Empty black eyes stared into shaking green ones. A knife was pressed on a throat that swallowed.

"I'm going to give you one more chance to tell the truth." A voice void of emotion did nothing to lighten the tense mood. "How do you know my name?"

Izuku Midoriya is admittedly a pretty good planner. He could create any solution based on variables not many could see. He was called a "master strategist" by many, and he wore that title with pride. His quirk analyses worked wonders against criminals, which is how he fared so well as a vigilante. Many criminals feared him.

He could escape any situation with just his mind, as he could see pieces fall into place.

But how could he have seen this?

Not only is Tsuyu okay, but she's working for Overhaul?

Izuku was confused. Something wasn't right. The answer laid right in her voice. She made no croaks when she spoke. It almost sounded as if she was a different person.

Almost.

For right now, Izuku knew that if he didn't act now, he was fucked, and by one of his crushes no less.

You might be asking how he got into that situation.

Well…


Izuku approached the Yakuza hideout with the entire group. He oversaw the partnerships of student and teacher:

Yui was with Cementoss, Kirishima was with Fatgum, Momo was with Midnight, Kyoka was with Present Mic, Shinso was with Eraserhead, and Todoroki was with All Might.

Surprisingly, the school's top three students tagged along since their skills were on par with a seasoned pro. For once, Izuku made no move to argue.

He just needed the girls home, safe and sound.

He motioned the group to stop when he watched two clan members patrol the building. Grabbing his crossbow, he shot the men twice with arrows. Vaulting over to the unconscious men, he exhaled as he felt pulses. Giving the group a thumbs up, each duo split into different directions, other than Yui, Cementoss, All Might, Todoroki, and Mirio.

Izuku picked the lock and immediately leapt to the side. Bullets fired from the now open interior, and a few almost hit Izuku. Cementoss created a boundary to block the bullets, and Mirio sprinted ahead. Izuku nodded at Yui and she enlarged metal plates to become shields. The two ran inside while All Might and Todoroki patrolled the exterior.

The first thing Izuku noticed was an absence of clan members. The hideout looked like any other abandoned building.

"Shouldn't there be more enemies?"

Izuku turned his head to Yui, who stood closely. He would never admit that his eyes started to wander when he saw her, but he quickly expelled those thoughts.

He cleared his throat. "Yeah, you'd think."

Yui looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"It means," Cementoss stated as he approached. "That this might be a-"

A ring of smoke surrounded the three, and Izuku narrowed his eyes as he watched several figures surround them.

"-Trap. Rule, get into battle position. We're not leaving this area without a fight." Yui nodded as she grabbed a pen knife and enlarged it into a sword like weapon.

Izuku was about to start, but a glint in the shadows caught his attention for a brief moment. He saw the shine of a knife, connected to a pair of twintails and a cheshire like smile.

He had no time to ponder this as he barely dodged a swipe of a sword from a clan member.

"Quirkless! Pay attention! You can dream about Rule later!"

Izuku went red at the comment from Cementoss, but he nodded. He berated himself internally; now was not the time to be distracted.

He grabbed his crossbow and several syringes of brewed knockout liquid. Shooting the assassins near the trio, they pressed on.

"Izuku! Behind you!"

He quickly shot his right hand up and closed his fist around a speeding knife, effectively stopping it in its tracks. His eyes narrowed. We're definitely not in the clear, yet. He turned to face the girl. "Thanks- Rule!"

His body froze at the sight. Cementoss was sprawled on the ground, out like a light, while Yui was also unconscious, but in a costumed villain's grasp. He quickly took on a battle position.

The enemy was wearing a black long sleeved shirt, blank joggers, and wore his bluish-grey hair loosely, indicating a mess of a man. The man grinned devilishly, the only thing raised was a pinky finger.

"Quirkless, we meet again." THe opponent's voice was raspy, but full of malice. "I was wondering when we'd meet again."

"Shigaraki," Izuku replied, with warning, "Let her go."

Shigaraki chuckled. "Oh, the pretty little NPC? I'd love to let her go, but I might lower the last finger to her pretty face. Human confetti would be festive, don't you think?"

Izuku narrowed his eyes. While he hadn't fought the man often, he knew that this much dialogue was out of character for someone as twisted as Shigaraki. It looked like he had to talk his way out. "Why are you here?"

The demented man grinned. "I'm here for the same person as you."

"Overhaul."

Shigaraki nodded. "Quite. Although, the reason why I'm here for him is much, much different than yours. However, that's all you get from me."

Izuku almost snarled at the man. "So if I leave you alone, you'll let my teammate go?"

"No."

Izuku had to physically restrain himself from launching at the villain. "Let her-"

"I'd like to have a conversation with you before I let her go."

Izuku blinked. Is he serious?

"Fine."

The twisted man nodded, dropping the girl. "Walk with me. Call this a temporary truce."

Izuku wanted to grab Yui and leave, but he knew the stakes were high right now. He numbly obliged and strode to Shigaraki, who was on the lookout for enemies.

The walk was awkwardly silent for a few minutes. The two men didn't speak once, both looking out for Yakuza members. Both didn't even look at the other.

If they did, they'd probably kill each other.

"How do you do it?" It was Shigaraki who broke the silence.

"What?"

"How does a man with no power protect people that wouldn't hesitate to step on you? How do you protect a society that would not think twice to kill you, to isolate you, to eradicate you?"

Izuku stayed silent, unsure of how to answer.

"Where is this coming from, Shigaraki?"

Shigaraki just chuckled. "You interest me, Midoriya." Izuku felt his breath hitch when the villain addressed him by his real identity. "You raised yourself in an environment that should have molded you into a villain, yet you strive to be a hero. You should have turned on humanity, considering humanity turns their back on the quirkless. I would bet lives that you would refuse opportunities to gain quirks to hold up your ideals. Am I wrong?"

Izuku was in a bind. Shigaraki was absolutely correct, and held good points. He remembered when his mother died, how angry he felt at the heroes. How inconceivably worthless he felt that he couldn't protect the boys and girls that died as he trained. Shigaraki was also correct in the notion that he'd refuse a quirk if offered. He refused All Might's quirk several times over, not because he wasn't worthy of the quirk, but because he didn't want to be worthy of the quirk. He'd fought villains, he'd never kill villains, but he was close.

There was one question that he wanted to ask.

How did Shigaraki know about the passing of quirks?

"Well, Quirkless?"

Izuku refused to look at the madman. "You're not wrong, Shigaraki. By all means, I should have become like you."

"Like me?"

"Yes. Like you. All of my life I've been full of resentment, hatred, and vengeance. No doubt you know about my past. You're not stupid."

"Then why aren't you a killer?"

Damn, Shigaraki sure was talkative today.

"My ideals are that no one should have to suffer the way I did. No one should be forced on their own because their parents died. No one should have to walk around disowned because someone raped them. No, I've always wanted to help others however I can."

Shigaraki nodded, seemingly in understanding. "Then why not kill the rapists, or the abusers, or the molesters, or the kidnappers?"

Izuku smirked. "I leave that to all the decent villains out there."

It's easy to paint a villain as a specific picture. Most assume all villains molest, abuse, or worse. However, what most people don't know is that some villains refuse to associate themselves to rapists, to abusers, to child molesters, to pedophiles. Everything that Izuku hated, some villains did too.

Shigaraki cackled. "You can't call yourself a hero, Quirkless."

Izuku shook his head as he spotted Yakuza members running their way. "I never said I was, Shigaraki."

The two fought the clan members silently, their words in the others' heads.

As soon as the members were down, and/or disintegrated, Shigaraki turned to Izuku.

"Our truce will be upheld until tomorrow. Don't expect me to treat you lightly after today."

"I wouldn't expect you to."

Shigaraki nodded. Facing the exit, he paused. "You know, Quirkless."

Izuku looked at the figure.

"Maybe if our positions were switched, maybe we'd still have a talk like this."

"Maybe, Shigaraki."

Shigaraki chuckled. "You're an interesting man, I hope to fight you in the future."

Izuku chuckled dryly. "Oh, I have no doubts we will."

The blunette didn't respond. He only walked through, disintegrating any wall in his way.

The vigilante only watched the retreating form before rushing to where they'd left Yui.


In a large. Grime grey room a little girl stood, awake. It wasn't like she wanted to stand, quite the contrary. She was strapped to a board, her arms and legs bound, and she didn't try to struggle. She felt stiff and cold, and the only thing she was wearing was a nightgown much like what she wore before meeting her adopted father.

"Awake already?"

The girl didn't have to move to know the voice came from her worst nightmare.

Overhaul chuckled darkly as he walked in front of the girl, wheeling a medical table. "My, My, Eri. You've grown quite a bit since the last time we spent some time together. So big and strong."

Eri couldn't even throw up at the false sentiment. She had absolutely nothing in her stomach, and she didn't know what day it was.

"Overhaul, sir, shall we commence with the extraction?" A bored voice sounded behind him. Eri visibly shook at what, or rather who she saw.

"Tsu-Tsu?"

The figure looked at Eri with dismissive eyes. For a fraction of a second, Eri noticed a trait that looked completely alien in the blank orbs.

Fear.

"Now, now, Eri. There is no more Tsu Tsu. She goes by a new name now: Toad." He laughed as the frog girl stayed in place, completely stoic.

He turned to Toad. "I'd say go on another patrol. What I'm about to do doesn't require assistance."

"Yes, sir." Eri could do nothing but watch as her now evil auntie walk out, leaving her with the madman.

"Eri," the man cooed. "Are you ready to make another batch of vials?"

Eri tried to struggle, but she had lost feeling in her arms and legs a long time ago. "No! I don't want to work for you!" She coughed, surprised. Her throat felt dry, and the vibrations from her throat hurt.

Overhaul shook his head. Moving closer to the girl, he smiled. "You don't understand, Eri. You don't have a choice."

His voice was near her neck, now. His breath felt disgustingly steamy on her skin, and she just wanted to go home.

"I need to make the vaccines, Eri, so that we could purge this world of their disgusting quirks, and create society anew!"

Er wanted to scream.

"And besides," Overhaul continued whispering into her ear, brushing the tip of a syringe over her throat, "I need you."

He plunged the needle into her collar, and Eri went limp.


Toad, or rather Tsuyu, made her way down the corridors in search of anything that would get in her master's way. She knew he took good care of her, and that he raised her all her life, or so he told her.

Despite her memories of a happy childhood with Overhaul, she couldn't shake the fact that something was… off.

He said she was his own, yet never called her his daughter. He said she was his most prized member, but never explained her origins right, like how she looked like a frog and he looked like a normal human.

Huh, Normal.

That was a funny word. Why didn't he say she was normal?

To her, It seemed like their definitions of normal contrasted.

'My mission today is to see how we could really cure creatures like you and turn you into normal.'

She froze, it was that thought again! She couldn't explain it, and everytime she told Overhaul, he just dismissed it, claiming that it was because she never went on patrol enough.

"Yui! Are you okay?"

Toad stopped, her ears working overtime to pinpoint the voice. She walked to the entrance at the right, and peered inside.

The first thing she saw was the arched figure of a male with green hair. His face was covered in some sort of mask, and his body was covered in a black cloak. Upon closer inspection, she noticed all sorts of weapons held in it.

He looked familiar, and Toad couldn't place where she'd seen him.

The second person she noticed was a girl with straight black hair with a visor over her eyes. She wore a white and red tight fit bodysuit, and wore white gloves. The girl looked to have just woken up from a nap or something.

She also noticed the unconscious grey figure laying at an entrance of that room.

Her focus was back on the duo, who just noticed the unconscious figure.

"Rule, can you take him to the medics outside? Cementoss needs treatment ASAP."

The girl, Rule, nodded. Toad tilted her head in confusion. They weren't going to leave him? She had been told to leave any liabilities. Was that wrong?

As the girl left, the man she first observed turned around, and automatically froze. His eyes widened to proportions even she thought impossible. Then, he smiled, the grin somehow wider than his eyes.

"Tsuyu?!"

Her eyes immediately narrowed. Emotions she never even knew she held rose like bile. In a flash, she was on him, a blade on his neck.

Her empty glare pierced through him. "How do you know my name?"

{Now}

Izuku's eyes widened. "T-Tsuyu! It's me! Izuku!" His words fell on deaf ears as the empty eyes glared into his. He quickly realized she was most likely brainwashed. He'd seen this happen to minor heroes, where they were used as bait.

Her eyes spilled no expression. "Explain, now.

"You have to believe me! You're a student of Eraserhead's class, and you have amazing friends, like Momo, yui, Eijiro, Kyoka! You have an amazing family, and you were kidnapped by Overheaul!"

He saw it: a flicker of emotion. He mentally cheered. However, as soon as that cheered was brought, it turned into ice.

"I don't believe you. Goodbye, Izuku."

"Tsuyu! Wait!" Her hand gripped onto the knife and she loosened the hold between the metal and his neck, and he quickly dove to the ground. His hand shot to her knee, and she buckled. He grabbed onto her back and flung her to the wall, causing a small crater in the metal. She stood up and ran to him, and kneed him in the stomach. With him gasping for air, she grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into a metal table. She continued her onslaught, making sure he was unconscious after several kicks and throws. She nodded, stepping over him to make her wau outside. That's where he sent the heroes, right?

What she failed to notice was that Izuku grabbed a pistol from his cloak and rose it. "Sorry, Tsuyu." He fired.

She crumpled easily. Izuku sat up, with difficulty, and walked to the girl. He picked her up, grateful that he figured out how to make bullets that only knock out the victim. He watched as she breathed in and out, and smiled. She looked so serene. Making his way to the medics, he observed the area.

"Quirkless!" A sound in his ear causing him to almost drop Tsuyu. "Come in! Quirkless!" Izuku let out a breath of relief after realizing his comm was still on.

"Yeah, what's going on?"

"We heard an explosion! Checking in to see if you're okay!"

Izuku struggled to come up with a response; not because he couldn't think, but because he couldn't.

After all, Overhaul was standing in front of him in a pile of rubble and cloud of dust, the unconscious form of All Might at his heel.