Izuku's attention back to her. "The world isn't pretty and folks on both sides of the law fight for both sides in this shadow war. Do you still think getting involved is worth a chance at becoming a hero?"

"What... What would happen if I say no?"

"Then I'll have Keeper erase your memory of yesterday and today with his Quirk, and you'll go about your life none the wiser."

His mouth went dry. This was far bigger than he'd thought it would be. Even so, the woman before him has saved his life, so she couldn't be truly evil. Dozens of memories, all the times bullies had belittled him and kept him down, asserting their social power over him, flashed through the boy's mind. This was the chance of a lifetime, a chance for him to step out of his lot of being stepped on as a weakling. Who knew if he'd ever get another chance like this again?

"Ok." His voice came out soft, barely a whisper. He breathed, reaffirming his decision. Slowly, the glow around the two shifted from white to blue. "Ok. I'll do it. I want to fight to protect people. To prevent those with power from abusing those without. I want to fight for a peace that will last a thousand years and more, where everyone is equal by choice, Quirk or no Quirk."

"Damn," Keeper chuckled. "You found a good one this time, eh Nekoi?"

"I agree, Keeper," the now-named Nekoi responded. "What's your name, kid?"

"Izuku. Izuku Midoriya."

"Good to meet you, kid." She reached up, pulling her hood and mask down. her hair was a shiny silver, pulled back into a ponytail behind her. As Izuku had suspected would be the case, a pair of cat ear stuck up from her head, but he was surprised to see the one of her right side had its top half missing. Other than sharper-than-average canines and cat eyes, everything about her face was that of an unassuming but pretty woman. The sound of ruffling cloth had Izuku turn to the man who had similarly pulled his hood back. He had a face best described as forgettable; brown hair, brown eyes, and no blemishes to remember.

"The local Brotherhood calls me Keeper," he said, stepping over. "Remember, this life is hard and, with my powers, you can walk away at any point in your training. But know this, Izuki Midoriya: Once you become a full member of the Assassins Brotherhood, you can't leave. The Templars will target you whether you remember or not."

"Assassins?" Izuku gasped. "Templars? I guess those are the two sides, but to call yourselves Assassins makes you sound like the bad guys."

"Well, it's what we do," Nekoi shrugged. "When Templars or similar-minded people move into positions of power and start taking away the will of the people, we remove them. It's more common than you think, but it doesn't make the news too often. Plenty of Templars are willing to manipulate others from the background. The ones that make names for themselves are still in the history books; rulers like Cleopatra and Alexander the Great, and true Templars like Rasputin, Hitler, and too many others to name now. That's one of the reasons I was after that sludge guy yesterday. He was a Templar grunt who stole information after killing an informant of ours."

"Um, thank you for that," Izuku replied. "But... is there any way I could do this without... killing anyone?"

"That's just isn't an option," Keeper said with a shake of his head. "Not if you want to do this and be a hero like Nekoi mentioned. It'll be hard, but I promise once you've seen what the Templars are willing to do, You'll see why we have to go to such lengths."

"Would you care to follow us to our Brotherhood?" Nekoi asked. "I'd rather continue this conversation inside away from where other people could walk around, even with Keeper's Quirk."

"Oh." The middle schooler blinked but accepted the idea. He and Keeper followed Nekoi to a discarded pickup, the part-cat woman sliding under it in a smooth motion. She vanished into the sand.

"You next, kid," Keeper said, his eyes scanning the surroundings. Not nearly as graceful as the trained killer, Izuku dropped to the sand. Mollified that he could leave before he got too deep and that he wouldn't remember if this "Brotherhood" rejected him, he squirmed under the car. Without warning, the sand below him gave way to nothing, the boy rolling onto a small mound of sand before hitting solid flooring.

He stood slowly, his eyes trying to take in everything at once. The walls, floor, and ceiling were a slate gray, unassuming and uniform save for a sliding door on the far side of the room. The walls themselves, however, held nine different ovals each six feet in height. Izuku turned, ignoring Nekoi for a moment, to study the oval he'd come through. On the other side was the underside of the pickup, grains of sand creeping over the edges of the oval to fall into the mound he'd rolled over. The other ovals each had something on the other side. One a massive bush, another a wall of ivy, another the bottom of a dumpster.

"These are portals," Izuku realized, whispering to himself. "This person's Quirk must be incredibly strong for them to maintain nine different portals at once without being here. And it looks like they go all over the region, if not the country, since the scenes range from the city to the parks..."

Keeper rolled through the portal as Izuku continued thinking out loud, the man landing on his feet with an air of familiarity. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light, his ears picking up the mutterings of the boy he and Nekoi had invited to the base.

"... there a correlation in area or is it based solely on number? Could the user create more smaller portals? If so, then there must be an upper limit with one large portal. Judging by the nine here, that one would be..."

"You know," the cat-woman commented as she walked over, wiping sand from Keeper's shoulder. "When you said he was an information gatherer, I didn't realize how accurate you were."

"He can do that and you say he's got some damn powerful Eagle Vision. We need to send you out on more scouting missions. He's got potential to become one of the greatest Assassins of our age."

"If he's got the guts to kill," the woman replied. She reached over, resting a hand on Izuku's shoulder. The boy jumped, a sheepish look crossing his face.

"Sorry," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "I get a bit carried away when I see a new Quirk in action. I can't help theorizing what it could do if tested with."

"Oh, we are going to get mileage out of you," Nekoi promised. "First, though, Keeper and I need to bring you to our Mentor. It's him who gets final say on if you get accepted or not. After that, we're giving you a crash course in the tools of our trade."

Izuku gulped.


The Brotherhood's head sat on a pillow as he watched dozens of members from the greater Japanese cell training in pairs or trios, the symbol of the Assassins carved into the wall behind him. His hair had been black but was now in the transition period of turning to grey while his robes were a dull gold interwoven with black. His eyes drooped from a combination of age, mental weight, and genetics as he studied the youngsters below. Periodically, he'd notice one perform a stance or strike wrong and watch them until they did it correctly. Once that happened, he'd activate his Quirk, his eyes glowing a dull blue as he locked that pupal in that corrected stance until he felt it was burned into their muscle memory.

Perhaps it was harsh, but he hated when he sent someone younger on a mission and they didn't return, and everyone was younger at his age.

Shaking the thought away, he set about recognizing those training as more than just bodies. There were developments in the Great Game and he needed more information. Two figures stood out, each at a different front in the cultural battle between Assassins and Templars and with sway over heroics. That would do for now.

The head clapped thrice, said figures pulling away from their training. The one that had been sparing bowed to her opponent and both Hero Assassins leapt the ledge above, kneeling before the old man. Their robes were opposites, the woman in white and the man in black, though he did have a white scarf.

"Mentor," they said.

"Raise your heads and sit with me," the man told them. "There have been developments. I want your inputs, Aizawa, Usagiyama."

The Assassins lowered their hoods, one allowing her rabbit ears to stand once more. She had a strong build mostly hidden by her white robes that contrasted with her darker skin and complemented her clothing. The other, a man much like the head, was pale with black hair and eye bags.

"I feel it is time we discuss the Trigger issue."

"There has been little information at UA," Aizawa said, barely holding back a yawn. "Principal Nezu has chosen to stay out of it so long as it does not affect any of the students. He views the battle between our orders as something to be contained but sorted out by humans. The Templars within the school are ignorant of its connection to their order. I suspect to keep the principal's neutral stance considering its detriment to the masses."

"Unfortunately, Trigger is on the rise in thugs on the street," Usagiyama picked up. "It's quickly becoming the newest drug craze. Luckily, its high price is keeping it limited mostly to organized crime, but that still serves to make hero work more dangerous. The police are on edge about it."

"I see." The man they'd called Mentor closed his eyes, considering the information he'd been given. "That is not enough for us to act. Not until we can find where they make Trigger or the Templars start using it themselves. Aizawa, maintain Nezu's neutrality. I know that only his inhumanity keeps him from choosing a side. I want it to stay that way. I'm just glad the so-called diplomatic immunity among the UA teachers goes both ways because of the implications it would have on their reputation. Usagiyama, see what more you can dig up. If our contacts in the police find anywhere where Trigger is made, I want you in there before them erasing all clues to the Templars. We don't need to put the cops at risk because of a Templar operation, nor do we want them learning about us. Understood?"

"Yes, Mentor," they answered. He waved his hand, allowing the Assassins to return to their own business. Usagiyama leapt back into her sparing while Aizawa left for a nap, something the head sorely wished he could do as well. The genes bred true, apparently.

Down the landing, the door to the portals opened, admitting three individuals. The Mentor's eyes turned, recognizing two of them. That there was a third with them spoke well of the talk Nekoi had mentioned. Said woman whispered to the green-haired boy, keeping his eyes forward rather than toward all those training below. The head studied him, noting his scrawniness and hesitancy.

He waited as the three drew closer, Keeper and Nekoi kneeling. The boy between them copied their motions, earning a positive notch in the head's mental tally.

"Mentor, we have returned," Nekoi said. "Keeper and I agree that Izuku Midoriya is a prime candidate for Assassin training. I have confirmed that his Eagle Vision is powerful enough to show friends, foes, and informants, similar to the records of the greatest Assassins known."

"What is your opinion, Keeper?"

"His desire to help the people is strong and he agreed that our path is the only way to true peace. His will to kill does not yet exist, though if it did, we would not have him here."

Izuku stared at the ground with wide eyes, shocked at how these adults could talk about him with simultaneous callousness and care while he was here among them. The head hummed as he considered their answers. He watched the boy squirm, his eyes set of the ground away from any indicating signs or going-ons within the room.

"Izuku Midoriya," the man said, the boy stiffening before slowing looking up. "The Assassins and recruits call me Mentor. Assuming all goes well here, you will as well, but I have some questions for you first." He paused, allowing the boy to absorb his words. Izuku nodded, saying nothing. "Midoriya, what do you believe the goal of the Assassins Brotherhood is?"

"Uh…" Izuku stuttered, trying to rack his thoughts under the fierce stare of the Mentor. "I-It's to… to protect the p-people. Er, th-their free will, I mean, sir. They want p-peace, b-but they want us to ch-choose it universally, not force it on people."

"A broad answer, but accurate," the Mentor nodded. "What have Nekoi and Keeper told you of our fight?"

"Your main enemies are Templars. Well, they are the most… unified? The Assassins fight and k-kill to defend the free will of mankind for the hope of an everlasting peace through choice. They also said there are Assassins and Templars that are both Heroes and Villains. With the w-war, I guess that's not too surprising, even if it's hard to swallow."

"That is the long and short of our history. I can see why Keeper would want to keep your introduction vague. Midoriya, I wish to ask you one more question before confirming your motivation to join our order. If I told you that nothing is true and everything is permitted, what would you tell me? Please, be honest."

"That's…" Izuku paused, trying to find the words he wanted without outright being disrespectful. "I'm sorry, sir, but that sounds ridiculous. I mean, how can nothing be true? It's true that All Might is the greatest Hero of the generation. Thousands of people look up to him as the Symbol of Peace. And not everything is permitted. We have laws and rules because of that."

"That is a pretty standard outlook," the Mentor grinned, his stare lessening into a more comfortable smile. "I asked that because it is a philosophy cultivated amongst our order. When those with power want to lead others astray, remember…"

"Nothing is true," Nekoi and Keeper answered, Izuku jolting between them at their response.

"Where others are bound by morality and law, remember…"

"Everything is permitted."

"I still don't understand," Izuku admitted.

"I do not expect you to," Mentor said. Izuku blinked, remembering that Nekoi had said the same thing upon their first meeting. "We ask each Assassin recruit to dwell on the words of our forebears and decide what they mean in our ultimate quest. The life of an Assassin is a road of violence, secrecy, blood, and death. Knowing what you know, are you willing to walk alongside us, to take the lives of those who would abuse their power in the name of peace for that same goal? Will you become an Assassin, Izuku Midoriya?"

Izuku swallowed, his mouth dry. Even knowing Keeper's memory-related Quirk would allow him to leave any time before he completed this training, the offer still sat on his shoulders like a weighted blanket. His spine itched and sweat beaded the back of his neck. He breathed.

"Yes," he answered. "I might not become a famous Hero, but the freedom of the people is bigger than any Villain I could fight. To protect people, even if from the shadows, I'll become an Assassin."

The Mentor grinned, his smile mirrored by both Nekoi and Keeper.

"Good answer, Assassin recruit Izuku Midoriya. Your training begins now."

End of Chapter 1


This has been rattling around in my head for a while and I really like the concept. I'll continue this plot bunny in my spare time just to see what could come of it, but I'd still love to see others take this idea and run. Let me know what you all think of this and if you'd like to see more in time. God knows how long it will take to finish my main One Piece project, but this is at the top of my list for things I want to continue.

Read and Review!

-SwordOfTheGods